Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
Researchers, policymakers, development practitioners, and community stakeholders have called for urgent policy reforms that would strengthen climate resilience, food security, and livelihood protection among the rural dwellers in Kwara State and the nation in general.
This, they said, would go a long way to addressing food shortage in the country, thereby boosting the socio-economic growth of the populace.
The discussion tagged ‘Strengthening Climate Resilience, Food Systems, and Livelihood Security in Kwara State through Evidence-Informed Policy Action’ provided an opportunity to develop research, policy adaptation, and sustainable socioeconomic livelihood for the rural dwellers in the state.
Speaking at the event, a lead Researcher from the Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan, Oyo State, Professor Andrew Onwuemele, said that findings from the PALM-TREEs Project had revealed increasing vulnerability of rural communities to droughts, flooding, food insecurity, weak climate information systems, declining agricultural productivity, and livelihood disruptions.
He stated that: “The study also found that access to early warning information among vulnerable communities remained very low, limiting preparedness and response to climate shocks.
Professor Onwuemele said that one of the findings of the study was that the flooding in Kwara State is a result of two main factors.
He noted that: “One is the overflow of River Niger into the communities, while secondly is the issue of the release of excess water from Kanji Dam and the Jebba Dam into the community.
“So, the recommendation is that there should be a committee working with the institutions to manage the dam so that before the water is released, there should be communication to communities that are likely to be affected.
“Secondly, the water should be released in phases. So, if you release only for a week or
Two weeks, then after two weeks, you release again, instead of releasing the water all at once, so that the impact will be very minimal in the community.
“Another key finding was that most of the farmers who need climate information and early warning information do not have access to it. And these pieces of information are constantly released by NIMET. So how do we bridge that gap?
“We are saying that NIMET, working with the Ministry of Environment in Kwara State, should partner and produce this information in local languages, as well as provide this information in digital forms, so that the extension agent working with the farmers can easily pass them as they are working with local community radios, as a way of disseminating those pieces of information.”
The stakeholders, thus, recommended THE establishment of a coordinated climate risk governance framework, expansion of climate-smart agriculture and irrigation systems, strengthening of agricultural extension services, improved climate-sensitive social protection systems, and increased investment in climate-resilient water infrastructure and food systems.
Participants validated the policy recommendations developed from the study findings and emphasised the need for stronger institutional coordination, evidence-informed policymaking, and sustained collaboration to strengthen climate resilience and sustainable development in Kwara State.