AIAE, UNN, British Council, others tackle Agricultural Adaptation
to Climate Change

AIAE will continue to collaborate with stakeholders to promote research-based understanding of policy and pragmatic choices for climate change in Nigeria. The Institute would particularly partner institutions to address climate change as it affects agriculture, food security, ecosystem, forests, water resources, health, energy, disaster risks and urbanization.

The Executive Director of AIAE, Prof. Eric Eboh disclosed this while welcoming participants to the international conference on how to enhance agricultural adaptation to climate change held in Enugu, Nigeria. The conference, held on July 27, 2010 at Bridgewaters Hotel, was co-organised by AIAE, the British Council, Development Partnerships in Higher Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the University of Reading, United Kingdom. Prof Eboh maintained that climate change, as an integral element of the sustainable development facing developing countries, including Nigeria should not be handled with levity. He stressed that  for Nigeria to attain its vision 20:2020 there must be a paradigm shift involving change towards sustainable development  midwifed through good governance, efficient service delivery and building strong and enduring institutions.

“The reasons why poor countries are most vulnerable to climate change impacts are the extant structural weakness of the economy, low institutional capacity for economic growth and of requisite infrastructural and technological capabilities. Adaptation strategies must therefore be context- specific, holistic and dynamic. Adaptation design should be multi-sectoral, multidimensional and multilevel approaches. Adaptation planning and response management should be left to the Federal or States Ministries of Environment alone. Rather, there should be policy and programmatic synergies across implicated sectors including health, agriculture, urban development, water resources, science and technology and public finance”, he noted.

Presenting the research report of the Development Partnership in Higher Education (DelPHE) Project 326, the project coordinator, Dr. Nicholas Ozor identified the need for development interventions that will jointly boost the resilience capacities of vulnerable people at local, regional and international levels to climate change. Dr Ozor averred  that  the overall objectives of the study carried in  southern states of Nigeria was  to develop  a framework for agricultural adaptation to climate change, saying the study among others identified the problems that communities encounter in adapting to the effects of climate change and develop a framework for agricultural adaptation to the phenomenon.

Speaking at the event, Prof Chris Gafort of the University of reading challenged the media to take reorientation of the public as a major task, saying without such programmatic steps developing countries would continue to suffer adversely from the effects of the change.

The study was carried out by the team of professionals including; Dr. Nicholas Ozor, Project Coordinator, Department of Agricultural Extension, UNN, Prof. Eric Eboh, AIAE, Prof. Michael Madukwe, Department of Agricultural Extension, UNN, Prof. (Mrs.) P.C. Onokala, Department of Geography, UNN, Dr. Anselm Enete, Department of Agricultural Economics, UNN, Prof. Chris Garforth, International and Rural Development Department, the University of Reading, UK, Mr. Oliver Ujah ,AIAE and Miss Ebele Amaechina, AIAE. The conference was attended by 260 people made up of researchers, professionals, NGOs, traditional chiefs, students and the media.