Climate-Proofing Agriculture Must Take Centre Stage in African Policy

Peter Mcharo's two children digging their father’s maize field in Kibaigwa village, Morogoro Region, some 350km from Dar es Salaam. Mcharo has benefitted greatly from conservation agriculture techniques. Credit: Orton Kiishweko/IPSBy Dr. Katrin GlatzelKIGALI, Rwanda, Jun 14 2016 (IPS)After over a year of extreme weather changes across the world, causing destruction to homes and lives, 2015-16 El Niño has now come to an end.This recent El Niño – probably the strongest on record along with the along with those in 1997-1998 and 1982-83– has yet again shown us just how vulnerable we, let alone the poorest of the poor, are to dramatic changes in the climate and other extreme weather events.Across southern Africa El Niño has led to the extreme drought affecting this year’s crop. Worst affected by poor rains are Malawi, where almost three million people are facing hunger, and Madagascar and Zimbabwe, where last year’s harvest was reduced by half compared to the previous year because of substantial crop failure.However, El Niño is not the only manifestation of climate change. Mean temperatures across Africa are expected to rise faster than the global average, possibly reaching as high as 3°C to 6°C greater than pre-industrial levels, and rainfall will change, almost invariably for the worst.In the face of this, African governments are under more pressure than ever to boost productivity and accelerate growth in order to meet the food demands of a rapidly expanding popu...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Advancing Deserts Africa Aid Climate Change Development & Aid Economy & Trade Environment Food & Agriculture Green Economy Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Natural Resources Population P Source Type: news