Climate Change and Food Insecurity in Nigeria

The study investigated climate change and food insecurity with emphasis on Nigeria. Available evidences show that climate change has induced food crises in some parts of the world and also triggers security challenges in some environments due to the resulting friction that arises from the struggle for control of limited agricultural resources. Nigeria is considered a place where the crisis associated with climate change is playing out without any significant measures in place to mitigate the effects. The objectives of the study are to examine the factors responsible for climate change and analyse the impact of climate change on food security in Nigeria. The system theory propounded by David Easton was adopted as the theoretical framework. Secondary source of data was deployed for the study; it involves the collection of data from textbooks, journals and articles, etc. The study found that climate change has a grave impact on food security in Nigeria as it has led to the loss of farmland, crops and increased the price of food. The study also discovered that, in Nigeria, food crises imperil the lives of millions of people in the most vulnerable communities, particularly in the rural areas where poverty, malnutrition and death from hunger are on the rise day by day. The study recommends that appropriate legislative measures and policies should be put in place by the Nigerian government to ensure environmentally friendly practices. Practices such as gas flaring, deforestation, illegal construction of waterways and illegal diversion of natural waterways should be prohibited. This measure will help in redeeming the environment from further degradation. Effective legislation would also ensure that conservative practices are sustained and that anthropogenic factors that contribute to climate change are minimised.