By Eze Victor
A Non Governmental Organization (NGO), Neighbourhood Environment Watch Foundation, under the Strengthening Local Advocacy Against Climate Change (SLAACC) has trained over 40 smallholder farmers in Edda and Enyigba communities of Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi State on organic farming, agroforestry, biogas production and climate change.
The SLAACC project is one of the small projects of the Independent Global stocktake (iGST) West Africa and is financed by Climate Works Foundation and coordinated by the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) with technical support of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa.
In his welcome address, the Executive Director of Neighbourhood Environment Watch Foundation, Dr Okezie Kelechukwu, said the training programme aimed at equipping the smallholder farmers with practical knowledge and skills to build resilience to climate change and practice healthy and sustainable agricultural practices.
He stated that by enhancing the skills of rural small holder farmers will result in addressing issues of malnutrition, food insecurity, impacts of climate change and enhanced living and well being of the small holder farmers. He stressed that the training will give them practical knowledge on how to convert their organic wastes to manure and biogas (methane) and by that limit if not discouraged the use of fire woods for their domestic cooking needs.
Dr Okezie stated that the choice of the communities is based on their willingness and buy in into the program, and the many environmental challenges they face from deforestation, sustainable agricultural practices and mining.
He said that the 3 day training is one component of the SLAACC Project, that other components of the program include the drilling of a bore hole, construction and provision of biogas digesters to the farmers and the planting of 500 tree crops in Ohatekwe Edda.
He charged the beneficiaries of the training to utilize the knowledge they acquired by stepping it down so that other farmers in their community would work towards pushing back all drivers of climate change and hence enjoy good health and well-being for themselves and the future generations.
In his goodwill message, the State Commissioner for Environment, Hon Victor Chukwu, represented by the Head of Department, Climate Change Department, Gabriel Igwe-Ebi, thanked the organisers, noting that it came in timely when the world and humanity are facing severe global change crisis.
He charged the trainees to practice what they had learned and to ensure the sustainability of their environment through regenerative and smart agricultural practices.
He emphasised the Ebonyi state government’s commitment through the Ministry of Environment to tackling climate change noting that the state has policies on climate change and charged the farmers to stop cutting down trees rather to plant more and practice agro-forestry in their farms.
In his words, “There is no better time to show commitment in addressing the negative impacts of climate change than now and we all must be committed to leaving a positive legacy on our environment.”