By Ibrahim Yakubu
As raining season ends in northern Nigeria, most local farmers have expressed fears that most crops that are not yet matured on farms might easily dry up or get damaged due to stoppage of rainfall.
Climate change leading to Flood disaster, insecurity and other ecological challenges have indeed affected this year’s harvest, which shows clearly that there might be scarcity of cash crops and other food items in the country.
A 2- week survey and in-debt investigation by a team of volunteer environmental journalists from various media outlets across the 19 northern states, show how many local farmers farming along the river banks were forced to embrace irrigation system of farming, to prevent their crops and other agricultural product from damage or being withered in their various farmlands, due to shortage of water.
Mallam Idris Musa, Sarkin Noman Abakwa, in Kaduna, says he is afraid that many local farmers would lose their farm crops this year due to scarcity of water, saying that since the last 3 weeks, the rainfall had stopped.
“If you look at all the leaves of our crops, they are drying and dyeing gradually while changing colours from green to yellow.
“Most of the crops on my farmland have started drying gradually and this is a sign of huge lost to me.
“Beans, rice, millets and sorghum farmers now are in a critical situation, as some of them are forced to hire generators that could be pumping water from water-ways or river to our farms to wet or water the crops”, he explains.
The farmer stated that Climate change has affected this year’s farming season, and it would continue to cause a devastating effect on agriculture in the entire Northern part of the country, unless government and other stake holders change the ways of adopting other farming mechanization.
Musa observed that majority of the local farmers across the 19 northern states of nigeria still practice subsistence farming and very few practice mechanise system, majorly due to lack of funds to support them and other ways to educate them on latest farming technology that could enhance food and crops production in the country. Doing this, according to him is the best way to fight against hunger and reduce high cost of foods.
He noted that many farmers didn’t start planting their crops on time due to the nature of this year’s rainfall, but it shows clearly that climate change is responsible for the damages.
He also stressed the need to educate farmers on ways to avert damaging their crops and other harvests.
A Kano based farmer, Mallam Danladi Yahaya Jangoza was of the view that ,climate change was gradually affecting the local farmers due to lack of awareness on weather condition and inadequate information about harmful impact of climate change on agricultural production.
Similarly, Mallam Shuaibu Mohammed from Zamfara State observed that this year’s harvest was going to be different from the preceding year as a result of shortage of rainfall.
“We are really afraid, that food prices might double in the market due to how scarcity of water affected this year raining season”, he said.
They therefore called on State and Federal governments to embark on sensitizing farmers on latest farming techniques so as to join the rest of the world in the fight against hunger.
Dr Piman Hoffman, Director African climate Reporters says Climate change poses numerous threats to industrialized animal farming operations.
According to him, Climate change can disrupt food availability, reduce access to food, and affect food quality.
For example, he said, projected increases in temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, changes in extreme weather events, and reductions in water availability may all result in reduced agricultural productivity.
He then called on Government to double efforts toward sensitizing rural farmers about climate change and how to adapt the new system.
