Farmers in Anambra State are counting their losses following the harsh impact of climate change on their farms and farming operations this year. They lamented that extreme weather conditions, occasioned by climate change, dealt them some serious blows.

From Ayamelum Local Government Area of the state to Awka North, Anambra East to Orumba South, their sad stories were the same.

Some of them who spoke to Sunday Sun raised a number of issues that badly affected their farming activities, lamenting that their expectations from their farms were cut short.

They talked about lack of government's support, destruction of their crops by pests and rodents, late return of the rains and its variability, and others.

But of all that was listed, they said that inadequate rainfall hit them the hardest. They explained that the late return of the rains, coupled with its abnormally low and irregular nature affected their crops' performance.

In some occasions, the harsh weather conditions did not allow their seeds to sprout. Some that managed to germinate died off a few days after because there was no water or moisture in the soil to sustain them, they explained.

The farmers lamented that the situation became worse when the August break started earlier than expected, and then lasted longer than normal, leaving the soil very dry for several weeks.

"We were lamenting that the rains started very late this year and then it suddenly stopped. And for about a month, everywhere was dry. That was between late July and early September", Mrs Regina Anedo lamented.

Anedo, a farmer in Amanuke community, Awka North LGA further said: "Even when it started raining this year, it wasn't raining enough. It could rain today, skip the following day or even two days, then rain again.

"Sometimes it would rain at one of our neighbouring communities but for about one week or two you won't see rain here. I believe the other communities found themselves in a similar condition during that period.

"So, it took time before the soil absorbed enough water that could allow for tilling of the soil for planting purposes. And when we eventually started planting, it affected our farms. It affected my tomato farms very badly.

"If not that the rains stopped suddenly, these my tomatoes would have performed better than this; it would have been bigger than this size", she lamented while taking the reporter round her farm.

Anedo appealed to the government to support farmers in the community with some funds when next year's farming activities commence, saying that lack of capital posed a serious challenge to them this year.

"I would want the government to support farmers in Amanuke community with bags of fertiliser and some grants when farming activities start next year. I believe that it would go a long way for us", she appealed.

Another farmer in the community, Mrs Mary Nwobu, said that aside the harsh impact of climate change on her farm, lack of funds was her major problem during this year's farming season.

"Farming requires a lot of money if you want your output to be reasonable. You must buy both organic and inorganic manure, pay your workers and, of course, take care of some other issues that may arise in the farm.

"You have to weed the farms whenever it's due and you must hire workers for that purpose. And that requires money too. So, lack of funds posed a serious challenge here. Again, excessive sunlight killed some of my crops", she lamented.

Like Anedo, Nwobu also asked for the government's support. She pointed out that the roads leading to the various farmlands in the area were very dilapidated and usually slippery whenever it rains.

"The roads to our farms are very bad; very dilapidated. Once it rains, nobody comes down to these farmlands in this side of the town because the two major roads that lead to this area passed through the hills; those two hills up there. And they become slippery once it rains.

"How would you access your farms under such conditions? Which road will lead you there?

"So, we would want the government to pave our roads so that vehicles can come down to the farms and lift produce from here to the markets instead of having to carry them on our heads. This road issue is very important to us; very, very important", Nwobu said.

Mr. John Udemezue, a native of Anaku community in Ayamelum LGA, told Sunday Sun that during the prolonged dry period, he bought water from water vendors and manually sprayed them on his farms.

He said that he used to engage in farming activities all year round but could not do that this year because of the devastating impacts of climate change.

"As a rice farmer, I am supposed to be planting thrice in a year," Udemezue pointed out.

"If there was an irrigation system, I am supposed to be planting three times in a year because rice matures every three months.

"If you harvest the first one, within a week or two you prepare the land immediately for another batch. But because there is no irrigation system, we now plant the first one in June and harvest in August.

"Then, we plant again in the same August and then by the first or second week of December we start harvesting", he explained.

This farming arrangement was thwarted by the change in weather conditions as there was no enough water in the soil to support its continued practice.

"We expected early and adequate rainfall this year which didn't happen as we expected. At some point the rains suddenly stopped. And that sudden stop lasted so long, such that it looked as if the dry season had set in", Udemezue said.

"Rice requires a lot of water to grow and yield. And because the soil was dry, it affected it badly. It limited its yielding capacity. Some of the rice plants died because there was not enough water in the soil.

"What we now did was to keep a tank by the side and then paid water vendors to fill it up with water. Every morning, we manually irrigated the rice farm which, of course, was very stressful."

Udemezue said that the tedious intervention to save the rice plants still did not yield the desired results as some of the plants still died, even as the yielding capacity of those that remained dropped significantly. He lamented that the expected profits also dropped.

"At the end of the day, you find out that the gain you were supposed to make in that farming cycle has reduced very significantly. It leaves you with little or no profits."

"This year, I cultivated 10 hectares. Out of the 10, I planted rice on six hectares, then planted yam, cassava, cocoyam, and others on the remaining four hectares.

"The sudden stop of the rain affected my rice and cassava farms adversely", he lamented.

Udemezue said that the ugly situation would not have been so if there was a functional irrigation system in his local council area.

"The irrigation system in Ayamelum has not been working for many years now", he disclosed.

In Mgbakwu community, Awka North LGA, Mr. Jonas Udegbunem told Sunday Sun that his entire cassava and potato farms were ruined during the dry period. He said that the crops cultivated on a piece of land measuring 16 plots did not germinate.

"As soon as we finished making the ridges, the rains withdrew. We planted the cassava stems hoping that it would rain but the sunny period continued. At some point it became very intense. It affected the cassava and potato farms very badly.

"For about a month, there was no drop of rainwater in Mgbakwu farmlands. As a result of that situation, the cassava stems I planted did not germinate. All the potatoes also dried up.

"When I visited the farm during that period, I felt really bad. Tears almost dropped from my eyes. The farm didn't look like a place where I invested time, money, energy and other resources.

"I spent N830,000 on that particular farm but I lost almost everything because of the harsh impacts of climate change", he lamented.

Udegbunem expressed sadness over the nonexistence of an irrigation system in their farmlands, saying that his unfortunate loss would have been avoided had there existed one.

"There is no irrigation system there. Had it been that we have an irrigation system there, I would have irrigated them during that period. Those crops wouldn't have died."

He told Sunday Sun that he replaced the dead cassava stems and potatoes with new ones when the weather conditions improved.

"I removed the dead cassava stems and planted fresh ones when it started raining again; and I hope that they'll survive this upcoming dry season that is almost here. I'm worried about that", he stated.

Speaking further, the youth farmer said that every effort he made to get support from the government at the beginning of this year's farming season proved abortive.

"We applied for fertiliser at the local government headquarters in Achalla but didn't get any. A bag of fertiliser in the market at the time was about N30,000. I didn't receive any support from the government at all.

"Again, there is an improved type of cassava stem but we don't have it here. It is something that the government could have helped us with, but it didn't. That type starts germinating within four days of planting.

"That one, even if it rains for only one day, it will germinate. But the variety we are using here is not like that. This one requires adequate rain or moisture in the soil to germinate", Udegbunem stated.

Mr Chimezie Udekwe, a farmer from Urum community in the same LGA, corroborated others but added that pests and rodents ruined his farms this year.

Udekwe told Sunday Sun that he's usually among the first farmers in his community to harvest maize but could not make it to the top this year because of the unfavourable weather conditions.

"It affected my farm and that of others. By August last year, we had already eaten lots of maize. But that was not the case this year," he stated.

"We waited for the rains so we could embark on our farming activities but it didn't come. So when it eventually started raining, it was late.

"And even at that, it was irregular. And because of that, the leaves of the crops in my farm changed colour and looked very dry.

"But I won't blame anybody because I know it is a natural thing. It is an unfavourable weather situation," he stated.

This is not the first time an unfavourable weather condition gave Nigeria a hard hit. The country had suffered a series of catastrophic weather events in the past, some of which resulted in loss of life and property.

In 2012, flooding claimed 363 lives in the country while that of 2022 led to the death of 662 people, even as 3,174 others suffered injuries.

Also, about 2.3 million people were displaced and 597,476 houses destroyed. A total of 2,430,445 individuals were displaced by the 2022 flood disaster.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said that the country lost over N2.6 trillion to the huge flood that swept through 30 of the 36 states in the country in 2012, adding that over seven million people were affected.

Without doubts, climate change, which refers to long term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, is one of the biggest issues facing the world today. It is threatening man's welfare and badly affecting biodiversity.

In Nigeria, the harsh impacts of climate change have touched all sectors of the economy. From an increase in temperature to low crop yield, food shortage, public health crisis, reduced livestock production, loss of income, conflicts, decreased hydroelectric power supply, loss of shelter and road networks, the list goes on.

According to experts, climate change conditions are caused by burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and livestock farming.

The European Commission's Climate Action report says that these factors "are increasingly influencing the climate and the earth's temperature" by adding "enormous amounts of greenhouse gases to those naturally occurring in the atmosphere, increasing the greenhouse effect and global warming."

The United Nations Climate Action grouped the causes of climate change as follows: generating power, manufacturing goods, cutting down forests, using transportation, producing food, powering buildings and consuming too much.

It says fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas - are by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for over 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

"As greenhouse gas emissions blanket the earth, they trap the sun's heat. This leads to global warming and climate change", the report adds.

For the European Commission, 2011-2020 was the warmest decade recorded, with global average temperature reaching 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels in 2019. It says that human-induced global warming is presently increasing at a rate of 0.2°C per decade.

Climate Change Knowledge Portal of the World Bank says that Nigeria is characterised by three distinct climate zones - a tropical monsoon climate in the south, a tropical savanna climate for most of the central regions, and a Sahelian hot and semi-arid climate in the north of the country.

It says that the mean annual temperature for Nigeria is 26.9°C, with average monthly temperatures ranging between 24°C (December, January) and 30°C (April) while placing the mean annual precipitation at 1,165.0 mm.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) said that Nigeria's climate has been changing and that it's evident in the increases in temperature, variable rainfall, rise in sea level and flooding, drought and desertification, land degradation, more frequent extreme weather events, affected fresh water resources and loss of biodiversity.

According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world must cut its carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050 in order to prevent global warming of 1.5°C, or likely more, above pre-industrial levels.

It was, perhaps, for this reason that the Nigerian Government on November 2, 2021 pledged to end carbon emissions by 2060 during the COP26 held in Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Sixteen days later, it signed its Climate Change Bill into law; perhaps, to show the world that it was ready to keep the promise it made at the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

But there are concerns over Nigeria's capacity to tackle climate change considering that it doesn't seem to have the capacity to mobilise finance to achieve its climate targets by 2060.

Lack of financial resources represents one of the most formidable barriers to fast-tracking action on climate change and achieving a green transition; and Nigeria, as a developing nation, doesn't seem to have the funds.

There are also doubts that the country could fulfil its pledge of ending deforestation by 2030 as part of measures to fight climate change considering that many people still depend on fossil fuel to run their homes.

In September 2023, President Bola Tinubu said that Nigeria needed to spend $17.7 billion annually to be able to deliver on its climate target and energy transition plan.

Tinubu, who spoke at the Presidential Day programme of the African Climate Summit held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, Kenya where he was represented by his Minister of State for Environment, Dr Iziaq Salako, added that aside the annual sum was an additional $10 billion, annually.

"Significantly, our plan helps to crystallise the scale of resources needed to deliver climate targets, and current financial flows will not suffice.

"Nigeria's Energy Transition Plan (ETP) requires $1.9 trillion spending up to 2060, including $410 billion above business-as-usual spending", he said.

It was on this ETP, adopted in January 2022, that the country's net zero carbon emission pledge by 2060 at COP26 was anchored.

Surprisingly, in 2025, the President praised Nigeria's exploits and successes in coal mining; the same chief source of carbon which reportedly fuels climate change.

Tinubu, during his October 1 broadcast to mark Nigeria's 65th independence day anniversary, said that coal mining recovered dramatically from a 22 per cent decline in Q1 to 57.5 per cent growth in Q2, becoming one of the country's fastest-growing sectors.

"The solid mineral sector is now pivotal in our economy, encouraging value-added production of minerals extracted from our soil", he added.

Nigeria has proven coal reserves of about 650 million tonnes of coal equivalent (TCE) while the inferred reserves are about 2.75 billion TCE, according to the Energy Commission of Nigeria.

"This consists of 49 per cent sub-bituminous, 39 per cent bituminous and 12 per cent lignite coals", it added.

Although coal is the oldest commercial fuel in Nigeria with production dating from 1916 when 24,500 tonnes were produced, the country doesn't have any coal power plant currently.

During the period under review, production rose to a peak of 905,397 tonnes in 1959 during which it contributed over 70 per cent to commercial energy consumption in the country. In 2010, production stood at about 0.046 million TCE.

The Bureau of Public Enterprises says that coal, mainly sub-bituminous stream coals except for the Lafia-Obi bituminous coking coal, is available in more than 22 coalfields spread over 13 states in Nigeria.

Tinubu's apparent support for the mining and usage of coal, a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock with a high amount of carbon and hydrocarbons, places a question mark on Nigeria's pledge to end carbon emissions by 2060.

As earlier stated, the Federal Government pledged on November 2, 2021 during the COP26 held in Glasgow, UK, to end carbon emissions by 2060 but said, however, that it would only be able to reach that height 10 years after the global target of 2050.

To tackle climate change, world leaders on December 12, 2015 reached a historic agreement to reduce carbon emissions across the globe. They did so at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, setting a target of ending it by 2050.

That agreement, signed by 195 states, was a very important pact for international cooperation which would greatly help in tackling climate change and its negative impacts.

The main idea is to ensure that the global temperature does not increase beyond 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Without doubts, the change in weather conditions occasioned by climate change actually dealt the farmers a very serious blow.

But beyond the farms, climate change is impacting human lives and health in a variety of ways, says the World Health Organisation (WHO).

"It threatens the essential ingredients of good health - clean air, safe drinking water, nutritious food supply and safe shelter - and has the potential to undermine decades of progress in global health", it says.

The world health body says that between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress alone.