The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has said that African farmers are amongst the poorest people in this part of the world and are the most vulnerable people to food insecurity.

Senator Lokpobiri gave the statement in an open address at the ongoing 2016 World Food Day Symposium organized by @FmardNg & @UN‘s FAO.

He said, “as stakeholders in Nigeria’s Agric sector & economy, climate change must be seen as biggest threat to global food security.”

According to him, “The most vulnerable people to food insecurity are the farmers who are amongst the poorest people in this part of the world.”

“Farmers are the hardest hit by higher temperatures & rainfalls, as well as frequency & magnitude of droughts and flooding.”

“The African continent, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the most vulnerable to climate change.”

” It is predicted that by 2050, the global population would be about 9.6billion. This underscores a heavy demand for food. Thus requiring that agricultural and food systems will need to adapt to the adverse effect of climate change,” he said.

Lokpobiri said such step is this is the modest way we can guarantee the well-being of the ecosystems & rural population as well as reduce emissions.

continuing, he said, “The Fed Govt in 2013, initiated National policy on climate change with integrated intervention plan to reduce vulnerability. We ‘ve adopted this plan @FmardNg with focus on sustainable use of land & soil, water & ecosystems for increased production.”

“The Ministry of Agric is implementing “Climate-smart” agriculture under Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Nigeria has aligned itself to the Adaptation of Agric in Africa Initiative to address link between climate change/food security in Africa.”

He also said that President Buhari’s administration’s commitment towards providing food security to the people led to his signing of the Paris agreement.

” In line with global effort to reduce Green House gas emission, Mr. President on Sept 22, 2016 signed the Paris Agreement,” he concluded.