Agriculture and environment professionals rose from a four-day training organised by The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with a determination to find solutions to the challenges posed to agriculture by climate change.
At the training, which ended in Port Harcourt last week under the ‘SUSTAIN International’ scheme, participants concluded that the major steps at mitigating the harms of climate change on agriculture was to deploy new skill in finding seeds that are resistant to harsh weather or dry seasons.
They resolved to take their newly acquired skills to farm projects around Nigeria to cascade them down to farmers at the grassroots.
The training was handled by experts at the IFAD/SUSTAIN International training with focus on Social, Environmental, Climate Assessment Programme (SECAP) scheme, which guides every single IFAD-support agric project in Nigeria.
It had experts drawn from within and outside Nigeria, including Jenean Pretorius from Clear AA (South Africa).
Participants were drawn from IFAD projects of LIFE-ND, VCDP and SAPZ at the federal and state levels, while others were drawn from other professional groups such as SPMU’s, Environment and Climane Experts, CPAT, the representatives of the federals, Pet of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Federal Ministry of Finance.
They were equipped to identify problems ahead and find solutions quickly to save farms from flooding, off-season rains, excessive dry season, among others.
They were also trained to lead in fabrications and other forms of technology to fight the menace of climate change. IFAD anchored the training which runs in many countries of the world as part of a global exercise in 59 countries mostly in Africa and Oceania.
The training was in Cohort 1 (for policy and decision-making level managers) and Cohort 2 (for professionals and implementation level officers) around Nigeria.
Stakeholders’ engagement strategies were demonstrated to showcase their practical application in real projects. The significance of power dynamics was highlighted, emphasizing the need for regularly updated stakeholder data to reflect current realities, which is crucial for effective project implementation at all stages.
Part of the strategies the experts resolved to run with, include the formation of the SECAP community of practice by seeking to establish a platform for continuous learning, exchange of experiences, and peer support across IFAD programs in Nigeria and around the world.
They also resolved to carry out implementation of SECAP standards whereby participants are expected to integrate the knowledge acquired into their respective projects, ensuring compliance with social, environmental, and climate standards. They will scale down learning to grassroots by extending training outcomes to state-level decision-makers and farmer organizations to ensure broader application and impact.
Some of the experts spoke on how IFAD/SUSTAIN International has impacted their view of their jobs. Gbemigo Watigere, National Environment and Climate Change Officer for Life-ND, said: “Our commitment is to make sure we spread this concept down. It is a good learning experience and I will have to commend the facilitators because the teaching was very simplified and it was very practical and hands-on.”
Joseph Monday, Environment and Climate Change Officer from VCDP, Nasarawa State, said he learnt how to integrate SECAP procedure in his activities, including training the beneficiaries under him.
Consultant to IFAD and Facilitator to SECAP training in Port Harcourt, Priscilla Achakpa, gave full explanation on the concept, processes, outcomes and expectations of the IFAD/SUSTAIN International training.
The key objective, she said, was to make them understand why SECAP is important in their various project components around Nigeria and that monitoring and evaluation of all IFAD projects would be evaluated along the training SECAP module.
READ ALSO: EU plans strategy to mitigate climate change effects in Nigeria’s cocoa sector
and then