As the world grapplers with the challenge of how to address climate change, the latest report of the Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has underpined the urgency of taking global action on this, hence the call for adoption of agroecology as safest solution globally.
Stakeholders at the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) workshop with researchers, policy experts and representatives recently to examine the importance of Agroecology in climate change mitigation/adaptation as well as in ensuring food sovereignty, unanimously agreed on the potency of Agroecology in addressing the danger.
In his opening remarks, the Director of HOMEF Nnimmo Bassey stated that to successfully address the challenge of climate change humanity must change the way it relate with its ecosystem; the way we exploit natural resources and the way we produce the food that we consume.
“Climate change increases the vulnerabilities and uncertainties of Nigerian farmers while agroecology reduces environmental footprint of agriculture as opposed to fossil-fuels driven industrial agriculture. We must desist form production measures which disrupt ecosystem balance and which pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.” He added.
Speaking on Agroecology as a Viable Solution to the Climate and Food Crises, food sovereignty Activist, Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje explained that Agroecology is a bottom-top approach which harness local/traditional knowledge as well as scientific innovation in Agriculture. According to her, Agroecology uses a range of practices including mixed cropping, crop rotation, composting, agroforestry, biological pest control, cover cropping, biomas recycling etc. which do not only help to optimize and improve yields but help with resilience to the impact of climate change. She added that Agroecology promotes biodiversity which is a key principle in climate change mitigation.
