Nigeria has been experiencing severe heat waves, with temperatures rising to about 40°C in some parts of the country.
As farmers continue to grapple with the negative impact of delayed rainfall across farming communities in Nigeria, agriculture experts, on Saturday, took to the streets of Abuja to train small scale farmers on climate information services and best agronomic methods to promote sustainable food production this season.
The training was championed by the Community Action for Food Security (CAFS) in partnership with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency ( NiMet), Golan Helps Abuja Foodbank Initiative (GHAFBI) and other relevant agriculture/environmental organisations.
According to the organisers, the primary objective of the pre-season training workshop is to empower small-scale farmers and youths in Wumi and Tondo farming communities of Kuje Area Council, to adapt to climate change through increased awareness of climate and weather information services and community-based actions.
In his remarks, Azeez Salawu, CAFS founder, said following the fluctuating weather events currently being experienced in the country, it is imperative to train farmers, starting with the FCT, on awareness about climate information services and best agronomic practices to keep crop production afloat.
"The training is aimed for us to build the capacity of these farmers especially around getting them aware of different climate information services that help them to do well in this 2024 raining season," Mr Salawu said.
Changing climate in Nigeria
Recently, Nigeria has been experiencing severe heat waves, with temperatures rising to about 40°C in some parts of the country, and previous weather projections showing that the situation might persist for a while.
In February, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) predicted that temperatures would hit 41°C in the North and 39°C in the South on some days between March and May.
This, according to the agency, will result in dehydration, which could cause fainting, chickenpox, measles and heat rashes. People could also experience heat-related illnesses such as respiratory issues and increased vulnerability to chronic conditions.
In another advisory, the meteorological agency warned that Nigerians in Abuja, Kano, and many other northern states are likely to suffer heat strokes due to the scorching heat waves.
There is a significant twist in the rainfall pattern in the country this year. Most farmers in the country, particularly across northern states, hae yet to experience a good volume of rainfall required to support rainfed farming activities, such as maize, sorghum and cowpeas among others.
Across Nigeria, extreme weather events and exceptional temperatures have had a huge toll on the different sectors of the country's economy, particularly the agriculture sector.
PREMIUM TIMES has on several occasions documented how flunctuating weather patterns such as heavy rainfall and drought are impacting farmers and crop production in the country.
This changing weather patterns have exposed vulnerable farmers and farming communities in the country to unimaginable losses and damages, with many struggling to cope amidst soaring food inflation, skyrocketing farm inputs and plummeting incomes.
Farmers speak
Some of the trained farmers who spoke to this medium on Saturday, expressed concern over some of the challenges bedevilling their farming operations and why the training is necessary.
One of them, Tayo Amadu-Bulus, who farms maize, melon and rice among other crops, said aside from the changing weather conditions, insecurity and invasion of their farmlands by Fulani herders are having a huge toll on her farming operations.
Mrs Amadu-Bulus lamented that the high cost of inputs such as fertiliser and pesticides are also affecting their operations as peasant farmers in Abuja.
"If we can also get fertiliser supports, and chemicals because they are very expensive , it will be very helpful," she said.
On her part, Deborah Iliya, a groundnut farmer , said her major concern is that most of their farmlands are losing nutrients and that their farms are often invaded by herders.
"If we can get security and organic fertiliser support from the government, it will help us a lot," she said.
Similarly, Akoshi Daniel, who farms grains and tuber crops suCassavcassava, said the increased insecurity across communities has made it impossible for many farmers to access their farms as they used to in the past.
"We don't get rainfall as we used to in the past. Also, whenever we plant our maize now, there are some insects that eat the maize stems and sometimes cut them off. The soils are weak and cassava doprn't produce well. Likewise our groundnuts are affected by disease and they don't produce the way we want," Mr Daniel said.
Rainfall delays predicted
Speaking on the possible causes of the rainfall delays across parts of the country in Nigeria, Aliyu Sadiq, a Principal Meteorologist at NiMet's Climate Service Unit, who facilitated a part of the training, said the rainfall delays were already predicted by NiMet in its 2024 climate prediction reports published early this year.
While attributing some of this unusual phenomenon to the effects of El-Nino, Mr Sadiq explained that NiMet had predicted that there would be a delay in rainfall in the country and early cessation this year.
El Niño is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. El Niño is the "warm phase" of a larger phenomenon called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). La Niña, the "cool phase" of ENSO, is a pattern that describes the unusual cooling of the region's surface waters.
"The six area councils in Abuja have not yet attained their onset of rainfall. Their onset should be between 12-17 May," the NiMet official said.
He described some of the initial rainfall experienced in the FCT as "pre-onset" activities.
Mr Sadiq said pre-onset activities is the rainfall that farmers think marks the commencement rainy season, but in the real sense is not.
"Onset is defined when a region or locality has 20 millimetres of rainfall for at least one to three days and there won't be a dry spell of ten days within one month," he said.
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He said the farmers were trained to let them know that they were approaching their onset of rainfall, and that with that there would be enough moisture in the ground to support the sprouting of their seeds.
Based on this, Mr Sadiq urged farmers to seek more weekly climate advisory from NiMet in order to guide their farming schedules appropriately.
"Our predictions are science based and have been proven. Once the farmers stick to our predictions, I believe they won't incur losses on crops or seeds," he said.
On his part, another facilitator of the training, Chukwudi Ubazi, a Plant pathologist from the Department of Crop protection at the University of Abuja, said farmers should take into consideration the timing for their planting of seeds, mulching and plant spacing.
"Good timing before planting also helps to have good plant establishment," he said.
Following the delay in rainfall as currently being experienced by farmers, Mr Ubazi explained that farmers should prioritise mulching practices.
He said mulching is the use of organic or inorganic materials to provide shade for plants or seedlings at a very tender age when they are in the field.
"It is going to help protect the seeds in the soil from excessive loss of moisture and also help prevent the plants from weathering," he said.
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