The Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, together with Nourishing Africa, has opened registrations for the 6th edition of its monthly webinar series themed ‘Climate-Smart Agriculture.’
The 60 minutes-long event will be held on Wednesday, September 1, 2021, from 10 am-11 am (WAT).
Why you should attend
According to the World Bank (2021), a growing global population and changing diets are progressively driving up the demand for food. Production is struggling to keep up as crop yields level off in many parts of the world, ocean health declines, and natural resources—including soils, water, and biodiversity—are stretched dangerously thin.
A 2020 report found that nearly 690 million people —or 8.9 percent of the global population—are hungry, up by nearly 60 million in five years. Food security challenges will become even more difficult with a growing global population. This challenge is furthermore intensified by agriculture’s extreme vulnerability to climate change.
Climate change’s negative impacts are already being felt in the form of increasing temperatures, weather variability, shifting agroecosystem boundaries, invasive crops and pests, and more frequent extreme weather events. On farms, climate change is reducing crop yields, the nutritional quality of major cereals, and lowering livestock productivity.
Agriculture plays a pivotal role in Africa’s economy with about 70% of the continent’s population practicing subsistence farming. Hence, the significance of this sector in providing employment and motivating economic growth – in a developing nation such as Nigeria – cannot be undermined.
It is well understood that agriculture mainly hinges on environmental factors and any prolonged variations in average weather conditions can have substantial effects on production.
Additionally, agriculture, as practiced on the continent, is highly characterized by land tenure insecurity which continues to hamper agricultural growth for millions of smallholder farmers; while poor soil fertility, degraded ecosystems, and climate variability are among other problems associated with agriculture in Africa (USAID, 2016).
The Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) concept reflects an ambition to improve the integration of agriculture development and climate responsiveness. Its aim is to achieve food security and broader development goals under a changing climate and increasing food demands. Initiatives generally seek to increase productivity, enhance resilience, and reduce/remove greenhouse gases (FAO, 2019).
And yet, the adoption of CSA remains low in sub-Saharan Africa, despite its promotion as a sustainable production system for mitigating agriculture’s contribution to climate change, as well as for helping farmers adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. This necessitates continuing research on its determinants, in order to identify appropriate mechanisms to encourage adoption.
This webinar seeks to bring together both public and private climate experts as well as Agropreneurs.
Key objectives
- To underscore the crucial role of science in tackling the negative effects of climate change on food and nutrition security
- To highlight intervention programs aimed at empowering farmers to be resilient and cope with the effects of climate change (e.g. through space technology – weather forecasting)
- To promote climate-smart agriculture through investment in innovation and technology
Who are the organizers?
This webinar is organized by the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, together with Nourishing Africa, and will be moderated by Rahmat Eyinfunjowo of Nourishing Africa. For specific questions, please contact Olayinka Makinwa at
Click here to register.
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