Boosting climate-smart livestock farming in Nigeria
A 2024 projects that about 33 million people in Nigeria will face acute food insecurity in 2025, underscoring the urgent need for targeted and sustainable action to achieve Zero Hunger (SDG 2). Strengthening farmer resilience and decision-making is critical to safeguarding livelihoods and building more resilient food systems.
Abolaji Ogunjimi
On 10 January 2026, Commonwealth Alumnus Abolaji Ogunjimi delivered a capacity-strengthening workshop aimed at improving the knowledge, skills, and resilience of livestock farmers in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Abolaji Ogunjimi is a climate adaptation and food security researcher. She focuses on farmer decision-making, climate adaptation, and smallholder systems, with recent experience supporting programme design and operations at Farm Monitor Africa, an AI-driven agri-tech company.
Bridging the gap in climate-smart livestock training
Livestock farmers in peri-urban Ibadan face growing challenges from climate variability, rising costs, and disease pressures, yet access to structured, practical training on climate-smart practices remains limited. Many rely on informal networks and unverified digital sources, leaving a critical gap in reliable knowledge and skills.
To bridge this gap, Abolaji designed a one-day participatory workshop focused on practical climate-smart practices and the use of digital tools.
The workshop engaged 19 smallholder livestock farmers from across Ibadan’s Local Government Areas. Participants included experienced farmers, community leaders, and members of farmer networks, with strong representation of women and youth. With poultry as the dominant enterprise, the group provided a strong foundation for peer learning and knowledge exchange.
The training was supported by facilitators from Novi Agro Ltd. and student volunteers from the University of Ibadan.
Practical training for real-world livestock farming challenges
The workshop was designed to address everyday livestock farming challenges through practical, solution-oriented learning. It combined structured presentations with interactive discussions, enabling participants to share experiences and identify key issues such as poor feed quality and heat stress.
Workshop participants
Abolaji opened with a session on climate change, food security, and livestock productivity, where participants highlighted challenges in livestock farming, particularly climate-induced stress.
Dr Bayo Adeogun, Production Manager at Novi Agro Ltd. delivered a session on climate-smart livestock management, focusing on improved housing, feed and water management, disease prevention, and climate-tolerant breeds. Participants discussed adoption challenges such as cost and unreliable electricity, while exploring practical alternatives and financial risk management.
Sheila Moor, a Business Developer, African Union Climate Innovator and Food Security Enthusiast, and National Sales Manager at Novi Agro Ltd. introduced digital tools for livestock farming. This included demonstrations on how mobile technologies can support access to weather information, veterinary advice, market opportunities, and record keeping.
The workshop concluded with discussions and reflections. Alongside certificates, participants received handouts summarising key climate-smart livestock practices and digital tools discussed during the training, and in-kind support from Novi Agro Ltd.
Training impact and continued engagement
Abolaji assessed the workshop’s impact using pre- and post-training questionnaires. Findings highlighted clear improvements in knowledge, confidence, and readiness to adopt new practices. Most participants reported increased confidence in using digital tools, and all identified at least one climate-smart or digital practice to implement.
Following the workshop, Abolaji has continued to engage participants to support ongoing information sharing, peer learning, and technical guidance. Remaining materials will reinforce key lessons during follow-up engagement, while helping track practice adoption and inform future training and partnerships.
Abolaji Ogunjimi is a 2023 Commonwealth Shared Scholar from Nigeria. She completed a MSc in Food Security at the University of Glasgow.