Emerging adverse effects of climate change and near-absence of government support combine to pose a challenge to agricultural harvest in Nasarawa State in 2023
NKRUMAH BANKONG-OBI/Lafia
As he walked through the windy footpath, Abdulkareem Salihu’s mind was fixed on his farm. He had cultivated the field early and planted yam, beans and maize when the rains began to fall in April. A few bags of fertilizer were in place to support the soil and his family helped with weeding and other activities. The crops had begun to grow until the rains withdrew abruptly. As rainfall returned sparingly, the growth, seed and tuber formation processes also retarded. His optimism had tilted from believe to doubt. “This year, I just walked into a trap set by nature and by the struggles farmers face. You can see even from the look of the crops, this effort was just a near waste of time. The loss is obvious,” he told TheNEWS at his farm in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
On this morning as he arrived his farm, the crops stood woebegone as the dew evaporated. Obviously, this wasn’t the plan when Salihu obtained a loan from the local lending group to cultivate his hectare-and-half plot at the beginning of the farming season. This fate is similar to that of a vast majority of the farming community in Nasarawa State. Nature, working in tandem with official indifference is threatening what was anticipated as a bounteous harvest season this year.
Farms like Salihu’s give impetus to the reality of the impact of climate change on agricultural practices in the State. The rain pattern is the most visible variable indicating the problems that farmers face in their enterprise. Indeed, Kwa’kaha Ortoho Jonathan, then the director of Erosion Control at the State Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources had told our reporter in an interview for a different story that nature has a hand in the rainfall situation in the State.
Nasarawa State generally has been a problem of rainfall which is a natural requisite for a good harvest. “It is a problem in the sense that we are in the Middle Belt and the impact of climate change – rains do not come when they’re supposed to come. They only come within a short time with very high intensity within the duration,” he had said about the short life span of rainfall in the State.
This reporter observed that the amount of rainfall was abysmal and was less than average in most parts of the State. But in other places like the Akwanga and Nasarawa-Eggon axis of the State, the rains fell beyond the period of usefulness. And there are a variety of crops that do not fancy the rain especially in November and December. Adams Makka Nangba, a farmer and traditional head of Wakama in Nasarawa-Eggon Local Government Area said the rainfall pattern which stretches into November will affect the yield of some crops “Normally we used to have heavy rainfall in July-August. But this year, the rain decided to stretch itself down to November. There are areas that have shortage of rainfall, maybe in the cultivation of rice but too much downpour used to affect some rice farmers too because there are some people whose rice dies off or is washed away if the rain outweighs it. If there is maximum rainfall, they will harvest rice as expected while those who are doing it on the dry land may not have enough yield.
Nangba agrees that climate change is beginning to affect cropping in his locality. “Yes, there are changes,” he says about the duration of rainfall in the Nasarawa-Eggon-Akwanga area. “Now that rain is still falling in November, if you go the far North, you won’t know when the rain fell last. But here, it fell two or three days ago. This will affect some crops that don’t like rain during this time of the year. Definitely, the performance of crops like guinea corn and beans will be low,” he said.
Aside the climate crisis, farmers like Nangba say the absence of extension services hamper their trade. He told this magazine that despite the abundance of land and potential of a variety of crops to do well in his locality, farming is still entirely at subsistent level. Peasant farming, he said has no visible positive impact on practitioners. “How many people can you see who are doing extension services?” you will just hear that somebody has been posted here as an extension worker but does he have the seedlings to demonstrate before farmers? You can’t just be a theoretical extension worker. You need to demonstrate whatever the farmers must know,” he said.
But the Nasarawa State government through its Agricultural Development Project, NADP, says extension services are being revamped just as there programmes to help farmers overcome the unfavourable challenges posed by climate change. Abdul Rabiu, director of Extension Services at the agency told TheNEWS that services for rural farmer are being fully reactivated “The ideal is one extension officer to 1000 farmers. Due to retirement, deaths and other factors, including the embargo that was placed on employment, we are not up to 600. We observe that this government has started making efforts. All the casual workers that are here are being absorbed into the service. Interviews have already been conducted for about 200 workers. This will also help in reducing the deficiency gap more. So, we are hoping that government will give the approval so that we give appointment to those that have already passed the exams.”
To fend off the growing problem posed by the climate crisis, Rabiu said farmers have been advised to embrace short duration crops that can mature before the rains dry up or even before the floods become virulent. “We advise our farmers to use short-duration crops like maize, we have rice, we also have cowpea. If you plant before duration, it will not get to when the flood starts before you harvest.
While denying that government has abandoned the extension services component of agriculture, Rabiu admitted that support for the farmers this year came late. “This year, the intervention came at the wrong time. It came during the elections and other things. So, it affected the support of government in terms of fertilizer application. If you observe, if a group of thirty or fifty members are given one bag of fertilizer each, what will that do for them? Look, a farmer can have 1.5 hectares which will require about sixty bags of fertilizer. One bag cannot help them. so, why are they witing for the government? Let them try on their own, if government support comes, it’s okay. Let them utilize what they have, let them not wait for somebody to assist them,” he admonished.
The threats to bountiful harvest tag beyond climate change and lack of government interest in mechanised farming. Communal clashes have been fingered as a trend that could cause food insecurity in the region and beyond. Crises have been reported in large farming communities like Panda, Tunga and even in Eggon area. Although the State government responded swiftly, the havoc done to the crops and the displacement of farmers can never be fully compensated for,
As weather conditions morph and floods, challenging rain pattern become common place, government’s support which could have helped the farming communities did not come early. Farmers in Nasarawa State wager on luck for a good harvest.