Chief Executive, Green Energy & Biofuels (GEB), an African energy company, generating power from bio ethanol, Femi Oye, has urged the Federal and States government to promote the development of green agriculture to ensure sustainable growth and higher quality of products.
In view of the growing global
efforts to change the farming process to adapt to the green consumption trend,
Oye indicated that the government will help to attract foreign investments if
the agricultural sector is repositioned to contribute to reducing greenhouse
gas emissions.
As the trend toward carbon
emissions reduction continues, he continued that it has become pertinent for
farmers to be encouraged and supported to adopt climate-smart agriculture
practices, adding that it will not only help to protect the environment and
reduce operating costs, but also create a new income stream by selling carbon
offset credits on a carbon market.
Like other countries in
Africa, Oye, who is a Renewable Energy Senator, implored the government to take
steps towards addressing climate change, by evolving a carbon market that
prices greenhouse gas or carbon emissions.
He also explained that
establishing various platforms for carbon credits from agriculture would
support current initiatives to combat climate change while enhancing farmers’
income.
In Europe and Asia, he states
that the establishment of a carbon credit market has brought new opportunities
for green agricultural development.
To achieve this, he counseled
the government to complete the specific legal framework for the development and
operation of carbon credit exchanges.
He reiterated that his
organization is ready to work with governments and the private sector to
empower farmers to combat climate change through sustainable agriculture.
One way to achieve this, he
stated, was by transforming crop waste into carbon-sequestering known as
biochar with the help of smallholder farmers. The sustainable approach, he
maintained, would address greenhouse gas emissions and support the well-being of
rural communities. A major goal of the organisation, he mentioned, was to
revive traditional food ways and help restore plant biodiversity across the
country.
GEB as an organisation, he posited, recognizes
that the health of the environment goes hand in hand with that of communities
and supports the establishment of a sustainable food production system which
satisfies the farmer, the local community and the consumer, keeping the health
of the soil and the people as the priority.
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