Can USAID’s Agricultural Investment Initiative address Nigeria’s Climate Resilience Challenge?

Can USAID’s Agricultural Investment Initiative address Nigeria’s Climate Resilience Challenge?

Climate change poses a significant threat to agriculture globally and Nigeria is no exception. As a country heavily reliant on agriculture for economic stability and food security, Nigeria faces serious challenges resulting from changing climate patterns.

With around 70 million hectares of land under cultivation, Nigeria’s agricultural potential is substantial. However, to safeguard the livelihoods of millions of farmers and ensure national food security, the Nigerian government has now recognised the urgent need to address climate-related challenges and build resilience within the sector.

One major climate change related hazards already being felt in Nigeria is the increasing variability in rainfall patterns. Traditionally, farmers relied on predictable rainy and dry seasons to plan their planting. But now, rainfall patterns are becoming erratic, leading to either long periods of drought or heavy flooding, or the delayed onset of rains, as found by researchers at Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria. These extremes can seriously damage crops, disrupt planting schedules, and cause big reductions in yields.

Prolonged droughts dry out the soil making it hard to cultivate and prone to wind-blow. On the other hand, heavy rains and flooding can erode soil, wash away crops, and damage infrastructure. These severe weather events make farming even more difficult, especially for farmers who don’t have access to modern farming tools or resources.

A farmer in Bayelsa related how changing weather patterns have disrupted his production.

“The rains come very late. We are experiencing very dry weather right now. Drought has become so severe and is often followed by heavy rains, which last for a day or two and destroy everything we’ve planted. This happens in the space of a week sometimes, and the cycle continues.”

As crops fail and farmers earn less, many families in these areas struggle to survive. The economic downturn means fewer job opportunities and less money circulating in the community. This situation makes it harder for families to get by, leading to increased food insecurity and a dependency on outside support.

Drought in northern Yobe state, Nigeria, 2023. Image by Hajjare via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

According to a news report, an estimated N700 billion (over 400 million USD) in economic value was lost to damages caused by the 2022 floods in Nigeria’s agricultural sector.

A rice farmer in the north-central state of Niger complained of how torrential rains in 2023 had buried his fields of harvest-ready rice and sorghum in more than a metre of water, leaving him with nothing to sell.

“The water was up to here,” he said, pointing to his shoulder as he walked through empty fields that were once a vast plain of green rice shoots and tall sugar cane stalks. It carried away all 900 hectares of rice we planted.”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227620301575#fig0006

Building Resilience Against Changing Climate Patterns

In an effort to enhance resilience against climate shocks Nigeria’s agricultural sector is exploring a multifaceted approach, including the adoption of climate-smart practices, investment in resilient crop varieties, improved irrigation systems, along with better weather forecasting and risk management tools.

Several government-led initiatives have been started and one prominent programme is the Feed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment Initiative (FTF).

The FTF initiative involves a partnership between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and a US based NGO Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture. A five-year, $15.7 million investment contract was signed, spanning from 2018 to 2023, with the aim to improve the business environment for private sector investors in agriculture. This effort focuses on four components:

• Improving the enabling environment for agricultural sector growth
• Broadening access to finance by mitigating risks for agribusiness
• Promoting and facilitating investment opportunities for agribusiness
• Expanding and scaling up agribusiness operations.

The FTF aims to increase agricultural productivity and market access through several approaches, thereby increasing climate resilience:

• Investment in Climate-Smart Technologies: The program supports innovations such as drought-resistant crop varieties, efficient irrigation systems, and weather forecasting tools. These technologies should help farmers adapt to changing weather patterns and mitigate the impact of climate-related hazards.
• Infrastructure Development: Investments in infrastructure, such as improved storage facilities and transportation networks to reduce post-harvest losses and ensure farmers can access markets, even during adverse weather conditions.
• Partnership and Policy Advocacy: The initiative works with government agencies, research institutions, and private sector partners to advocate for policies that support climate resilience. It also promotes resilient livestock practices to improve income stability.
• Training and Capacity Building: The program offers training and extension services on climate-smart agricultural practices, including soil conservation, water management, forecasting, risk management, and pest control. This education equips farmers with the knowledge to apply sustainable farming methods and enhance their ability to withstand climate changes.

The FTF initiative has already claimed some notable outcomes. It estimates that approximately one million smallholder farmers are now adopting climate-smart agricultural practices, utilizing improved seed varieties that are drought-tolerant and early-maturing to better cope with rainfall variability.

The initiative has also claimed a positive impact on local communities, with more than 61,000 people in Adamawa and Borno States participating in training on bio-reclamation techniques to restore degraded land to productive use. 

The initiative has also supported tree crop farmers In Bauchi and Cross River States, with1,500 farmers receiving training in improved tree crop management practices. Additionally, more than 124,000 improved bush mango and cocoa seedlings were distributed to these farmers, aiming to boost productivity and climate resilience.

All these investments have been made quite recently, so it will take time to understand the extent to which they address the scale of the climate related challenges faced by the sector. It is hoped that ongoing monitoring will determine the level of success of different interventions and the need for future investments.

The Added Dimension of Insecurity on Food Production in Nigeria 

It is important to note that in addition to the impacts of climate change on Nigeria’s agricultural sector, conflicts and banditry also contribute to food shortages and problems for farming in many parts of the country. 

The rural insecurity problems are deep-rooted and complex but a common issue is conflict between herders and farmers that has arisen from competition over resources such as land and water. These issues are particularly grave in areas where agricultural activities and traditional pastoral grazing lands overlap. As climate change alters weather patterns and reduces the availability of fertile land and water, tensions between farmers and herders intensify.

Farmers often accuse herders of encroaching on their crops, leading to disputes that can escalate into violence. Conversely, herders argue that they need access to grazing lands for their livestock, which are becoming increasingly scarce due to environmental changes and land use pressures. These clashes have not only disrupted agricultural production but have also contributed to insecurity and displacement of communities.

Farmer Jamilu Haruna says he was just beginning to harvest his rice crops when they were eaten by grazing cattle. Photo by Kunle Adebajo (HumAngle)

For instance, between 2010 and 2015 there were 850 clashes resulting in the displacement of 62,000 people in Benue and other adjourning north central states in Nigeria.

In conclusion, while it is good to see that international agencies are supporting Nigeria with technologies and training for climate resilience in agriculture, it is difficult to have confidence in the outcomes of these initiatives unless the insecurity problems are addressed in parallel. While climate resilience is now acknowledged by governments and financial institutions as a key priority for the rural sector the challenge remains great.