COPing strategies

My previous blog post stressed the importance of good governance to effectively tackle climate change issues in Africa, particularly in regard to water and agriculture. Although farmers can make changes on the small-scale to maximise yields and use water sustainably, they look to governments and international bodies to pioneer and institute frameworks on a wide scale to benefit the agricultural sector. From the outcomes of COP22, it looks like the international community are playing their part.

The COP (Conference of the Parties) is the decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and this international event is held annually to discuss the progress in the worldwide fight against climate change. This year’s COP22 climate talks, which concluded only a couple of weeks ago, were hosted by the Moroccan government in Marrakech.

It has been understood that water scarcity and food shortages are potentially the most severe impacts of climate change (DW 2016), and six of the ten countries most affected by climate change are in Africa (El Filali 2016). Morocco itself has already started to feel the effects of climate change on agriculture, particularly through the ever more erratic rainfall patterns. Only last year, Morocco received 42.7% less rain than the average year, leading to a 70% decrease in agricultural output. So Morocco hoped to make COP22 the ‘African COP’, putting issues pertaining to Africa’s agricultural vulnerabilities to climate change in the spotlight (Hicks 2016).

And it seems that they were successful. The Moroccan government launched the Adaptation of African Agriculture project, or the ‘Triple A’, which seeks to strengthen the agriculture sector through three main pillars: effective management of land, water, and climate risk (IPS News 2016).

How does the Triple A strive to improve water management?

It wants to create better water storage infrastructure, alongside better management of existing water sources, so that farmers can withstand the increasing occurrence of dry spells. One target could be Ghana, which currently only exploits 2% of its available surface and groundwater resources, but still suffers from crop failures when drought hits (Bird 2016). Furthermore, better water storage allows for more irrigation projects to be introduced. For example, a third of olive growers in Morocco are using far more water than necessary by practising traditional flood irrigation methods, but the NGO ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) is working alongside the Moroccan government to encourage the uptake of drip irrigation which lowers water use by up to 70% (Abou-Sabaa 2016).

The Triple A also strives to increase access to farming inputs as well as improved weather forecasting for farmers – a new SMS system is being trialled in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia which delivers field-specific weather information (Bird 2016). The aims of the Triple A will be undertaken in partnership with the FAO, and so far the scheme has been endorsed by 27 countries (AAA 2016).

COP22 was the first session where water was a key focus of the talks (Euro News 2016), proving that the world has now woken up to the importance of water issues, and is taking an international step to combat water challenges. The Moroccan Government, in collaboration with the French Government and the World Water Council, publicised their Blue Book on Water and Climate which stresses how water is the ‘first victim’ of climate change, and includes key advice from water organisations worldwide on how to best implement adaptations to climate change, such as by providing pragmatic solutions on how to build resilience through water management.

In addition, the Moroccan Government, together with the African Development Bank, introduced the Water for Africa initiative which is a specific action plan on how alliances can be made with political, financial and institutional bodies worldwide to develop water and sanitation services across Africa and counter the impacts of climate change (UN News Centre 2016).

As part of their climate change strategies submitted to the UNFCCC, all African countries included agricultural adaptations, which shows that this is an issue that is being taken seriously by African governments (Abou-Sabaa 2016), but a crucial ingredient to the successful implementation of these climate change initiatives is sufficient funding. Africa currently receives only 5% of global climate change funding even though 65% of Africa’s population will be affected (Bird 2016). The African Development Bank has stated that adapting to climate change is expected to cost between $20bn and $30bn every year until 2030 (Abou-Sabaa 2016), and so by securing more funding from better-off countries, they will be able to invest in these numerous projects. Through agreements from COP22, wealthier nations have pledged to fund climate-friendly development in poorer countries as well as contributing to adaptation measures. However it has also been highlighted that the most effective way that wealthier nations can help is by stopping fossil fuel consumption and exploiting the resources of poorer nations – a more indirect way of assisting Africa (DW 2016).

The FAO is planning to invest $1.5m to support six African small island developing states (SIDS) in making their agricultural practices more resilient to climate shocks and to improve the efficiency of farming practices. This will provide funding to train farmers on climate-smart food production, as well as the money needed to find innovative ways to increase crop yields. As SIDS nations suffer from high levels of unemployment and poverty and are heavily reliant on food imports, this investment should kill two birds with one stone by increasing food security and boosting development (Coastweek 2016).

The outcomes of COP22 are a fantastic example of how governments can work alongside NGOs – and each other – in a more equitable fight against climate change. These initiatives all sounds brilliant on paper, but only time will tell whether they lead to any real, tangible outcomes that truly benefit Africa’s water management, food security, and development.