Climate challenge facing Africa |
For anyone who has witnessed the conditions in which smallholder African farmers survive, the threat posed by climate change is frightening.
In the nine countries in which Self Help Africa works, no-one is in any doubt that the change has arrived – and farmers are the first to see what the future holds.
There are around 80 million small farms on the continent, and over 70% of all Africans rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. In the last few years, new investment in farming brought improved harvests – last year, there was a 3.5% increase in output from the continent, mostly from small farms.
But African agriculture is particularly vulnerable to a change in growing conditions. Less than 4% of agricultural land is irrigated, so production is heavily dependent on the timing and quantity of rain. The world is heating up, and as it does, the rains will no longer fall to the same pattern.
Many scientists now believe that global temperatures will rise by up to four degrees Celsius by 2050, and rains will become ever more unpredictable as a result. There will be more droughts and more floods.
Staple crops will be unable to cope with a four-degree rise in temperatures, and yields will fall by up to 40%. There will be greater numbers of pests and soil fertility will drop.
The greatest irony is that the people most at risk from climate change live in countries that have contributed the least to the atmospheric build-up of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
The state of Texas, with a population of 23 million, emits more carbon dioxide than all 720 million residents of sub-Saharan Africa.
The most vulnerable countries also tend to be the poorest. And the countries that face the least harm – and that are best equipped to deal with the harm they do face – tend to be the richest. Little wonder then that developing nations are asking the West for help in tackling this new threat.
Climate change has come to Africa, felt gradually at first but now so common that all are affected. Droughts were once experienced in East Africa every decade; now they are coming every two to three years. In Ethiopia, the belg rains of spring have disappeared. Farmers across the continent are struggling through prolonged dry spells, flash floods and unseasonal heat. It’s playing havoc with farming practices and with lives.
For African farmers, the challenge is to find ways to adapt to this change as it happens, as most of them simply don’t have the resources to play catch-up. For Self Help Africa, the challenge is to develop new adaptation strategies for the communities in which we work.
We do this by listening to farmers as they share their discoveries, by linking in with research institute programmes, and by sharing lessons with other organisations.
Following links on this page you will find information about the Climate Frontline project, a collaboration between Self Help Africa and four other international organizations designed to show how climate change is impacting on farmers across the continent.
It’s part of a wider attempt by us to pool the information on climate change adaptation strategies from our projects and share this knowledge with others working in the farming world.
Farmers are on the front line of climate change, but the way in which they work – from the amount and type of crops they plant to the way in which they till the land and protect natural resources, including forests, can help to cut carbon levels.
As a global community, we must all face up to the challenge of a hotter and more inhospitable planet. Smallholder farmers have contributed least to global warming, and while they have most to lose as a result of it, they can help in finding a way out.
Whether we focus on blame or on solution, the West must help Africa’s farmers. |
