For a farmer who depends on the weather to decide when to plant, harvest or dry food crops, Nigeria’s changing climate is becoming an increasingly difficult challenge.
Prolonged rainfall, unpredictable dry seasons, flooding and shorter periods of sunshine are not only affecting what farmers produce but are also threatening food storage, processing and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on agriculture.
Prof. Osuji
A food value chain expert, Professor Chijioke Maduka Osuji, says Nigeria must urgently adapt its agricultural system to the changing weather patterns to prevent the situation from worsening.
Speaking during a media chat with our Correspondent in Lagos, Professor Osuji called for coordinated action by government, farmers, researchers and other stakeholders, stressing that climate-smart agriculture can no longer be treated as an option.
He identified sustained investment in agricultural research, timely weather information, identification of suitable crops, revival of agricultural extension services and continuous training of farmers as critical measures for protecting the country’s food supply.
Professor Osuji, a former National President of the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST) and a lecturer in the Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), said the increasing unpredictability of weather was creating different challenges across Nigeria’s agroecological zones.
According to him, Nigeria’s heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture makes farmers particularly vulnerable to both excessive rainfall and drought.
“Agriculture in Nigeria is not just rainfall-dependent, but rainfall-pattern dependent. Different crops require different rainfall conditions. Rice thrives in abundant water, yam prefers intermittent rainfall, while many tree crops do not tolerate rain during flowering because it washes away blossoms. Sustained changes in rainfall patterns will therefore affect yields across crop types,” he said.
He explained that prolonged rainfall could damage some tuber and tree crops, while benefiting others such as rice. It could also affect fruit production and even reduce honey production by disrupting the activities of bees.
“When heavy rains wash away flowers in the wild, bees lose access to nectar. This reduces honey production and affects pollination, which in turn lowers fruit yields,” Osuji explained.
The expert also drew attention to a less visible consequence of prolonged rainfall—the gradual loss of nutrients from farmland.
“Extended rainfall leads to nutrient leaching as water continues to move through the soil even after the rains stop. Nutrients are washed downhill into rivers, leaving farmlands less fertile and reducing crop performance,” he noted.
For farmers working on hilly and sloping terrain, the problem can be particularly severe as nutrients are carried away by moving water, gradually reducing the productivity of their land.
Beyond the farm, Osuji said changing weather patterns could disrupt the wider food value chain, including agro-processing and industries that depend on a steady supply of agricultural raw materials.
He therefore called for stronger government intervention, developed in partnership with agricultural and climate experts, to help farmers adapt to the new realities.
Among the measures he recommended are short-, medium- and long-term irrigation plans, improved water-management systems, access to crop dryers in high-rainfall areas and the deployment of reliable weather forecasting technologies.
He said farmers may also need to reconsider the crops they grow, invest in irrigation and water-control structures and adopt climate-smart production systems such as screened-house farming.
But Osuji stressed that farmers cannot be expected to make these changes on their own.
“The agricultural extension service system in Nigeria is collapsing. Since the Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) stopped receiving World Bank funding, many states have failed to adequately support them. Trained extension officers are retiring, and these are the professionals who should be guiding farmers at the grassroots on how to adapt to changing conditions,” he said.
The consequences, he warned, could extend beyond the farm gate, particularly through rising post-harvest losses.
Traditional methods of drying crops under the sun become increasingly unreliable when rainfall persists and sunshine becomes limited, leaving harvested produce vulnerable to spoilage.
“With less sunshine and shorter harmattan periods, crop harvests that depend on sun-drying are at higher risk of spoilage. Experts must work with government to design effective interventions, and government must respond decisively to protect farmers and ensure national food security,” Professor Osuji added.
For Nigeria, the challenge is therefore not simply producing more food, but ensuring that farmers have the knowledge, infrastructure and technology to keep producing despite a changing climate.
Osuji said building a resilient food system would require government, farmers, researchers, extension officers and other stakeholders to work together, warning that delayed action could make climate-related disruptions increasingly costly for both farmers and consumers.
