their key food crops – maize, cassava, sorghum, rice, millet, soybean and yam – were affected by extreme weather

Drought was the most severe risk, particularly affecting maize and cassava. Flooding was the second major threat. It drowned maize and cassava and caused their roots to rot.

This is worrying because droughts in Nigeria have become more frequent and prolonged over the past two decades. The number of extreme dry spells has increased by an estimated 28% compared to the 1990s. The number of places in Nigeria that are affected by flooding has increased due to more erratic rainfall and poor drainage.

We recommend that proactive adaptation measures are needed urgently. These include:

• Drought-resistant crop varieties […]
• Efficient water management […]

Have these people considered planting trees? It seems like growing more fruit trees and farming with the forest rather than cutting it down would solve all of these problems if implemented by enough people. Forests bring all sorts of ecological benefits including regulating the local water cycle, and of course the perennial nature of the trees prevents one poor growing season from destroying someone’s entire livelihood. Planting more trees seemed to work pretty well for people in Malawi and Kenya, so I see no reason for Nigeria to be much different.