The UK government will provide new funding to help Nigerian farmers adapt to the impact of climate change while improving productivity in Africa’s most populous country.
The UK government is investing £95 million ($109 million) in the program targeting 4 million farmers including 2 million women to scale up sustainable farming practices “such as heat and flood tolerant crop varieties and integrated soil fertility management,” the UK said in an emailed statement.
The funding comes as the West African nation is experiencing the worst flooding in a decade, which has claimed 612 lives, displaced 1.4 million people and damaged nearly 400,000 hectares of farmlands, according to data from the country’s humanitarian and disaster ministry.
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Nigeria is extremely vulnerable to climate change and land degradation, Ben Llewellyn-Jones, UK Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, said in the statement.
“Climate risks are increasing, diminishing productive capacity, and contributing to worsening food insecurity,” Llewellyn-Jone said.
While agriculture contributes 24% to gross domestic product in Nigeria, it employs approximately 70% of the population, most of whom are subsistence farmers, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
The UK funding is part of an 8-year international climate finance program supporting resilient and sustainable agriculture.
