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This week, during a visit to Nigeria, British Foreign Minister James Cleverly will unveil a new support package to enhance the climate resilience of Nigeria’s agriculture sector, his office announced on Tuesday.

Included in the support are a contract worth £55 million, aimed at revitalising Nigeria’s rural economy, and a £2.9 million grant, set to assist over 4 million people in implementing and expanding sustainable farming practices, as stated by the government.

Cleverly articulated in a statement, “Together we are focussing on the future putting in place green, clean measures, both in agriculture and infrastructure development, to create climate-resilient solutions for the global challenges we all face today and will increasingly face in the years to come.”

In Africa’s most populous nation, the majority of people dwell in rural areas and find themselves acutely affected by climate change, particularly by drought and flooding, which disrupt their livelihoods.

The new investment is expected to fortify productivity and robustness in Nigeria’s agriculture sector against climate change. It will also contribute to the growth of crops tolerant to heat and flood and the enhancement of soil fertility, added the British government.

Cleverly, who is scheduled to visit Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial centre, on Tuesday, and its capital city Abuja on Wednesday, will further announce a £10 million facility to allocate funding for projects aligned with climate-friendly infrastructure, according to the statement.

Last year in Nigeria, the most severe flooding in ten years resulted in the death of over 600 people and the displacement of at least a million.

This natural disaster led to the destruction of crops, intensifying a food emergency in a country where, over the previous three years, millions have been thrust into food poverty, as reported by international aid organisations.