Humanity Facing Climate Emergency in Africa, Experts Call for Urgent Interventions

 Unchecked human activities such as fishing have contributed to the climate change crisis in Africa (Photo: GLF Africa | Facebook)

• The horn of Africa is the worst hit with approximately 22 million people facing starvation
• The situation is expected to get worse as temperatures continue to rise
• West and north Africa regions are grappling with a similar challenge
• Experts at the Global Landscapes Forum called for urgent interventions to address climate change and food crises

The African continent is facing one of the worst food crises in history as a result of climate change. Even though the continent contributes just 4% of greenhouse gas emissions^[1], the drought situation in Africa is dire and needs urgent interventions.

“Never before have we been facing as many global crises simultaneously as we are today. Today, we not only need to take action against one of the worst global food crises ever, but we also need to make our food systems resilient to future crises. Let us consider this as an opportunity” Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), said during the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF).

The GLF Africa conference was convened on September 15, 2022, to offer the latest insights on science^[3], tools, practices, and local solutions needed to transform Africa’s food systems and build a resilient food future.

Scope of the crisis

By the start of 2022, approximately 13 million people were facing starvation in the horn of Africa. By September 2022, this number had risen to 22 million^[4]. What is worrying is that there seems to be no end in sight to this unbearable situation.

The ongoing war in Ukraine has made it even harder than ever for African countries to feed their citizens with food imports. The cost of living has risen exponentially and exposed Africa as a food insecure continent.

According to the edition of IGAD regional Balance on Food Crises^[5] released in July 2022, over 50 million people in Eastern Africa are facing starvation due to climate change. This was a sharp increase from 2021 when 42 million people faced a food crisis.

Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan are facing the largest food crises in the region. At least 300,000 people are projected to face a catastrophic (IPC Phase 5*) food crisis in Somalia and South Sudan.

In West Africa, at least 27 million people were grappling with starvation by April 2022. A report released by international organisations, Oxfam, ALIMA and Save the Children, projected that at least 38 million people were on the verge of facing a serious food crisis^[6] in West Africa by June 2022.

The situation is the same in Southern Africa where countries have been experiencing low rainfall that has resulted in successive crop failures and poor harvests.

Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are some of the most affected countries that need urgent interventions to salvage the situation. A world^[7] Vision report released this year indicated climate change has taken a toll^[8] on agriculture production in the aforementioned countries, and food prices are soaring.

It is estimated that over 146 million^[9] are facing extreme hunger on the continent.

There is hope

Amid these enormous challenges, experts at the Global Landscapes Forum opined that Africa has an opportunity to radically transform its food systems and caution the continent against future crises.

Professor Carlos Lopes from Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town, advised African leaders and policymakers to be proactive in developing interventions to caution the continent against the shockwaves of climate change.

“It’s not because external actors ask for this. It’s because we believe in it. If we are reactive, we may continue to experience more of the same. But if we become proactive, we may well become leaders of new food systems," said the scholar.

According to Lopes, investing in cross-cutting policy intervention to make food systems more resilient to climate change and future crises would help Africa be food secure in the future.

On his part, Flasbarth (State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), observed that more than one-third of 700 million people who faced hunger in 2021 lived in Africa.

He attributed the deteriorating climate situation in Africa and other parts of the world to the clamour by small-scale farmers to expand farmland to increase their productivity. Flasbarth also attributed the challenge to non-sustainable agricultural practices and failure by local communities to protect natural resources and ecosystems.

“Food crisis and climate crisis mutually reinforce each other. Worldwide food systems account for 80% of deforestation making the climate crisis worse. In many places land degradation and declining harvests which are being caused by non-sustainable agriculture practices are forcing small-scale farmers in Africa to expand the farmland and to cut down forests,” said Flasbarth.

Deforestation contributes to carbon emissions, changes in water cycles and biodiversity loss. While this has happened across the continent, West and East African forests are the worst hit^[10], with available data estimating the rate of forest destruction in the two regions to be between 80% to 90%. It is not surprising that the two regions are experiencing drought, especially East Africa^[11].

Change the narrative

Prof Lopes challenged African leaders and policymakers to take charge of the continent’s destiny and change the narrative and perceptions that have defined her people for a long time.

“Africa should change the narrative from one of a continent with the largest stock of unused land to a continent where we are concerned about suppressing production losses and increasing production," said Lopes.

To achieve this, the expert said concrete actions in key value chains need to be taken by the government and policymakers.

"African continent of free trade area offers an opportunity for cross-border transactions that can foster food security while ensuring expansion of regional value chains, but for it to meet expectations there is an urgent need to ramp up the powers and capacities of competition institutions if regional markets are to work more effectively.

We need to incentify investments in new production capabilities for sustainable food supplies with a diversity of approaches and business models. Political leadership is urgently required but civil society mobilisation is also required," he explained.

Jamila Jana, a Marine Biologist at Stellenbosch University, exuded confidence in Africa's potential and cautioned against acceptance of a narrative that portrays the continent as vulnerable and fragile.

“There is a narrative that we can start changing. Africa is not a country: it is a continent. Africa is not ‘defined by poverty’ – Africa is rich. Africa is full of stories; Africa is full of diversity; it’s full of young hearts, it’s full of culture, it’s full of innovation; it is full of new ideas. If we would like to see solutions that are nature-based, if we’d like to see innovative contributions to both the science space and the conservation space, then Africa is the best place to look at Africa.

Alvario Lario, African Solutions for Food and Climate and future President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), vouched for a holistic approach to dealing with climate change and food crisis.

"Protecting the continent’s climate is key to addressing poverty and food crises. Small-scale farmers produce the food, but they go to bed hungry. We need a future holistic approach to managing the future crises that threaten humanity."

Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Director General Robert Nasi urged the leaders to protect wild species consumed by mankind to prevent their extinction.

“We must manage the use of wild species for food looking at the whole range of possible options from pure conservation to sustainable use to domestication. We can’t simply tell people depending on wildmeat as their main source of protein simply to stop eating meat without giving them affordable and healthy alternatives.”

Young people also have a crucial role to play in building the continent’s food future. Africa's agricultural development programs need to initiate policies that will explicitly target them.

“The African youth generation has awakened, and we are committed to doing all we can to build a prosperous Africa. For that, we need African leaders to actively promote investment in the agricultural sector. After all, agriculture is the coolest job in the world. African agribusiness will be worth $1 trillion by 2030, and everyone does need to eat,” said Ineza Grace, coordinator of the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition.

Africa can also adopt the following measures as summarised by Flasbarth, the state secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development:

• Protect natural resources and ecosystems, and restore landscapes for sustainable use.
• Ensure investors and developers act responsibly to protect people from displacements and secure their livelihoods. This also protects landscapes and the global climate.
• Make good use of local communities’ knowledge and strengthen their capacity to use and protect local landscapes.
• Ensure people have equitable access to land and other natural resources, especially groups whose rights are often disregarded.
• Engage people on the ground, especially young people and women, as drivers of change and innovation.
• Invest in monitoring Africa’s weather and climate in order to provide farmers with the correct information in good time.

References

1. ^{^} just 4% of greenhouse gas emissions (www.atlanticcouncil.org)
2. ^{^} Kenya (kiswahili.tuko.co.ke)
3. ^{^} science (www.tuko.co.ke)
4. ^{^} had risen to 22 million (www.theguardian.com)
5. ^{^} IGAD regional Balance on Food Crises (reliefweb.int)
6. ^{^} facing a serious food crisis (www.oxfam.org)
7. ^{^} world (www.tuko.co.ke)
8. ^{^} climate change has taken a toll (www.worldvision.org)
9. ^{^} over 146 million (www.redcross.org.uk)
10. ^{^} West and East African forests are the worst hit (www.google.com)
11. ^{^} East Africa (www.tuko.co.ke)