Deforestation will cause hunger for generations yet unborn – Kogi ADP

Mr James Ogunmola, Managing Director, Kogi Agricultural Development Project (ADP), has decried massive felling of trees and destruction of forests without conscious effort at regenerating them.


Ogunmola made the remark on Friday in Lokoja in his goodwill message at a-two-day Practical Training on Climate Resilience and Sustainable Agriculture organised for members of Small-Scale Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria.

The training was organised by ActionAid Nigeria in collaboration with Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development (PIBCID), its local rights partners in Kogi.

Ogunmola warned that if not checked, the practice would cause hunger for generations yet unborn.

He said that though governments across the country had been encouraging tree planting, the people were yet to fully embrace the idea.

``It will take decades to revamp forests that had been devastated and that means hunger for generations yet unborn,’’he said.

He urged Kogi government, its ministries and agencies to embark on advocacy, workshops and meetings to mitigate the effect of climate change occasioned by deforestation.

Stressing that the environment must be protected at all cost, the MD urged the government to enforce its ban on lumbering for timber business.

He also urged the government to enforce its withdrawal of license for lumbering in Kogi East and West senatorial districts as announced by the Commissioner for Environment, Rosemary Ojochenemi Osinkoya.

Ogunmola, who called for massive tree-planting, harped on the importance of shelter belts on the farms, walkways and homes.

He appealed to farmers in the state to plant cover crops to protect the soil, saying ``farming should encourage sustainable environment and sustainable soil management.”

Earlier in her remark, Mrs Gift Omoniwa, Executive Director of PIBCID and Project Manager of ActionAid, said the training was in recognition of peoples’ right to food.

She said that small-scale women farmers who constituted 60 to 80 per cent of agricultural labour force, were targeted ``as part of our objective to enhance human security and livelihood for the poor and excluded.’’

Omoniwa said that ActionAid was making efforts to improve agricultural productivity for pro-poor growth by assisting women and youths in agriculture to access finance, farm inputs and extension services.