In the wake of Nigeria's devastating 2022 floods, Mercy Awazi Abutsa, MPS ’24, a dedicated advocate for climate action and rural development, found renewed purpose. Inspired by the urgent need to address climate change alongside existing vulnerabilities in Africa, Mercy embarked on a journey to empower her nation's youth. Through her Global Development studies at Cornell and hands-on fieldwork in Northern Nigeria, she spearheaded 'Climedu Nigeria,' a youth organization committed to fostering climate responsibility through education and training. Mercy's fieldwork delved into the realities of climate-resilient farming, revealing both the awareness and challenges faced by local smallholder farmers. Let’s dive in as Mercy shares her experiences on campus and in the field as a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) student in Global Development and as an Institute for African Development Fellow at Cornell.
Youth as agents of change
In 2022, my home country of Nigeria experienced severe floods that resulted in the displacement of over 1.4 million people, as well as the death of 600 people. This environmental disaster opened my eyes not only to the severity of climate change but also to how we as development professionals in Africa are in a unique position to confront climate change adaption and governance alongside existing challenges in Africa. As these challenges persist and escalate the threat of food security, well-being, displacement, and biodiversity loss, we must consider the role that local communities, particularly youth, play in making sustainable change. It is with that vision that I am homing in on policy development, implementation, analysis, and evaluation of issues within climate change and rural development in my studies at Cornell.
In my first semester of the program, my Global Development courses prepared me to create a youth organization in Nigeria. The organization that I founded, “Climedu Nigeria,” seeks to nurture a culture of climate responsibility among Nigerian youth through education and training on essential climate-related skills.
The course “Youth Organizations and Leadership Development” (GDEV5350 taught by Jeff Perry) played a pivotal role in helping me shape this concept into a reality. Through strategic planning and program development, I was inspired to launch the organization to reshape public perceptions of climate change in Nigeria.
I believe that youth are enthusiastic advocates and push governments to be held accountable. In Nigeria, youth are more proactive since our education has exposed us to more issues that climate change poses in terms of food security, inequalities and poverty. The creativity of young people can create more strategies to combat climate change. I have been inspired by other youth organizations in the Global South that have made climate change a significant issue, telling the stories of frontline communities and locally led solutions, and hope that Climedu Nigeria can follow in their footsteps.