Agro-ecology for Climate Action
Mar 25, 2020
Story
Africa is ravaged by the negative acts of climate change and sadly those most affected are the ones who cannot cushion themselves from these negative impacts. As observed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the frequency and intensity of drought continue to worsen in Africa. The climate change situation in Africa means altered lives for people in the continent for a variety of reasons. Many Africans depend on rain fed agriculture thus millions of African people depend on rainfall for food production. For pastoralist communities’ drought means migration to other parts of the country or to even neighbouring countries in search of pasture, it also means death of animals due to lack of water and pasture, additionally it means conflict among agro and pastoralist communities due to competition over environmental resources. For farmers flooding means low productivity, destruction of crops on the farm, disease spread and increased costs of production, for communities living along river banks floods mean forced relocation and death.
Against this bleak backdrop, food sovereignty activists under the umbrella of Alliance for Food Coronoid Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)[1] have started an advocacy campaign to push for agro-ecology to be put at the centre of response to the climate crisis in 12 countries[2] across Africa. The alliance calls upon African citizens to petition producers; Cooperation partners, donor agencies and philanthropists to make resources available to support Agro-ecological approaches for climate adaptation and mitigation and African climate change negotiators to their leaders and demand for sustainable food systems that enhance the resilience of small scale food advance agro-ecology within their recommendations to the Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA).[3]
AFSA members on food sovereignty such as Fahamu Africa[1], World Neighbours [2], Eastern and Southern Africa Pastoralist Network (EASPN) and Regional Schools and Colleges Permaculture Programme(RESCOPE)[3] have started an initiative aimed at lobbying Kenyan government officials at the county and sub county level to place agro-ecology at the centre of climate change response. Through strategy meetings that bring together civil society including university students from University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, Catholic University of Eastern Africa and government officials from the county level specifically departments of agriculture, environment and livestock for a discussion on agro-ecology. The objective of the strategy meeting is: To build and strengthen collaborative work in addressing climate change; enhance awareness on agro-ecology as a solution to the climate crisis; build a movement to advance climate justice and Agro-ecological practice; strengthen campaign initiatives focused on addressing climate change through agro-ecology and to build consciousness among policy makers at national and county levels on linkages between agro-ecology and climate change.
The strategy meeting resulted into forging collaborative relationships with county government officials in departments of agriculture , livestock and environment, identification of gaps and opportunities within the National Adaptation Plans, knowledge sharing on agro-ecology and its contribution to addressing climate change in the Kenyan context, lobbying county government officials to consider incorporation agro-ecology in their County climate change adaptation interventions and sharing of updates on existing climate adaptation and mitigation interventions currently taking place .
Agro-ecology has proved that it has the capacity to address climate change because the principles of agro-ecology are embedded in natural processes.
[3] https://www.greenafricadirectory.org/listing/regional-schools-and-colleges-permaculture-rescope-programme/
[1] https://afsafrica.org/about-us/
[2] The 12 countries are Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda, South Africa, Togo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Zambia, Cameroon and Cote d’ Ivoire
[3] http://www.fao.org/climate-change/our-work/what-we-do/koronivia/en/
