From the devastating yearly flooding to the worsening droughts in the northern parts of the country, climate change’s impact on agriculture and communities in Africa’s most populous nations is increasing and smallholder farmers are struggling to cope with it.
While no country is immune to the impacts of climate change, Nigeria is among the countries that are most vulnerable and least able to cope with the impacts of changing climate.
Climate change has continued to alter and disrupt the country’s farming cycle, leading to a shortfall in key staples and a surge in food prices.
To reverse this trend, experts say, smallholder farmers that produce over 80 percent of the food consumed in the country, must adopt nature-based farming practices in producing the food we consume.
Food systems account for about a third of all global greenhouse gas emissions, with livestock the biggest driver, according to experts.
Transforming Nigeria’s agricultural value chains and supporting farmers to grow food sustainably through regenerative practices play a significant role in achieving the country’s net zero target. Although the approach may not prioritise growth, it promotes long-term sustainability.
Regenerative agriculture is a holistic, outcome-based farming method that offers opportunities that benefit farming communities, nature and climate.
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The practice improves soil, delivers high productivity and high-quality food and helps fight climate change and restore lost biodiversity.
Regenerative agriculture offers a path to building resilient value chains by focusing on measurable results.
It restores ecosystems by improving soil health and biodiversity, optimising water resources, increasing the resilience of farms, and extreme weather events and supporting farming communities.
Also, it promotes carbon sequestration, lowers greenhouse gas emissions and reduces risks from water pollution and chemical use.
For farmers, adopting regenerative practices can lead to significant long-term profit growth with potential increases of over 100 percent, according to experts.
“Agroecology is the future-oriented solution to help Nigeria’s food systems cope with the impact of climate change,” AfricanFarmer Mogaji, chief executive officer of X-Ray Consulting, told BusinessDay.
“The practices should be promoted in the country,” he said, while disclosing that in recent years Nigeria has experienced more frequent extreme weather conditions.
“Rural communities who depend on farming for food and income are especially vulnerable to climate change. Farmers who depend on predictable rainfall patterns are harvesting lower yields or even struggling to grow food,” he explains.
However, he said that there are strategies such as regenerative practices that are available that can help to lessen the harm that extreme weather can wreak on food production and communities.
“These innovative strategies include training farmers and encouraging them to use climate-friendly agroecology farming techniques which sadly are often dismissed by the agribusiness industry as less productive or modern than the industrial agrochemicals and hybrid seeds that the industry wants to sell to farmers.”
Globally, scaling regenerative practices to 40 percent of agricultural cropland will be pivotal in limiting global warming, enhancing food system resilience and safeguarding biodiversity and livelihoods.
While smallholder farmers are to drive the change, businesses and government also play a key role in supporting the scale-up of regenerative agriculture.
Through aligned incentives and increased demand for regeneratively grown crops, value chain actors send clear demand signals for the adoption of regenerative farming practices.
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