“Equip to Adapt” project report

Summary

In a bid to further enhance gender and social inclusion into climate change adaptation in the Nigerian agricultural sector, ‘Equip to Adapt’ (ETA) Programme’ was conceived and implemented. The objective of the programme is to build rural women and youth knowledge and capacity in innovative climate smart practices; provide weather information to guide planning of their farming calendar; establish linkage for continuous access to timely weather information for rural women and youth and institutionalize gender inclusion in climate change adaptation through establishment of Climate Smart Women Groups in all the agricultural zones in the two states.

This activity is planned to also flag off the planting season for the rural women and youths in the two states. The training was held on the 22nd of February, 2024 in the two states concurrently. Rural women and youth association leaders from all the rural area dominated agricultural zones in Rivers and Enugu State were trained on identified Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Practices needed by the rural women to adapt their farming systems effectively to climate change.

Project team synergised with the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMET), International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in implementing this programme. Resources persons were drawn from across universities, research institutes and key relevant organisations. In addition to the knowledge gained and capacity strengthened during the programme, participants also received improved seeds of maize, water melon, tomato, pepper and cassava stems.

Through this programme, synergies were established among key relevant organisations, researchers, and farmers. A total of two hundred and fifteen (215) farmers directly benefited from the ‘Train-the-Trainer Workshop’ implemented by this programme. Outcomes and outputs include two CSA training manuals, short videos, policy brief, strengthened CSA knowledge and capacity, gaps and way forward in gender responsive adaptation identified and synergy among key relevant organisations established.

Based on the experiences gained in implementing the programme, it was recommended that intervention agencies and responsible government arms should strive to organise such training for farmers at least twice every year. Also, greater synergies and collaborations among key stakeholders are important to strengthen ties and ensure greater impacts and sustainability of climate action projects.