allAfrica.com: Nigeria: 'Global Food Crisis is Effect of Climate Change' (Page 1 of 2)

Architect Halima Tayo Alao, the Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban Development is a committed community leader who has served Nigeria in several professional and administrative positions before attaining her present status.

She studied architecture at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, from where she graduated with a Master of Science (M.Sc) degree in 1981. After participating in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Ibadan, Oyo State, she commenced a distinguished civil service career, in her home state of Kwara. Recently, she spoke with a selected group of journalists and our correspondents Atang Izang and Isaac Aimurie, were there. She spoke on a wide range of issues, which include the effect of climate change or global warming which has resulted to current global food crisis. Excerpts:

Desertification/Drought

To be able to know and appreciate the plan for desertification, there is the need to know what the issues of desertification and drought are all about. And, in understanding these issues, you would even with the action plan be able to know the things that must be done in order that the people will live sustainable and successful happy lives especially in those areas. Drought, especially in the northern part of the country has further been compounded by the issue of climate change. Apart from that there are some basic factors which have continued to degrade the land especially the issue of increase in population, the issue of urbanisation, the issue of pollution, are all issues that have further degraded the land, especially in the northern part where you really want to relate it with drought and desertification. And, of course we must understand that the large population derives their rural areas. Drought in the north has also been compounded by the issue of the down ward movement of the Sahel/Sahara desert, we must rescue it now because of the issue of climate change, too much water somewhere little water somewhere, especially too little in the inland areas.

Deforestation

On the issue of deforestation, people do illegal logging, illegal felling of woods, the issue of bush burning and also issue of trying to make the best of a bad situation where you have bad land and inadequate rain and all of that. For us to be able to effectively look at the issues of drought and desertification, we have to look at those factors that enhance the situation, that promote degradation and try to work against such factors so that we can tackle it effectively. We have a policy - National Policy on Desertification and Drought; and of course, we have an action plan. What are the consequences of drought and desertification? Land degradation and land dunes, dry land, lack of water and insufficient clean water, and all of that. So we have to start looking at the plan that we will put in place, action that will reverse these issues, reserve the issue of drought and desertification. We have planned to rehabilitate Oasis, plan to do stabilisation of sand dunes, and plan to do aforestation. Aforestation is a very, very great factor, especially in the drought affected areas. A lot of degradations are as a result of the deforestation, consequences of bush burning, consequences of tree felling, consequences of exposing the land to further erosion.

What is the ministry doing?

Over the years, the ministry has done quite a lot of aforestation programmes in collaboration with the states. Because the states have the constitutional responsibility on the ownership of the forest. So we are trying to do quite a number of aforestration programmes with the local governments, shetter belt creation, rehabilitation of oasis, stabilization of sand dunes and all of that, and quite a number have been done. For this year's budget, quite a number will be done and quite a number too, under the ecological fund that have been so approved.

Water and sanitation policy

All the projects that we have been able to do over time, quite a number have always been to make sure that the environment as much as possible stays stable. We have tried to tackle pollution, land degradation and a lot of critical issues, especially now with climate change and all of that. But I must also say that environment cuts across all the other sectors of the economy, it is a very important factor that has tremendous impact on the success of all the other sectors. For sustainable development, it is very key or important that the environment is given its rightful place in national development. If we look at the issue of health, health indices will continue to be low until we have been able to adequately address the environment. I think it is a critical sector, critical issues as the health of the people is concerned. Health issues can never be over emphasised, we also know that almost 50 per cent of communicable diseases are environment related. Malaria which has continued to be one of the basic childhood killer diseases, is the disease that can be adequately tackled if we improve on sanitation and also improve on our environment. And of course, now with the global trend and climate change such as the issues of technology and technology transfer, we are saying we as a country must also join the global trend, considering the fact that we have to move towards renewable energy. We have to look at solar energy, we have to look at wind energy and we also have to look at hydro energy. And we are very lucky that solar energy is free and, so we as a country should strive to produce it, considering the fact that we have a very significant important position with climate change issues especially in the African region. We have heard about climate change over and over but for the sake emphasis, we said it is being caused primarily by changes that are humanly increasing in green house gases, principally carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which has continued to warm the atmosphere and the consequences of that are very little rain else where. Unpredictable rainfall is going to affect agriculture, it is going to be significant in food security and the health of the people is going to be affected' because increase in temperature will breed more infections and diseases; and it is going to be an issue with transportation and everything.

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