Food Production: NDDC Solicits Stakeholders’ Support

The Nigr Delta Develop
ment Commission (NDDC), has called for urgent collaboration of all stakeholders in the agric sector to adopt a pragmatic approach to mitigate the impact of climate change on food and agriculture.
Making the appeal recently at the just concluded World Food Day Celebration in Port Harcourt, the Director in charge of the Rivers State office of the NDDC, Mrs Udo Asubope who described this year’s theme, “Climate is Changing, Food and Agriculture Must Too” as appropriate, explained that the teme was chosen due to the negative impact of climate change on food and agriculture in recent times.
According to her, Climate Change being a global phenomenon also affects Nigeria and Rivers State.
She enumerated some of the negative consequences of climate change to include low agriculture yield, rise in temperature, erratic rainfall, sandstorms as well as desertification and erosion amongst others.
The NDDC boss disclosed that recent studies by the Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO), revealed that Nigeria may lose N69 trillion to climate change this may result to a reduction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 11 per cent in 2020 and 30 per cent by the year 2050.
According to her, one approach that would help cushion the above effects on agriculture was to align with the Adaptation of Agriculture and Africa Initiative (AAAI).
She explained that the initiative is designed to address the link between climate change and food security in African countries, which is essentially aimed amongst others to contribute to the Global Climate Action Agenda (GCAA) while also calling on the people of Rivers State to support the state government in achieving food sufficiency for all, she also expressed the hope that the 2016 celebration will achieve the desired goals.