Impacts of climate change on food production- Minister

….500m pastoralists rely on livestock herding for food, income – Ganduje

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, Thursday, expressed concern over the risk climate change impacts have placed on food production and security

Abdullahi said this in his remarks at the 12th Animal Science Association of Nigeria, ASAN, and the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science, NIAS, Joint Annual Meeting and 28th ASAN Conference in Abuja.

He also acknowledged the fact that climate change has already started impacting food security as Northern Nigeria is hounded by desert encroachment, where agricultural lands are fast disappearing and transformed into desert, while Southern Nigeria is hit by consistent coastal flooding and erosion.

According to the Minister, mitigating climate change is not the only way out of climate change impacts but formulating sustainable policies that are strategic towards boosting climate-smart agriculture.

However, he pointed out that it is necessary to note that the livestock sub-sector needs serious and sustainable interventions to be efficient in providing the needed and affordable protein for Nigerians.

He further stated that when the livestock sub-sector is made viable it will create millions of jobs for the teeming youth population and for export that would generate foreign exchange for the country.

He said: “This is the essence of a State of Emergency on Food Security as declared by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR on 13th July 2023.”

“Relying on the strong political will of Mr. President recognizes the significance and strategic importance of the livestock sub-sector in Nigeria’s quest for sustainable economic development, and has made it a priority sector in its economic development plans and programmes.”

Meanwhile, he spoke extensively about the National Livestock Transformation Plan, NLTP, saying the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is working assiduously to religiously implement the plan.

He asserted that the NLTP is a masterpiece for the livestock industry based on the way it was structured and all-encompassing to take the industry to an enviable height in the international market, according to global standards that would meet export and local demands for animal protein.

Also speaking, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Abdullah Ganduje, assured the Federal Government’s genuine concern about the food insecurity challenge.

According to Ganduje, the Tinubu-led administration is working hard to ensure Nigerians have access to affordable and nutritious food sustainably.

Meanwhile, the APC Chairman was honoured with an award by ASAN and NIAS, and while responding to the award he pointed out this is the time stakeholders in the agricultural sector must join hands and heads to brainstorm and fashion out the best policies and programmes to lift the livestock production to an enviable height after many years of neglect

“The livestock sub-sector contributes nearly 40 per of total agricultural output in developed countries and 20 per cent in developing ones, supporting the livelihood of at least 1.3 billion people worldwide.

“The Nigerian livestock sub-sector is very vital to the socioeconomic development of the country and it represents an important source of high-quality animal protein, contributing 36.5 per cent of the total protein intake of Nigerians.

“It also generates employment, and income, and earns foreign exchange for the country. The livestock sub-sector in 2022 was estimated to contribute about 17 per cent of the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 5.0 per cent of the national GDP.

“Globally, around 500 million pastoralists rely on livestock herding for food, income, and as a store of wealth, collateral or safety net in times of need.

“Locally, livestock production systems have the potential to contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and carbon sequestration in soils and biomass.”

However, he said that based on global m awareness about climate change, research findings have indicated that the livestock Industry is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gases, environmental degradation, and loss of biodiversity.

“Aim at developing and or ensuring the sustainability of livestock systems that deliver economic and ecosystem services, without compromising the future integrity, health, and welfare of the environment, humans, and animals”, he counselled.

The former Governor of Kano State cautioned that “Inadequately managed livestock production systems may cause negative environmental consequences such as excessive runoff of nutrients associated with intensive high input systems, overgrazing, as well as soil and rangeland degradation in extensive systems, including negative human health outcomes.”

Therefore, he called for full attention to research and innovation, which he described as twin tools for the development of Nigeria’s livestock subsector, and added that there is a need to develop a new variety of maize, exclusively for poultry, monogastric and dairy feeding.

“This will be a viable and more sustainable option for importation of the required grain, to save the collapsing poultry industry, a sub-sector that is worth about N1.6 trillion, according to the CBN (2019). It is important to note that this represents about 25% contribution to the agricultural GDP”, he added.

Earlier, the President of, the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science, NIAS, Prof. Baba Yusuf Abubakar, explained that the theme ‘Pathways to Addressing the Challenges of Climate Change in Animal Agriculture’ was very apt given the current global challenges facing agrifood systems across the world.

Abubakar also pointed out that food and nutrition security are cardinal to the Tinubu-led administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, based on the fact that as a regulatory body in the livestock sub-sector, NIAS will continue to strive to be very innovative, strategic and transformational

“The Institute will work with all stakeholders from Government, Academia and, particularly, the industry, to be more impactful. Also, as animal scientists, we must make extra efforts towards building bridges of hope, tolerance, cooperation and unity across our profession”, he said.

In a similar vein, the President of, the Nigeria Society for Animal Production, NSAP, Prof. Francis Abeke, assured the Society’s commitment to stand by ASAN and NIAS in achieving their set goals and producing the animal protein needs of Nigerians.

Abeke also spoke extensively on the need to bring in more heat-tolerant animals in the face of climate change.

However, the NSAP boss expressed concern and said the subsistent nature of animal production in Nigeria cannot meet the protein needs of the country, therefore the need for robust funding of the sector.

He therefore called on all tiers of government to redouble their efforts in providing a suitable production environment through policies as well as improved funding.