The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), in collaboration with the Borno State Government and development partners, on Wednesday commenced the validation of Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) priority areas to strengthen climate resilience and food production in the state.
The exercise is being conducted under the Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Framework for Climate-Resilient Livelihoods (2026–2030), currently being validated at a stakeholders’ workshop in Maiduguri.
Prof. Yakaka Maina, Natural Resource and Energy Safety Specialist with FAO, said the exercise represented the second phase of activities that began in July and was designed to allow stakeholders to validate priority areas earlier identified through a community-driven process.
Maina said the framework would support Borno in addressing emerging climate and environmental challenges, particularly those affecting internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and host communities.
She noted that previous climate-smart agriculture documents developed between 2020 and 2023 required review due to changes in humanitarian conditions, including displacement, climate change and the return of displaced persons.
“Many camps in Borno have been closed, and we are now looking at priority areas that address the needs of host communities, IDPs and returnees,” she said.
According to her, drought and erratic rainfall remain major climate shocks affecting farmers, while poor management of land and water resources could increase competition and conflict in vulnerable communities.
She said the strategy would promote drought-resistant seeds, improved farming practices and farmer training to enhance productivity and resilience.
Maina added that FAO would undertake cost-benefit analyses of identified priorities to guide investment decisions by government, development partners and the private sector, while also exploring agricultural value chains, including non-timber forest products such as the neem tree.
Also speaking, Babi Mala, Director at the Borno State Agency for Coordination of Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Response, said the initiative would strengthen coordination among government institutions, humanitarian agencies and development partners in tackling climate-related challenges.
She said the validation exercise is expected to produce investment priorities to guide climate-resilient agriculture and livelihood interventions in Borno.
Dr Ibrahim Ali, Deputy Director at the Policy Centre for African Studies, University of Maiduguri, said the review was necessary because significant changes had occurred since the previous framework was implemented between 2019 and 2021.
Ali stressed the need for strong monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure effective implementation of projects and improved livelihoods across the state.
