Stakeholders gathered recently at the Trenchard Hall of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria for a Policy Roundtable on Climate Change, Agriculture and Sustainable Development. The event was held on Monday, August 22, 2016. The stakeholders comprised scholars from the academia and research centres, leaders from civil society organisations, and media practitioners. The policy roundtable was part of the dissemination and research uptake activities of Dr Olawale Olayide who is a Research Fellow at the University of Ibadan Centre for Sustainable Development (CESDEV). The post-doctoral research programme was on Climate Impacts Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement (CIRCLE).

The distinguished panelists at the Policy Roundtable were: Walter J.V. Vermeulen, President, International Sustainable Development Research Society, The Netherlands; Janice Olawoye, Retired Professor of Rural Sociology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria; Oluseyi Oyebisi, Executive Director, Nigerian Network of Non-Governmental Organisations (NNNGO), Lagos, Nigeria; Pierluigi Bozzi, Coordinator, International University Network on Cultural and Biological Diversity (IUNCBD), Italy; Oluwatoyin Aladegbami, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Ondo State, Nigeria; Labode Popoola, Professor of Forest Economics, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and Edmund Obilo, Media Practitioner, Oyo State, Nigeria.

It was emphasized by the various panelists that the major challenges of agriculture in the different regions of Nigeria are enormous, including the impacts of climate change. These challenges manifest in the form of productivity decline, flooding and forced migration coupled with ageing farming populations. Therefore, appropriate and timely policy actions would be required in the areas of climate change adaptation and mitigation with a view to achieving food security and sustainable development in Nigeria.

The panel reiterated the need to make agriculture attractive for the future and young generations. This means, making agriculture less laborious, adaptable to climate change, and by developing the value chains of agricultural commodities. The universities and research centres should also be more responsive to solving food security problems. In this way, the gown and town will find concourse for sustainable development.

A Policy Brief on Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture for Evidence-based Policy and Sustainable Development was launched during the Policy Roundtable. The convener, Dr Olawale Olayide, said that another edition of the Policy Brief would be released in October 2016. The upcoming edition will feature the outcome of the Policy Roundtable on Climate Change, Agriculture and Sustainable Development in Nigeria. Further enquiries and requests should be directed to Dr Olawale Olayide via email address: waleolayide@yahoo.com.

•Photo shows stakeholders gathered recently at the Trenchard Hall of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria for a Policy Roundtable on Climate Change, Agriculture and Sustainable Development.

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