Climate-Smart Agriculture Urgently Needed in Africa

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Climate-Smart Agriculture Urgently Needed in Africa

Africa contributes only 4 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, while six of the 10 most affected countries by climate change are in Africa, warns a major agricultural research for development partnership, while stressing the urgent need to scale up climate-smart agriculture, improve forestry and transform the productivity of water use.

In an interview with IPS, Elwyn Grainger-Jones, Executive Director of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) System Organization, analyses the impact of this staggering fact, which is based on the AAA Initiative report (Initiative for the Adaptation of Africa Agriculture to Climate Change), as well as the needed solutions.

The increasing occurrence and severity of weather events such as droughts and floods, high heat and cold stress, will impact agriculture in Africa, threatening regional food systems, explains Grainger-Jones. . .