By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA- IN a bid to increase and sustain food production, the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, along with the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and the Global Center on Adaptation, GCA, have resolved to boost climate-smart agriculture under the Value Chain Programme in Northern Nigeria, VCN.

They made the commitment at a high-level ‘Capacity Building on Climate Resilience for Agri-food Systems Transformation in Northern Nigeria’ workshop held in Abuja, which had in attendance stakeholders from federal and state governments, and development partners.

In her remarks, the Director, Federal Department of Development Partners Projects, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mrs Adebola Iluromi, noted that climate change impacts are already hitting the production of food – droughts, floods, heat stress, land degradation, among others in rural areas where farming activities mostly take place.

Iluromi also commended the time for implementation of VCN, especially, when climate change is pressing hard on farmers’ productivity, and expressed optimism that with the workshop there will be upscale in state-specific and value chain-focused actions based on the VCN programme.

She stressed that climate finance mobilisation has to do with strengthening institutional readiness, ensuring investment planning and demonstrating measurable results, and added that the move indicates Nigeria’s deep resolve to towards the CAADP Kampala Declaration – inclusivity, resilience, and sustainable agrifood systems.

She said: “This workshop is focused on building the foundations for effective climate finance mobilisation so that we can scale up climate adaptation and resilience outcomes.”

Meanwhile, she called on stakeholders to accept digital climate sustainable solutions to ensure improvement on resilience across the value chains. She tasked stakeholders on the use of digital tools to boost readiness and preparedness, transparency, actionable information for farmers including weather and climate information services, early warning systems, geospatial risk mapping, and digital monitoring and reporting.

On implementation, she said, “Achieving the outcomes we seek through VCN will require strong coordination between the Federal Government, participating states and all relevant MDAs.”

In her remarks, the Country Director, International Fund for Agricultural Development, UN-IFAD, Ms Dede Ekoue, said the workshop remains a critical step towards the success of the VCN programme in terms sustainability while speaking on the essence of the workshop as joint roadmap for speedy start-up and first disbursement under the programme.

Ekoue also said implementation remains key and serves as foundation for coordinated action to achieve greater success in the VCN programme, and added that the Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment, CRAVA, would serve as a strategic guide for identifying vulnerable areas, saying, “CRAVA is not just a document; it is our compass. It tells us exactly where the landscape is most fragile and where our crops are most at risk.”

She said: “We gather today at a pivotal moment for Northern Nigeria. Just recently, we successfully concluded our High-Level Stakeholder Engagement, where we solidified the Joint Roadmap for the VCN Accelerated Start-up and cleared the path for the 1st Disbursement.

“The Agreed Joint Road Map and Implementation Plan for VCN Accelerated Start-Up and First Disbursement provides us with a strong momentum to work together to support lay a foundation for the swift and impactful implementation VCN.

“We are here to build a rock-solid foundation for climate resilience, transforming that “strong momentum” into a community of practice where every actor is empowered to turn VCN planned investments into opportunities for sustainable resilience of agri-food system to climate shocks.

“In Northern Nigeria, agricultural value chains are the heartbeat of the economy. But as we know, this heartbeat is under pressure due to climate shock and environmental degradation.”

Meanwhile, she explained that the goal of the workshop is twofold: Execute with Excellence: We must leverage the current investment to show immediate, high-impact results in resilience; Prepare the Path: We are here to build the institutional credibility required to mobilize additional climate finance. Global funds—from the Green Climate Fund to private ESG investors—are looking for “investment-ready” landscapes.

She also told the participants that the call to action is for state and federal agriculture climate change and climate finance experts is to be the architects of this resilience; use high-level engagement as capital; refine the technical pathways, turning them into investment in VCN, into a success story that will attract climate finance to scale and sustain the impact of VCN on agrifood systems in northern Nigeria with ripple effects across Nigeria and west and central Africa.

Meanwhile, the Global Programme Lead, Food Security and Rural Wellbeing at the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) Netherlands, Dr. Olu Ajayi, pointed out the urgency in strengthening climate resilience among smallholder farmers in Nigeria and across Africa.

Ajayi also noted that the sector bears the brunt of climate shocks, and amid this challenges smallholder farmers had continued to be resilient and drive food production while they often have limited access to finance and adaptation solutions. He said with adaptation interventions productivity will improve, protecting livelihoods and building resilience in farming communities.