Today 8th March, 2021, two great celebrations are happening across the world. We are celebrating both Women and The Commonwealth. Did you know that Nigeria is part of the Commonwealth States? Did you also know that the Commonwealth secretariat is in London, United Kingdom?
“The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal countries”- theCommonwealth.org.
It is all about the common good. You might wonder about how all these concern you. I am here to inform you my dear reader, it concerns us all. The focus of my post today will be on an issue that relates to both Women and the Commonwealth; which is Climate change and how it affects us all. For a few years, I have noticed the seasonal changes in Nigeria especially with how the rainy and dry seasons have become erratic. In 2019, Australia experienced a huge fire outbreak that lasted months; and this year, Texas where there’s rarely snowfall, experienced an unprecedented amount of heavy snowfall. Lives and properties were lost in Texas.
Coming back to our local community, flood keeps sweeping away and degrading farms and farmers are left in the dark as to how to forge on when rain does not come at its expected time of the year. How do you think this does not affect you? Climate change has already began and we all have important roles to play, especially as women. Its impact hasn’t been mitigated as much therefore, we are left to provide solutions through adaptations of climate change actions.
Noticeable climate change actions in Nigeria
Variable rainfall
Increase in temperature
Rise in sea level and flooding
Drought and desertification
Land degradation
Acidity
More frequent extreme weather events
Climate exaggerated conflict and lots more.
How it concerns agriculture
Variable rainfall, drought, increase in temperature causes instability in agriculture. I recently visited a fish farm, and I was made aware that there was a period when the ponds gradually dried out. Food wastage due to temperature increase and lack of proper storage facilities are one of the things that result in climate change leading to food insecurity and insufficient food for the growing population. If I select each of the above stated climate actions and explain how they relate with agriculture, you will probably request for the explanations to be compiled into a book or CD for your daily consumption as it is inexhaustible.
How it all concerns you and what you can do to help
Consume less food and eat right to assist in food waste reduction
Unplug every gadget from the socket when not in use to help in good use of energy
Move closer to your workplace and reduce air travel to reduce transportation and release of exhaust fumes
Try to invest in solar farms as a land owner or investor
Do family planning to relate childbirth and childcare
Stop indiscriminate disposal of waste
Finally, educate the next person you meet, talk about agriculture, climate change and how it affects everyone and encourage that person to teach the next person they meet.
Women are a crucial part in climate change advocacy process. According to iucn.org, “women have proven to be leading the way towards more equitable and sustainable solutions to climate change”.
What other ways do you think climate change affects us and our agricultural practices? How do you think we can provide solutions? Share your comments and opinions below.
HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY & HAPPY COMMONWEALTH DAY TO YOU!
Leave a Reply