While mitigation may be very difficult and expensive especially for individuals and even government, concerted policy based efforts on adaptation are… - ‪Anthonia Achike‬

therefore, adaptation is important as a necessary complement. mitigation, relative to adaptation, requires a lot of policies, not just simple “precautionary measures by individuals.”

while mitigation may be very difficult and expensive, especially for individuals and even governments, concerted policy-based efforts on adaptation are on-going.

There are many other threats to sustainable livelihood and agricultural development. In spite of the hazards, it is sad to note that many people especially farmers in Nigeria know very little about basic characteristics and adaptation measures for climate change vis-a-vis sustainable agriculture. Despite all these, it is quite doubtful whether farmers and indeed actors in other weather dependent occupations know immediately what constitutes the “symptoms” of climate change and the best responses to climate change when such agricultural practices as it requires are outside their range of experience. These facts, according to Madison (2006) account for a period of transitional losses of unknown duration as a result of adapting to climate change. Such losses are immense when quantified and the best way forward is not to lament about the losses but to put in place actions that will help farmers and other members of the society adapt to climate change effects in Africa.

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 refers to actions taken to limit or stop the magnitude and/or rate of long-term climate change.

According to reports of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Africans especially Sub-Sahara Africans are more vulnerable to climate change and unfortunately they have the least capability of adapting to its deleterious effects. This has been responsible for crop yield losses, disease outbreaks that affect humans, livestock and crops; loss of fishing grounds and water bodies; extreme weather events such as flood, desertification with the associated consequences of famine, massive death of livestock and communal conflicts that arise from what we now call “environmental migration” as has been recently witnessed in Nigeria between Fulani nomads and crop farmers in the middle belt and some other parts of Nigeria.