The Nigerian AgriBusiness Group (NABG) and other relevant stakeholders in the agriculture sector have resolved to deploy climate-smart agriculture to improve food productivity, create jobs and fight the scourge of poverty in Nigeria.

This was made known at a two-day stakeholders workshop on developing a national framework for climate-smart agriculture in Abuja with the theme “Cleaner, safer, rewarding agriculture.”

The programme aimed at promoting agribusiness advocacy for smallholder farmers’ project known as the SSPs project, is a three-year programme funded by the Bill Gates Foundation under the Policy Advocacy to drive the scale and inclusion of smallholder farmers (SMF) in Nigeria and improve food security in the country.

In his remarks, President of NABG, Emmanuel Ijewere, said the rationale for putting up the programme is to put in place a framework that will enable the country to address the issues of climate change.

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Ijewere noted that the aim is also to create a sustainable agricultural framework, so that Nigerian youths can have an opportunity to work and reduce importation of food, while using the land more efficiently through technology.

He added that Nigerians must employ technology, knowledge and training to move away from oil, recognising the fact that agriculture is the future, as 70 percent of the citizens are in the sector and their lots must be improved.

He also noted that despite the threat of insecurity, Nigerians should not allow insecurity to dampen their enthusiasm to produce food and reduce food insecurity in our country.

Director General of NABG, Dr Manzo Maigari, said it has become incumbent on all stakeholders to embrace the climate-smart agriculture because of the value it adds to productivity and the potential to reduce the risks faced by farmers.

He noted that the climate-smart agriculture has been developed to help farmers mitigate the impacts of the climate change.

NABG Council member, Alhaji Muhammadu D. Abubakar, said the essence of climate-smart agriculture is to promote better yields with minimum efforts and also protect the environment. He also called on all stakeholders to sustain their commitment to make the initiative more beneficial.