At COP19 Africa demands action on climate finance and ambitious emission cuts

Warsaw, Poland, 19 November 2013 (ECA) – The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, today called for urgent solutions to address African agriculture in the face of adverse impacts of climate change. 

In a prepared address read by the AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Mrs. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, the AUC chairperson told the opening session of the Africa Day event held on the sidelines of the ongoing COP 19, that solutions to Africa’s staggering performances cannot be effective unless they are supported by appropriate means of implementation such as adequate finance, technology transfer and development assistance.

She said that long-standing financial promises by developed countries should be redeemed to support the development of the African Agricultural Agenda.

“At the same time, we continue to call for all polluters to commit to substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions which otherwise will continue to undermine our development trajectory”,  she added.

Mrs. Zuma said that although several African countries and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) now have improved agricultural planning processes, only massive financial support will make a significant difference.

She said that 34 countries have already signed the African Union’s Continental Framework, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), compact and 30 have developed Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plans.

In 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique, African leaders adopted the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) for the Development of Agriculture on the African continent.

To guarantee the successful implementation and delivery of impacts in the agriculture and food security sector, it is important to ensure that investment plans are climate proofed, she said.

As agriculture is the prominent employer in Africa and the most climate sensitive sector at the same time, the planning processes of the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Agriculture Food Security Investment Plans need to be able to cross-reference one another.

She pointed out that although there is positive progress in the area of development and use of climate data is imperative, climate modeling is complex and efforts to communicate this science to agricultural users remain rudimentary.

She said that more efforts need to be exerted by the science communities in Africa on scaling down climate models and making the findings more suitable for decision-making at every level.

Mrs. Zuma also took the opportunity to announce that the African Union Commission is preparing for 2014 by organizing a series of events, including today’s event to mobilize support for the African Agricultural Agenda, in efforts to enhance development in the face of climate change and other mega-trends such as rising population and urbanisation.

The Africa Day event at COP19 is organized by ClimDev-Africa Programme under the auspices of the Conference of African Heads of State on Climate Change.

A High-Level Panel discussion was also organized on the theme of the Africa Day event - Ending hunger in Africa through transformative agriculture in a changing climate - and facilitated by Dr. Fatima Denton, Coordinator of the African Policy Centre and Officer-in-Charge of the Special Initiatives Division at ECA.

Panelists spoke on different aspects of the theme, including on agriculture in the climate change negotiation by Mr. Fred Kossan; mainstreaming climate change adaptation in to the African agricultural development agenda by Dr. Ayalneh Bogale of AUC; innovative research and technologies for adaptation to climate change in African agriculture by Dr. Tom Owiyo of ECA; and options for financing climate change adaptation in African agriculture by Dr. Anthony Nyong of AfDB.

Issued by ECA