Anthonia Ifeyinwa Achike

“Well, we must acknowledge that Nigeria, as a country is facing a lot of challenges at the moment which can even distract the government from facing certain programmes already recommended or mounted. Some of these challenges include terrorism (especially recent Boko Haram insurgency) and most recently the Ebola Virus outbreak. Now before these issues came on board, Nigeria has faced the challenges of desertification in the Northern part of the country before the issue of flooding especially that of 2012 which was very impactful.”

“Individuals can take advantage of climate change by engaging in innovative business such as designing solar energy based products, marketing of such products and utilizing inputs that will not give harmful effluents in the environment. We must think green economy and green business. There is much to be done by the individuals but the governments, firms and international agencies also have a lot to do too.”

“For instance, tailors and textile workers have to design products that will enable the customers adapt to prevailing climate conditions; the engineer have to design tools that will be used in the household, farms and industries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases as well as make use of renewable energy sources.”

“For consciousness on the part of individuals to build capacity in adapting to climate change effects irrespective of his/her field in the economy in order to adapt to climate change. Activities that lead to pollution of the environment must be curtailed.”

“Innovative business such as designing solar energy based products, marketing of such products and utilizing inputs that will not give harmful effluents in the environment. We must think green economy and green business. There is much to be done by the individuals but the governments, firms and international agencies also have a lot to do too.”

“The campaign for climate change adaptation should begin in our school system – primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. Appropriate topics on the subject of climate change adaptation should be included in the school curricular. Architects, artisans, pharmacists, inventors, even artists and scholars have various roles to play in raising the awareness of climate change and encouraging creation of innovative tools and strategies for adaptation in their fields.”

“We can adopt recycling of some products, avoid unnecessary wastages in our daily production and consumption processes. In the farms there are different adaptive technologies which should be used for improved irrigation, water harvesting, improved varieties that will withstand drought and have short growing periods, terracing, reforestation and afforestation, (i.e. planting of trees); water and soil conservation etc.”

“There are however some things individuals can do to contribute to climate change reduction, adaptation and mitigation drive. For instance every individual needs to: educate himself/herself and others more about the climate change risks and the realities of adaptation. There is need for consciousness on the part of individuals to build capacity in adapting to climate change effects irrespective of his/her field in the economy in order to adapt to climate change. Activities that lead to pollution of the environment must be curtailed.”

“While mitigation may be very difficult and expensive especially for individuals and even government, concerted policy based efforts on adaptation are on-going. Mitigation alone cannot solve the problem as climate change and variabilities have components that are outside the control of human beings. Therefore adaptation is important as a necessary complement. Mitigation relative to adaptation requires a lot of policies not just simple “precautionary measures by individuals” as you said.”

“The foregoing presupposes that in the face of the threats or risks of climate change, the options left are mitigation and adaptation. Climate change mitigation are actions to limit or stop the magnitude and/or rate of long-term climate change (e.g. reductions in human emissions of greenhouse gases); while adaptation may be referred to as anticipating the adverse effects of climate change and taking appropriate action to prevent or minimize the damage they can cause.”

“Though people naturally exhibit some adaptive responses to climate variability, there still exist different levels of vulnerability to climatic changes. The first precautionary measure is a clear understanding of the issues at stake including the underlying threats so that one can appropriately adjust by adapting and/or mitigating when the need arises.”

“It is important to note that the status of farmers are of utmost concern to most scholars when it comes to the issue of climate change in Africa because over 70% of livelihoods of Africans are based on agriculture which depends much on weather and soil conditions. Agriculture, especially crop production in Africa relies much on water availability, a condition that subjects the industry to the vagaries of climate change and the attendant adverse effects.”

“You are quite correct about the reality of climate change threats in Africa (and the entire world) as well as the relatively low level of awareness of climate change issues by the African society. This apparent ignorance cuts across different facets of the society including private and public sectors, civil societies organizations, professionals, farmers etc.”