Michael J Ssali
The ongoing severe drought in almost all parts of the country is typical of the extreme weather events that are associated with climate change. To most of us climate change is something quite new in our vocabulary as farmers. We need some education about this phenomenon that is set to change our strategies and practices in farming.
Big international conferences have been organised to discuss climate change since decades ago but in the beginning it only attracted the attention of scientists and the deliberations were recorded and stored in academic institutions. As time went by more and more people noticed the gradual change and today nearly all have felt the change right on their skins.
Global Climate Change conferences are now much more publicised and the debates involve leaders of the most powerful nations. It is a big international concern. The temperatures are rising, the world is warming up, and it is increasingly becoming difficult to carry out farming the way it has always been done. It is even feared that eventually island nations may be submerged as the glaciers warm up and release more water into the oceans.
Farmers must now learn more about climate-smart agriculture --- how to store water, how to preserve the soil, what seeds to plant, and what other steps to take to mitigate climate change. They have also to learn that climate change is not likely to go away soon since it has been building up since the times of the industrial revolution when massive usage of fossil fuels took place.
The farmers must be helped to understand what global warming gases are and how they are caused. Agriculture is known to be responsible in a small way for some of the global warming gases such as methane and carbon dioxide.
Fortunately we have thousands of farmers’ cooperative societies and farmers groups. These can periodically hold climate change seminars for farmers to listen to experts about the newly arrived farming problem.
The Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries should have the experts in sufficient numbers to enlighten all farmers and stakeholders about climate change. With the advent of climate change (otherwise known as global warming) new pests and crop diseases that have no known chemical cure have emerged. Farmers must be told about the connection between the new and so far incurable crop diseases and climate change.
