Mitigating the effects of Climate Change on Water Scarcity

Water, Agriculture and Environment share a significant relationship among them. However, this relationship continues to fall out of balance resulting in increasing concerns for food and water security.  Climate change affects freshwater resources negatively, in terms of both quantity and quality. As temperatures increase, evaporation increases, sometimes resulting in droughts which in turn translate into increased crop water demand.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations report on Climate Change, “70 per cent of our water withdrawals are used up by agriculture, yet competition with other sectors for water is increasing”. Glaciers, one of the important sources of freshwater worldwide is melting at an unprecedented rate due to rising temperatures, reports state that they are in danger of drying up within the 21st century.

With the lack of sufficient, accessible water resources to meet water needs of the increasing population, the issue of water scarcity becomes one of the leading challenges of the twenty-first century.
Soils constitute the largest store of terrestrial carbon. When they are poorly managed or cultivated through unsustainable agricultural practices, soil carbon can be released into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide, contributing to climate change.

In Nigeria, water services cannot be delivered quickly enough to cope with the rapidly growing population and agriculture is mostly rain-fed. The Executive Director of Nigerian Environmental Study Action Team, Professor, Chinedum Nwajiuba expresses that the agricultural sector depends on the natural resource base and thus faces risks such as desertification, rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and sea level rise, leading to degrading agriculture and exacerbating conflict.

Given the trends in climate change, FAO predicts that by 2025, water withdrawals will increase to 18 percent in developed countries, and 50 percent withdrawals in developing countries. While increasing effects of climate change intensifies water scarcity, report asserts that the economic impact of this would fall on agriculture.

Hence this issue calls for action to harvest and recycle freshwater resources, and employ more efficient ways to use water to provide food for an ever-increasing global population.
Experts suggest that climate adaptation measures in agriculture that build on existing good management practices can increase water security, thereby contributing directly to sustainable development. Also, modern technologies derived from applied research, combined with suitable policies would be effective in reducing the effects of climate change.

To this end, FAO adopts a global framework to combat the eff­ects of climate change on water scarcity.  Under this framework, countries will develop risk management strategies for national food security policies under water constraints and economic transitions, focused investments in water infrastructure; and the development of institutional and human capacities, and Implement sound and innovative water auditing to support decision-making and management.

The report also recommends that farmers adopt Precision Irrigation Techniques, Water Harvesting Techniques, and Wastewater Management to tackle water scarcity issues.

Combating Unemployment in Nigeria through Oil Palm Production

Sustained economic development is vital for any nation to attain long term poverty amelioration for social and environmental sustainability. The palm oil industry in Nigeria represents one of the most potent means for combating poverty, ensuring food security, improving productivity and generally attaining economic stability in Nigeria.

Palm Oil, botanically called Elaeis Guineensis is a perennial crop which is said to have originated in the tropical rain forest of West Africa. It later spread to South America in the 16th century and to Asia in the 19th century. Exportation of palm kernels began in 1832 and by 1911, West Africa alone exported 157,000 tonnes of which about 75%  came from Nigeria. However, in 1934, Malaysia surpassed Nigeria as the largest exporter of the product and has since maintained the lead.  As at 2016, Malaysia and Indonesia have become the dominant powers in palm oil production supplying more than 70 percent of the palm oil consumed worldwide.

Though Palm oil cultivation has been ascribed as a way of life for many Nigerians, the country has become a net importer of palm oil. Research conducted by Sahel Capital, a fund manager and advisory firm in West Africa indicates that, the production of palm oil in Nigeria is significantly below the country’s estimated consumption of at 1.4 million tons. About 40% of palm oil is imported while the other percentage is sourced from groves and smallholder plantations rather than industrial plantations. Currently, Cote d’Ivoire is the only net exporter of Palm Oil in West Africa.

Experts stress that the declined palm oil and kernel exports were as a result of increased domestic consumption following population grown and the lower producer prices allowed by marketing boards which had a monopoly of purchase for export. They add that the ceaseless tapping of local wine from the palm tree which reduced the productivity of the palms, hence producing fruit with thinner pericarp, or husks, lowering the quantity of the oil per hectare with poor quality was another factor.

In developed economies, palm oil is used in the manufacturing of many foodstuffs, the tree also has been identified in many industrial applications such a paper, pulp and particle board production, making of detergents, greases, lubricants and candles. Palm oil formed the basis of industrial scale soap production, such as Lever Brothers (Unilever Nig Plc) sunlight soap and the American Palmolive brand. Also, this staple crop has proven to be a valuable feedstock for biodiesel and serves as an alternative to mineral oils used in power stations. Apart from local trade in palm oil, it is heavily sold on the international markets as CPO (Crude Palm Oil) and usually commands a high premium price given its vast capabilities and high demand from several industries.

With these myriads of benefits, the  palm  oil  industry  has  the  potentials of  providing  employment  for  many Nigerians.  Palm oil is one of the commodities produced in rural Nigeria whose consumption daily in the human diet and use as an industrial raw material have increased its potentials for income generation and poverty alleviation. This was acknowledged by the World Rainforest Movement that affirmed that “oil palm is indigenous to the Nigerian coastal plain though it has migrated inland as a staple crop. Cultivation of oil palm serves as a means of livelihood for many rural families and indeed the farming culture of millions of people in the country’’.

Therefore, to unlock the potentials in palm oil business, it is imperative for government and individuals to put in a more deliberate effort to cultivate modern oil palm plantations that contain selected (hybrid) oil palms with very high yields.

While the land tenure system in Nigeria may be a limiting factor against private mass production of palm oil, the local and state government should rise to the challenge by providing land areas and needed technologies to palm oil farmers.

Nigeria may consider importation to meet wheat demand

Nigeria is likely to continue relying on imports during the 2017 marketing year as a result of limited production of major grain crops.

The combined importation of cereal crops such as wheat, rice and corn are expected to reach nearly 6.8 million tonnes, with wheat, having about 4.5 million tonnes.

Report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Federal Agriculture Service (FAS) indicates that most of Nigeria’s wheat farmlands are rain-fed and insufficient to bring about increased production needed for self-sufficiency. Experts estimate that local wheat farmers will produce 60,000 tonnes of wheat.

The FAS notes that though the wheat variety produced by Nigerian farmers is high in protein content it is low in gluten, a characteristic that is unsuitable for producing the bread preferred by Nigerian consumers.

According to FAS “Bread is a major staple in Nigeria and it remains comparatively the less expensive staple eaten by majority of consumers despite a 20 per cent increase in price recorded over the past three months. However, given the falling currency and higher-than-normal market prices, consumers’ purchasing power has weakened, thereby preventing wheat millers to raise market prices to help offset production costs”.

As a result, the millers are forced to blend and adjust their wheat milling formulas to achieve bread flour that is acceptable to Nigerian bakers while maintaining favorable profit levels.

The FAS adds that while Wheat products, especially bread, will continue to be widely consumed in Nigeria as a major staple, consumption of pasta, noodles, and semolina are declining.

Nigerian Beans Export still Banned – EU Official Insists

A trade officer at the Dutch Embassy has refuted the claims by some agricultural stakeholders in the country that the EU ban placed on Nigerian beans export has been lifted.

One of these claims was allegedly made by the Director General of NAFDAC Dr Yetunde Oni in a purported speech to the Senate Health Committee. The DG was quoted as having intimated the Committee that the “ban placed on Nigeria on exportation of beans by the European Union due to its claim of being substandard and poisonous had been lifted for the next three years”. AgroNigeria made spirited effort to reach the office of the NAFDAC boss, but all such attempts proved abortive as at the time of filing this story.

Speaking to AgroNigeria  on telephone, the official who pleaded anonymity described the claims as false, adding that the ban was very much still in place.

The EU had banned importation of Nigeria’s dried beans in June 2015 on grounds of safety related to high chemical residue considered dangerous to human health. Sadly, the ban was extended by three years in June 2016.

In a bid to reverse the ban the Federal Government in August 2016 inaugurated a 26-member Standing Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee to address the rejection of Nigeria`s dry beans by the European Union. While inaugurating the Committee, Audu Ogbeh, Nigeria’s Agriculture Minister left nothing to doubt about its terms of reference: “We are here to take our destinies in our hands by finding lasting solution to the incessant rejection of our agricultural commodities, especially in Europe”.

According to Ogbeh “We need to avoid the embarrassment of further rejection in the future by strengthening our regulatory authorities to live up to their mandates. Our desire for agricultural products and non-oil exports means there will be vigorous pursuit of investment in quality control and standardization”

But sectoral watchers had applauded the Minister for taking up a key point earlier expressed by Michel Arrion, EU Ambassador to Nigeria and Head of the West African Mission, who had underscored that the rejection was a ‘red flag’ for the Nigerian consumers as well. In Ogbeh’s words, addressing the challenge entailed “working with the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service to ensure safety of what we produce and consume locally and export internationally”.

Source: agronigeria

Embrace Peace, Focus on Agriculture; Minister urges Niger Deltans

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Heineken Lokpobiri has urged the people of the Niger Delta region to embrace peace and take advantage of the potentials inherent in Agriculture towards generating wealth and promoting economic development.


Vanguard Newspaper reports that Heineken made this statement during the 20th anniversary of Nigerian Agip Oil Company’ Green River Project Farmers Day held at the Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha Banquet Hall in Yenagoa.

According to the Minister, “I appeal to the people of the Niger Delta region to embrace peace and focus on agriculture, stop the destruction of oil and gas pipelines, which only served to destroy the country’s ecosystem and economy”.

Lokpobiri said Nigeria spent an average of $22billion annually on wheat, rice, sugar and fish imports.
While there was an abundance of land available for cultivation to meet the demand of about 170 million consumers in the Nigerian domestic market and the entire West Africa sub region, Nigeria only utilized 10 per cent of the estimated 84 million hectares of arable land, he noted.

He however expressed that the Federal Government was focused on redirecting attention to agriculture in its totality while empowering Nigerians in a productive and sustainable manner, adding that the process which entailed treating agriculture as a business to create wealth and provide employment, will transform Nigeria into a self – sufficient nation, with surplus for export to earn foreign exchange.