Enhancing Urban Agricultural Activities through Renewable Energy Development

Abstract

Although Urban Agriculture (UA) is widely practiced in several Nigerian cities, it faces several challenges such as insufficient data on the practice, non-recognition of UA as a land use by Nigerian urban land laws, uncoordinated practice of UA, lack of support services for urban farmers such as providing access to improved seedlings, pesticides, technical training, machinery, medicine, etc, overt discrimination against female farmers in terms of denial of land ownership rights, limited access to markets, inputs, credit, etc. The strategic use of Renewable energy in UA operations can address some of these challenges and contribute significantly to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigerian cities. In Ibadan, the energy mix favors large scale use of biomass, particularly the fermentation of animal waste in biogas digesters to produce fertilizer and methane gas. This promotes local energy independence from inefficient and centralized power stations and grids and energy security. Since 2015, Lifeforte International High School, Awotan, Ibadan has been the recipient of the International School Award, an international benchmarking scheme of the British Council. This award is meant to encourage primary and secondary school students in partner schools to develop global citizenship skills such as empathy, critical and creative thinking, conflict resolution, communication, collaboration and taking action. Such skills are meant to empower these students to become solution providers to global problems such as poverty, hunger, inequality, climate change, etc. Lifeforte seeks to consolidate on its successful crop harvest on its school farm by building a biogas digester on it. This facility will produce fertilizer and methane gas. A Business model will mobilize the proceeds from the sale of gas to train local farmers, thereby strengthening their capacity to operate their own digesters for increased crop yield, higher income and local energy independence and security.