Managing the menace of drought for food security in Nigeria

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Managing the menace of drought for food security
in Nigeria

• Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji
• Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP)

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Introduction

• Throughout Nigeria, people are becoming
  increasingly affected by extreme climate and
  environmental change events.
• Worsening droughts and erosion in particular is
  ruining the lives and livelihood of many
  households and has continued to hamper farming
  activities.

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Scenes of Activity
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Description of Problem and Activity

• Activities
• Promotion of activities that conserves water,
  control soil degradation and enhances
  productivity in the field e.g.
• Agronomic,
• Vegetative,
• Structural
• Management measures
• The training of 600 local farmers and 21 focal
  persons

• Problems
• Water mismanagement,
• Inappropriate land use,
• Poor knowledge of anti-drought measures by
  farmers
• Land degradation such as soil erosion
• Limited potential for dry season farming through
  soil and water conservation,
• Lack of rain water harvesting technology
• Conflicts over limited water resources etc

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Scenes of devastation
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Divides that were bridged

• Mitigation
• Involving he communities n all parts of the
  project cycle
• Nominating a youth member of participating
  communities for training as Project Focal
  Person.
• Some activities made to run concurrently
• Adroit management of the sensitivities
• Prioritization of the objectives of the project

• Challenges
• Logistic costs
  
  
  
  e.g. the high cost of connecting various
  communities via road transportation and other
  logistics etc
• Meeting fund raising target of US500,000
• Communal strife and conflicts over local streams
• Poverty

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Impact of implemented activity

• The facilitation of pro-poor governance
  mechanisms
• The unleashing of the creative ability of local
  farmers
• The adoption of conservation agriculture
• Reducing conflicts over water
• A comprehensive understanding the natural
  environment
• Supporting 600 poor farmers in 21 communities
• Enhanced income from growing crops
• e.g. maize, cassava, groundnut, cabbages,
  carrots, onions and tomatoes, as well as
  agro-forestry etc.

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Stakeholder Participation and Consultation

• Major stakeholders
• Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP)
• The 21 local communities especially, farmers
  themselves, the women groups and land owners etc
• Volunteering staffs of local universities
• Officials of government departments at the local
  government etc

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Sustainability

• Project an outcome of 2005 field training in
  Nanyuki Kenya
• Promotes adaptation to Climate Change
• Easy and high potential to up-scale and replicate
• Need for goodwill in communities
• Fund raising activities through sales of our
  video documentaries and promotional stickers as
  well as the Dedicate a tree initiative
• Facilitator skills

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Commitment

• Documentation of these practices
• Documentation of indigenous knowledge
• Adoption of Agro-forestry, minimum tillage,
  terraces, water pond, roof catchment and others
  etc
• Farmers to- farmer peer review activities
• 1000 trees have successfully been planted
• Evaluating and disseminating of knowledge
• Food security guaranteed

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Lessons Learnt

• Diffusion of knowledge or knowledge sharing in
  drought management
• Application of simple land management options
• An understanding of the benefits accruable by
  farmers
• Ease of adaptation

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