THE IMPACT OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE ON NIGERIA’S AGRICULTURE

Firstly, what is Climate?

The word climate comes from the Greek klima that refers to the inclination of the sun. Climate is the variations in weather of a particular location that is averaged over a long period of time.

            What is Global Climate Change?

From the term ‘global climate change’, it can be deduced it means the change in the climate of the world.  Global climate change is regarded as a likely consequence of the green house effect.  The green house effect however, is the the ability of certain gases called green house gases in the atmosphere to trap heat given off from the Earth’s surface resulting into the insulation and warming of the planet. Without this thermal blanketing of the natural greenhouse effect, Earth’s climate would be cooler and the results will be a planet too cold for most living things to survive in.

The impacts of global climate change I’m afraid are more negative than positive. Climate change impacts on agriculture should be examined on both a global scale and Nigeria in particular. This is because what happens nationwide cannot be understood without taking account of impacts elsewhere in the world using grain as a stand in for all food because it accounts for more than half of all food calories consumed in the world for example. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report estimated climate change impacts on grain production at the world wide level and on the approximated effect on the developed countries of North America and Europe with the less developed countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. From their account, there is a sharp difference in impact that climate change is expected to have on grain production in developed countries as opposed to less developed countries from which Nigeria is no different. This is because the developed countries have much greater economic resources that can be committed to helping farmers adjust to climate change and are also more efficient in organizing the resources needed to track precise social objectives.

However, the period of time before climate change impacts occurred was expected to be long relative to the time needed to develop technological and managerial responses. It can be observed that in Nigeria supplies of people, technology, and institutions of knowledge are in short supply. More so, investments in rural education advanced elegantly in the 1960s and 1970s but declined roughly in the 1980s and have not yet shown much support of a turn-around. Spending on agricultural research in our region has declined in recent years, precisely the period when it should have been increasing robustly if Nigeria was to achieve sustainable agricultural systems.

In conclusion, climate change damages Nigeria’s agriculture but the country faces other threats that far prevail over those that climate change brings even though scientists estimate that warming of up to about 3 °C could increase global agricultural potential, but that further warming is likely to decrease this potential.