In a deliberate attempt to respond to the negative effects of climate change on human survival, the Sustainable Environment Fisheries Foundation (SEFFA) and the Federal College of Land Resources Technology (FECOLART) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to encourage and empower farmers to embrace innovative agricultural practices.
With this new arrangement in place, farmers will receive training and support from experts who will provide extension services and help make decisions that will enable them to access agricultural inputs and market penetration.
Ololade Adegoke, the CEO of SEFFA, while commenting on the exercise, which was held on Saturday, September 14, 2024, at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State, stated that the partnership is aimed at promoting environmental sustainability and helping build resilience by producing ambassadors who will learn and teach others about climate action.
According to her, the scheme is also designed to help raise climate-smart farmers and build the capacity of communities and schools in Plateau State on greenhouse technology, irrigation, economic tree planting, and fish farming.
Additionally, it would strengthen partnerships by assisting farmers in accessing markets, which would enhance their income and standard of living in this climate change-affected and consequently unfavourable economy.
She underscored that this public-private partnership is essential to accelerating the government’s directives that all federal institutions should establish an entrepreneurial division to increase awareness and generate revenue to boost the nation’s economic growth.
Visionary leaders, the SEFFA boss asserts, are changemakers who drive others to achieve goals not just for individual development but for societal advancement.
“It is in this light that SEFFA is strengthening collaborations with stakeholders in changing the narrative as to how the devastating impact of climate change could be mitigated,” Adegoke noted.
In a similar vein, Dr. Abdulsalam Anate, representative of the Provost of FECOLART, Dr. Ademola Raji, praised SEFFA for considering his institution for this admirable initiative, citing its potential to improve farmers’ knowledge on how to use cutting-edge technologies to increase agricultural production across the country.
The alliance, he added, will also help in projecting the status of the college by allowing it to engage and share extension services with farmers and other stakeholders on how to reduce the impact of ecosystem disruption while promoting environmental sustainability.
SEFFA is a non-profit organisation that is dedicated to consolidating the environment, fishing, agriculture, and aquaculture nationwide by introducing more effective climate-smart agricultural practices among farmers.
As part of this partnership, the non-profit entity would establish a greenhouse farm within the institution to act as a working demonstration site where FECORLAT students and the farming communities would receive training on climate-smart skills.
By Etta Michael Bisong, Abuja
