The Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation, an NGO, on Wednesday urged government and relevant stakeholders to create stronger awareness to mitigate the impact of climate change in the country.
Mr David Terungwa, Executive Director of the NGO, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) in Abuja.
Terungwa said adapting a stronger resilience would help to mitigate the negative impact of climate change, while adapting the resilience and effective awareness on impact would help farmers, especially since they are the major victims facing the negative impact of climate change.
He said that resilience is a process of adapting well in the face of adversity and threats, as well as ability to be protective.
He also emphasised on the need to improve waste management system, adding that it played a vital role in global cleanliness and sustainability drive with people’s health.
He noted that the organisation is committed to ensuring that FCT schools are improved in air quality, reducing the impact of climate change through tree planting and establishment of environmental clubs.
He said that the organisation had planted trees and established environmental clubs in various schools in the FCT.
The executive director said that Global Environmental Facilities/Small Grant Programme, (GEF/SGP) strongly supports the organisation in ensuring that their programmes and project are implemented.
He said that the GEF/SGP is implemented by UN Development Programme, adding that the organisation had assisted to mitigate the negative impact of climate change through the implementation of various environmental projects.
According to him, the GEF/SGP had also supported the NGO to restore the environment while enhancing peoples’ well-being and livelihoods.
“The impact of climate change is huge on our environment; it is seriously affecting our food security.
“Nigeria largely depends on agriculture and as at now, climate change has impacted and changed our rainfall pattern.
“For instance, this year, rain started very early and farmers almost went into farming, but thank God for the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) which informed that the rain will not continue.
“If not, many farmers would have gone to their farm lands and in the end sunshine will dry their crops.
“The rain coming early this year is part of the impact of the climate change we are talking about.
“So, that is the reason we preach about it to everyone’s ear to enable us join hands and put some possible measures that will reduce the impact of climate change.
“I am as well advising Nigerians that they should build their houses in such a way that it will have ventilation; this will help us from depending much on electricity system,” he said.
Terungwa, however, called on all tiers of governments, environmental agencies and relevant stakeholders to adopt the culture of tree planting and other measures to mitigate climate change in the country. (NAN)
