By Gbenga Adedayo
Worried by the looming food crisis in Nigeria resulting from havoc caused by recent flood on farmlands in the country, the United Kingdom (UK) Government has agreed to provide £95 million ($109 million) to support Nigerian farmers.
The fund is aimed at helping Nigerian farmers to adapt to the impact of climate change while improving productivity in Africa’s most populous country.
According to Bloomberg, the programme targes 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.
Media Issues also gathered that the fund is a proactive measure designed to prevent starvation and hunger in Nigeria.
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.
-Bloomberg