Ogun commissioner showcases state’s climate-friendly agric policies, practices

Mitigating climate change with agro-allied policies and practices, again, has been harped on by agricultural scientists and environmental enthusiasts as part of global efforts to make agribusinesses sustainable through eco-friendly initiatives.

This was the focus as experts spoke on ‘Prosperity from climate-smart agribusiness with and for Africa,’ organised by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Group and AUDA-NEPAD during a webinar recently.

Speaking on ‘Effective Policies for Climate-Smart Agribusiness MSMEs and their Organisation,’ Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Adeola Odedina, showcased success stories of the state’s agriculture as put in place by Governor Dapo Abiodun.

Odedina harped on the policy to support climate-smart agriculture, reduction of greenhouse gases, and adaptive skills in coping with and mitigating the effect of climate change with a focus on agriculture to provide jobs, support smallholder farmers and agricultural industrialisation.

Dr Odedina explained that agroforestry, which combines economic tree crops with food crops in a sustainable environment, has been encouraged among small-scale cocoa, cashew and oil palm plantation owners in the state through constant engagements, training, and awareness creation and agricultural extension services.

He also identified the creation of multiple streams of income through the integration of livestock, crop production and value chain development by farmers as a means of decelerating pressures on land and environmental resources. This approach, he said, would mitigate climate change for the benefit of all.

Through such integration, farmers would avoid wastage, recycle resources and keep the ecosystem balanced and unpolluted.

He said the state had facilitated funding to farmers through the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) of the Federal Government of Nigeria as part of efforts to make small-scale farming sustainable, eco-friendly and climate-sensitive.

He spoke alongside other panel discussants at the international conference, such as Programme Officer, Gender Climate Change, Environmental Sustainability Programmme, Ms Edna Kalima, and the President of PAFO, Mr Kolyyang Palébélé, on ‘Climate-smart agribusiness with and for Africa: Status and Opportunities.’

Palébélé said technologies should be applied in MSMEs to boost climate-friendly agricultural businesses in developing countries.

He also harped on policies that could enable the building of capacity for small and medium-scaled agribusiness entrepreneurs in Africa and other economically developing countries, as well as the development of templates and implementation of guidelines for climate-friendly agro-allied business operations.