Farmers in northeast Nigeria are one of the hardest-hit communities in the climate crisis. While farming is risky everywhere, these farmers face many unique shocks and stressors that threaten their livelihoods. Nonetheless, they have traditionally received little support to help them adapt to these challenges. Supporting farmers in northeast Nigeria to adapt and build their resilience is key to helping them create a sustainable path out of extreme poverty for their families.
To increase the uptake of adaptation measures like new technologies and improved agricultural practices, Nuru Nigeria hosted a “Green Field Day” through the USAID-funded Building Sustainable Livelihoods Program in the fall of 2022. Registered farmers from the 189 farmer associations established across all the communities Nuru serves in northeast Nigeria participated in the event
Green Field Day provides a rare learning opportunity for communities in fragile contexts to learn about critical adaptation techniques to prepare for and manage worsening climatic conditions. In northeast Nigeria, Green Field Day is a way for Nuru to bring smallholder farmers together for training focused on improved agricultural practices that support farming as a business. Through Nuru, farmers receive financial literacy and leadership training. To date, Nuru Nigeria has registered and trained 4,027 smallholder farmers in Adamawa State, providing them with on-farm extension services.
Green Field Day events allow smallholder farmers to observe and compare the performance of different crop treatments to improve their sustainable farming skills. The 2022 Green Field Day focused on the cultivation of groundnuts and soybeans, northeast Nigeria’s major cash crops. Participating farmers discovered the benefits of a number of successful new adaptation technologies and techniques, including the use of climate-smart and other sustainable agricultural practices. For example, farmers learned about drought-resistant seeds, early maturing seeds, and seeds that are tolerant to pests and diseases. They also received training on how to manage on-farm pests with regenerative agriculture and had opportunities to learn more about water management systems that support sustainability amid erratic rainfall. When farmers see adaptive farming practices like these at work, it can be easier for them to try the new practices on their own farms because they recognize a clear, tangible value to making the shift.
Green Field Day events also encourage participatory learning. Sharing lessons learned and providing opportunities for hands-on training can be a vital part of building resilience. And when these groups of farmers learn together, they are building their social cohesion at the community level.
As farmers’ livelihoods lead to increased income and yields through the program, they can build their capacity for resilience to cope with environmental, economic, and social shocks and stressors. Furthermore, as Nuru builds resilience and social cohesion in these communities, the risk of exploitation by violent extremist groups decreases. These insights are shared in a five-year study on the link between farmers’ economic development and resilience outcomes, in partnership with Nuru and the Ray Marshall Center at the University of Texas, Austin, which is set to end in May 2023.
Learn more about how Nuru Nigeria is strengthening smallholder farmers’ resilience.
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Nuru Nigeria
Nuru Nigeria helps Nigerian farmers and their families lift themselves out of extreme poverty by helping farmers move from subsistence to building thriving farmer-owned and farmer-led cooperatives.
