Stakeholders in agriculture on Tuesday called on all tiers of government and the private sector to invest in agroecology to enhance food and nutrition security in the country.
The stakeholders made the call at the ongoing National Summit on Agroecology and Public-Private Partnership, held in Abuja.
Agroecology refers to sustainable farming that works with nature, utilising and integrating social, biological and agricultural sciences with traditional knowledge of farmers.
Deputy Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, Mrs Suwaiba Dankabo, said investment in agroecology would aid the preservation and promotion of indigenous seeds, seedlings and livestock for agro-biodiversity.
According to Dankabo, agroecology is also a nature-based solution to climate change.
The country director said the summit was to provide direction for increased public financing for agroecology in Nigeria and West Africa.
“The summit supports the facilitation of public-private partnerships on agroecology that will further lead to adoption, scale up millions of farmers, and the transition to sustainable agricultural practices,’’ she said.
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Speaking on the organization’s Transformative Impact Fund project, Dankabo said that the three-year project was designed to improve food and nutrition security.
She added that it was also to “enhance agroecological skills of 120,000 Smallholder Women Farmers and young people, by facilitating access to early maturing seeds, seedlings, livestock, and poultry.
“Through agroecology budget monitoring, tracking and advocacy towards the expansion of fiscal spaces, rights holders will significantly benefit from budget increases and allocations in agriculture,’’ she added.
Dankabo said so far, the project has been implemented in Ondo, Delta, Ebonyi, Jigawa and the FCT.
The Chief Executive Officer of Be the Help Foundation, Mr Samuel Kwasari said that practising agroecology would guarantee high-quality farm produce.
According to Kwasari, about 75 percent of food in supermarkets have chemical residues, which could be reduced by promoting community-based farming and using natural wastes instead of chemical fertilizers to boost food production.
“The advantage of biofertilizer or natural fertilizer is that it helps microorganisms’ lives and plants, and remain in the soil for several years after application to break down organic matters.
“Organic manure is a sustainable means of fertilizing the soil, while synthetic makes you dependent every time as it only lasts after the maturity of the crop.”
The foundation’s executive director, however, said there was a need for more training of farmers to maximize the benefits of agroecology.
“The biggest barrier to agroecology is knowledge. We encourage more training so that farmers will be abreast with the practice and its huge benefits,’’ he said.
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The Director, Planning and Policy Coordination, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Ibrahim Tanimu, said agroecology was a key component of attaining food security and self-sufficiency as the ministry strives to transform the nation’s food system.
“We have unveiled the dry season farming under the National Agriculture Growth Support Scheme, and we will soon unveil the wet season farming where we are supporting top priority commodities to enable us to have abundant food and promote exportation of our cash crops,” he added.
The summit was organized by ActionAid Nigeria in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security among other partners.
NAN
