DAILY T RUST
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Thursday, October 17, 20 11
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environment@dailytrust.com HOTLI NE: 08036411326
Environment
NIME d "s ri u as gauge to far III
ByShEhu Ablibal:at FA RMERS In Ihe Fede.r:r.1Capital Territory and olher SlalCl thai make up the Nonh Cenlral 'lone we re: uui ned o n th e di"e(;u of dlmalC: change 10 agricultural prod uction and provided wi th rai n ga uge tocnab le them monitor the volumcof r.llnfall io th eir fa u ns eve ry )'car. This is done 10 imp rove the knowledge: off.umc:n to know how to makcgood usc of C'very flUOY SCUOII In agricultu re iilnd food producllo n. • Speaki ng during th e commc:ncc:nlcnt o f a rovi ng semina r and d istribulion of !he !lIin gauge to ramlers from the zont rece ntly al Gwag,,-a1adaln the Federal Capil~ Tcrrolory ( FCrO,Dircctor Gc:nenl o f the Nige ria Metrological Ag<'ncy(NIMEll. Dr. Anthony An UrO TOm s.ald Nige ria's agriculrural secto r is highl y wcath cr/ d imateSc!nsitive es peciall y ior roli n-fed agrk ultu re. He said wea th er rdated haz.ard s such il5 floods and d roughts th erefore constitu lc se rious Ihre:a t$ to th i! success of logricu hure in Nigeria. - r'Or eumpl.e. in the yar 20 I0, the splote of floods in lolmost all paru of the cou ntry dest roy.:d fa rmlands, rcsuhi ng in higher food. p rices and furthe r ine:!Cui ng poverty especiall y for the fUral farnlCn. ThisdiSlurbingtrend hasconli nued in 20 11 wi th c,!c n grcater intc nsi ty of flood cpisodcs ac ross Ihe cou nlry a nd Ihis is of particu lar sign ificance give n th e increasin g scou rges of climate change In ree.: nl d«a des and the fact lha l abo ul 80 per ce nt of th.: variabili ty in agriculture and food prod uct ion is due to weather vagar ies; he said . according to Anuforom. dimau' change proj«lions ind icate WMm er dimate an d dC'Crc.asingninWl with morcin tensestornl5. For Nigeria. aboul 0.5 to 0.6 degree Celcius increase in temperat ure iscxpecud by ),ear 2020; such rise in avenge long- term maximum umpcnture can t.ra nslate 10 about 25 per ce nt inc rease in evaporation . severely impacti ng 0 11 agricu lt ure and food securit y and Medica re. wit is beli.:ved that if no adequate C Umat ... Change adaptation Is employed by 2020, beu >'ccn 2 to I I percent of ou r Grou Do mestic Product (GOP) could be 10st,~ he sai d. Dr. A.nuforom $lId put of the masures 10 gua rd agai nst the menace is th e: urgent need for fa rmen to be well Informed abou l th e:~ ch anges in wea tlu:r and clim ate and how th ey affect thei r various agricuiru ral ope rations in o rder to ena ble them cope or adapt adequ ately. li e said th e Rovi ng Seminar has bet n pu t toge th er b y the World Meh:o rological O rganiz.ation (W MO) iUld the Spanish State Agency fo r Mc teo ro logical Services (AEME'f) to mee t theu needs
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especiall y for develop ing countri es such as Nigc ri a wit h low climate change coping capacilies. "In adJition 10 bringing the va rious 01male Information Services (as) o(NIM ET to Ihe fa rmers, the seminar ai nu: at obtain ing fa rmen' cli ma te inform ation needs as weu as iofornlatio n on their respective farm performance and practi ces. This is wit h a view to Imp rovi ng on sub sequ ent prod ucts of th e CIS. Ag ri cuiLure co nstitut es On C or th e OlOSt Important segmen ts of our Ila tion', eco nomy. The secto r con tr ibu tes -12 percent of the cou ntry's gmu d ome:otlc product. and employs about 70 percent of the totillabour force.
"Agricul ture has th e potentia ls in ensu rIng rood security. creatillg lIew job 0Pllortunities, de\'eloping new en terprises. sup porting CIisting ind ustr ies and imp roving the co m~ti livenes5 of the Nigerian exporL TIle prC5C'nce of so niC agrlcult ur.1 exten sion workers, who arc very good agents in effective disse mi nat ion of relevant Informatio n such as we have today for the farmers,ls h ighly com mendable," ht said. He urge yo u all stakeholders, especiall y the farmers to take adva ntage of th is unique opportu nity to d iscu" exte nSively as well as intera.:t wit h the Mcteo rologis ti and co mc up with th e necessary commu nication lind climaTe infor mation dis-
semina ti on stnL'8ybetween NIMETand the i.mllers. in (,ord er 10 climate- proof the sector. He called on the farm ing communitics of the FC'r and farmers (wm olher bt neftui ng staid to ma ke th e best usc of thedima te re,ou rc~ provided brN I.M ET to improve prod I.Ictivity and guard against weather related hannis, Farmeri who beneftc~ed from the tnin Ing and the free raJn Eauge d istributed to the m promised 10 make good use of th e know ledge th ey acqUired and even Irolin their olher colleo.g..lC$ tha t could nOt attend the seminar. Similar scminan were tJrgan· ized for fit m lers \., othergeo-politiCli lones in the count r),.
As fioods rise, canoes, cholera return to Nigeria SEASONAL T?im; have sen t ",ater fl owing ove r riverbanks aga in in Nigeria. raj~ing the risk of cholera and di sease aJ govc:rn mc:nt appC:ilrs unable to cope wilh the fl ooding. C-anoes arc bdng used whcfC' ars used 10 drive ill cornmUllities ju, t outside oflkorodu. a city itselfjust outside of
Nigeria's Illegadty o f Lagos. In o ne cOllllll unity. Wol ter nO\\'ed over an outhouse, a wa rn ing sign of cholera. Earlier Ihls mon th, UN ICEF said Il l:i£ rly 2,500 have tJied ill one of the biggest cholen outbreaks West Africa haJcver Kcn this year, with deaths from
Congo to Mali, indudi ng NigerIa. IAa ds blame govern nlent oliklah fur nOI seeing their plight, though sever-.J acknowlt d ~ed they live in a flood prOnt area. Culled/rum Bbolllbu g Dus ill UiWtd:
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