SUNDAY PUNCH
54
Agric - Economy
AUGUST 14. 20 11
Climate-based insuran.ce scheme for farmers
IFEANVI ONUBA
NDOUBTEDLY. the negative impact o f climate
change pn!Sents a huge cha!tenge to Nigerian farm ers For Instance. in 2010. the spate 01 floods In alnlost all parts of the country destroyed a 101 of farmlands. This resu l1ed in
high food prices. heightened food Insecurity. rising demand for imported food There are fears lhallh15 may \\IOr5en IUral """",ty
And gJVell
th~
l'1!'Cenl nood disasters. which have dealt
devastalil'lg blOlN' o n many
f2lfmeB.
the counlTy's dream
01 meeting the t-liIlennium Development Goals 01 halving poverly by 20 15 may be a shot In the dalk.. In Niget'LlI. agriculture contributes abou t 42 per cenl to the country's Gross Domeslic Product and employs about 70 per cenl of the lotallabol.lI force. HO\..~. lhe sector is particulally wlnerable to clilNte change IndUCed disasters owing to the lact IMI over 90 per cent of oop production is largely dependent on rainfall. Although the Nigerian Meteorology Agency had predicted that there would be lIdequllle rainfall lor farmers 10 grow Iheir Cf0p5 In lOll. it wlI rned thai floods resulting Irom ~avy rainfall WIth Ihe devaslatmg effects would adversely lIffect this ~'ear"s harvests A document ftom NIMET. IIIled. '20 11 Seasonal Rainfall PrethctlOf'! lind $cCiO -Economic Implications For Nigeria' . a copy of which wa s obta ined by our correspondent In Abuja.. on Fnda~'. silltes. -The agricultural seClor is likely to witness a good season of crop !,Ilelds and adequate fodder. nle el<peded longer Ihan normal length of tile rainy sea50!1 and annual ramfall WCtUId be adequate 10 Sl)pPOf' h igh quantity or milk and meilt production For the savannah region. rainfall would be substantial enough to give high agricultural yields 01 crops ~dllle acleqUllte T'\lnfall over the south would be sutnCK!T1t for good \!icld of both cereal and root crop5. ~ Howevet. Ihe stOfi!lge problem laced by some IUber' farmers m 2009 Is likely to get WDtse as a result 01 Ihe expected longer l:ength o f gl'()\A'Ing season. Farmers should harvest matu red nops and process for value acidilion when storage is not f"vouTillble . Relevan t au thorities should ensun!' Ihat Improved crop production be accompaniro by Ihe p!"ovision o f adequall!: storagE! facilities and proc~ng Cl'p.lIbihty and enhanced financial empOI.I:ermenL ~for the hydrologICal <md water resources sector. this implies waler SUlpius zmd IIlCfease in wam-llows which will a ffect the dam storages lor mu nicipal water S\lpply . hydropD\'Jl"l' generation and irrigation. H O\.I.'l.M?T, episodic flooding and eroslon In the coastal zone and river catchment w areas will be lnevitable Conversely, Ihe Uni ted Nation's models on the future climatic scenario for NigerIa predicted d au nting prospects for the lIgricultural seclor Accortl mg to the UN. the country. in the next two years. \~~ II experience shorter mlnfall seasons IAlith high intensity of precipitation. Also. a higher aVl2mge tempe:rature is predIcted. especi~11y lor the northern part of Nigeria . Should the cunenl renn·fed small scale agriaJltuil! remain pledomlnanl shu;.:tun!' of the 5ecIor mthe coming decades. farmers Will face fI precariOUS lu tun!'. It is agzllnst this backdrop that stakeholders aJl!ca/lvassing Should the for the introduct~on o f a climate -based Insurance current rain· scheme to protect farmers fed smaJI scale agamst d imate change. ' arn-j(:ulture induced dISasters '3In an interview with our rem.:rin the corrE':spcmdl!nl. lheExec\ltlve
p redolninant strucnue of tile se ctor in tbe coming decades, Ia<.J'mers wilJ face a l'rec arious future'
D II1!d o r. lntemaIl0IlalCenIJl!
for Energy. Environment and Development. Mr Ewa Ekn. said dnnale·based insurance was a necesst'ry mechanism for protecting fa,men' investmenl ag;,inst disasters such as flood. He said. wOne of thl!: best me<ha nisms lor prolecting farmers' investml!:nt is through the implementaHon
Ed'••/ G;.h",",/; S."I,,, lUI,,,,.,., 0/ E"ergy. Transport I o/Senegal, Mr. Karim lVc:rde: GroU/) MC!JIGg/ng Dlrec' o r/C lJlef£"ec IIUve Officer. Mr. PfrllII/JS Odlloza;aru' MDICEO, USA Senegc:rl. Mr. Jeall Luc KOlin", nIter a bllafernl meeting with the gove nl",enl a/Senega' mid UBA Oli/n/ra.structurejTIICJrlc'"g. /11 Dakar ... o n Frldc:ry. of a clima te ·insura nce "Currently. less than one per cent o( Nigerian rarmen; haw atte5S to insurance b\11 the introduction of a workable dimate·based msurance will open up lhe channel 01 finance lor farmen to help them against un{OIe5een occurrences such as Oood disasters. "TIlt! ICEED will partner the Central Bank of Nigeria 10 launch a climale based imurance scheme 10 compensate! larmers for losses Incurred during disasters.. The National Agricul1uraJ Insural'lCl!: Corporation Act restricts agncul'ural insurance to one company. willch provides insurance rover for abou t 5.000 fannen.. Thete is ne«i to hberalise the w agricultttral insurance scheme to allow more compames. S imilarly. a former Chailll\3n. House Commitlee on Climate Change. Mr &uchl!: lmm. told our COITeSpOndent that Ihere was need for t~ govltrnment to put structures in place to co-ordinate the implementation 01 climate change-
based policies m Nigeria He said. "Currenlly. we don' t havl!: adequate institutional structures 10 dnV12 the implementation of poliCies and programmes on climate change. The National Oimate Change Bill has not been signed into law, Although there are dimate! change umts in the MInistry of EnVIronment. they lack the institutional capacity 10 handle! emerging challenges resulting from dunale change There are many policy instruments that ough' to haV12 been adopted but there ",rl!: no adequall!: structures to co-on:lJnale arxJ dnve these policies wNigeria made efforts in findingsolulions 101M problems of climate change. The country usually provides the lalgl!lil number of delegates to international c,onwntions on dimate change from AMca Bul beyond Ihis. \O.'e need institutional structure to drive: Ihe implementatIOn of some the policy decisions laken at these conventions. ~
Neglect of agriculture, cause of poverty - Minister AKINWALE
ABOWWADE HE Min ister of Agriculture. Dr. Akimwm i Adesina. has said Iha l Nigeria is underdeveloped becauSl!: 11 has failed to ta p its human a nd non- hu man potential Adesina gaw this indication o n Friday in h is address a t a two-day workshop o n cassava value cha in development for Nigeria. which was held 1)\ the Internationa l Institute o f Tropical Agrirultun!'. lbada n. Oyo State The minister, who was a researcher al UTA some years aso- explamed th"t the problem o f poverty In Ihe count ry was as a result 01 over-dependence on im ported food at Ihl!: expense of Ihl!: human and natu ra l resources available
locally to develop the agricu lt ura l Sl!:cto r He said although the count ry was bll!55ed wit h abundant resources. past ~ministralions had fa iled to Implementgoodprogr<lmme evolved by research institutes and individuals (or development Adeslna said, "When you look al Nigeria. you will see that we have about 71mlllion hectares of ara~ land That is a lot of poten'ialthal we could have taken an advantage 01. ~We believe thai we have 10 mise thl!: productivity of our fa rml!'r'5 We rleed to make sure that th l!y ha ve access to fertilizen and the seedl ings that they need. At thilt ra le. they can raise the production Il!'\Iel. We have today probably one pe:t cent o f our farmers having access 10 finance nle minister argued thai if W
country could no t boost its agliC\J1ture without having access to fi nance He explained that the N450bn loan. which I.\las made lIvaiiable 10 farmers by Ule Celllral Bank of Nigelia to boost agl'lcultun!'. could only be aa:essI!:d if the farmers could coordinall!: the:mselVE5 lnlo form idable "","ps The minister. who observed thai 32 per cenl of the unl!:mployed Nigerian youths fell in the age bracket of 15 years to 44 yea rs. said thai the scourge of u nemployment could be tackled by boos:ling agncuiture He mllde leference to th e experience in China where poverty was prevale!llt some years back According 10 him . Ihe country was able to wriggle out of poverty liS a mult 01 thei r commJlmenl to the
deve lopment of agriculture. Adesina saki China was ab le to bnng about 450 million o r Its citizens out of poverty within a period of
10 ~Iears . II this ~~'as ;,chievabll'! In China. thl!: ministel !aid Nigeria. where 70 per cl!:nl of the populace presently lived on less thim one dollar per day: could do beller, considering the nch nO!lural and human fesoulCes He !aId. ~nle counlfy. as the highest producer 01 cassava. turns out 45 million ton! annually but we <lCCoun t for zero per cent In terms of gJob;>lI va1ul!: because the COUntry d oes not Import - What we W0'e able to produce was consumed hx;, lIy W At present. NiyeriO! is spending abou t N635bn 011 importation 0' wheat ann ually. N217bn on sugar ;