This was a presentation done at a working session meeting by the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), United National Economic Commission for Africa/African Climate Policy Centre (UNECA/ACPC), Africa Development Bank (AfDB), The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and AfricaInteract with support from International Development Research Centre (IDRC) for the agriculture and gender negotiators and experts to prepare the AGN submission to the upcoming 44th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) scheduled to take place from 16 to 26 May 2016 in Bonn, Germany.

1. Adaptation Measures for Africa’s Climate
Resilient Agriculture
Mary Nyasimi
March 21-22, 2016 Nairobi, Kenya

2. Diversity of Africa’s Agricultural/Farming Systems

3. Land Area and Agricultural Population Size
Sub-Saharan Africa
Farming System Land area (% of
region)
Population (% of
region)
Pastoral & Semi-Pastoral 32 8
Cereal/root crop mixed 13 15
Forest based 11 7
Root crop 11 11
Maize mixed 10 15
Agro-pastoral
millet/sorghum 8 9
Others (8 more systems) 16 35

4. Land Area and Agricultural Population Size
North Africa and Middle East
Farming System Land area (% of
region)
Population (% of
region)
Pastoral-Sparse arid 83 14
Highland Mixed 7 30
Dryland mixed 4 14
Irrigated 2 17
Rainfed Mixed 2 18
Coastal artisanal fishing 1 1
Urban Based 1 6

5. Adaptation Measures

6. Eastern Africa
Mainly maize mixed farming systems - declining productivity due to poor
soil productivity, shortage of water & livestock feed severely constrain
crops farmers and pastoralists. Measures include:
 Adjustment of crop planting dates
 Agroforestry/tree-based interventions for reforestation and soil
conservation, enhanced carbon sequestration & other ecosystem
services at farm & landscape levels;
 Integrated soil and water resources mgt. - expanding areas under
different forms of irrigation;
 Changing crop types and cultivars to enhance agro-biodiversity
diversity
 Diversification of production systems within agriculture and of livelihood
options outside agriculture/pastoralism;
 Conservation agriculture
 Indigenous knowledge practices that improve farmer access to weather
forecasting information for decision making

7. Southern Africa
Characterized by frequent droughts, declining soil productivity, high
dependence on rain-fed, lack of access to improved production and
processing technologies; lack of timely access to relevant climate
information to inform decisions. Measures include;
 Introduction of new crop types
and varieties that tolerate or
escape (e.g. short maturing cycle)
droughts and/or dry spells,
changes in planting dates and
introduction of new fertilizer
formulations and resource
conserving technologies
 Access to climate information and
technical knowledge from national
extension, NGOs and/or fellow
farmers

8. Northern Africa
Characterized by poor soil quality, increasing frequency of droughts, shrink
in size of agricultural land due to expansion of desert conditions. Measures
include;
 Sustainable management of freshwater resources to support growth
of irrigated production systems
 Crop diversification coupled to integrated soil and water
management practices including conservation agriculture

9. West Africa
Characterized by increased climate variability, declining soil fertility and
increasing land degradation will negatively impact on the diversity of crops
and livestock systems. Measures include;
 Sustaining diversified
agricultural production systems
and tailoring them to respond to
changing agro-ecological
conditions;
 Increasing farmer access to
production technologies that
enhance efficiencies in use of
endogenous and external
resources;
 Strengthening farmer access to
and participation in local and
regional markets and trade;
 Reducing high dependency on
rain-fed agricultural production
systems in sustaining livelihoods

10. Central Africa
Largest forest resources and
biodiversity, and therefore hold
potential for mitigation against
climate change.
 Sustainable
management of the
forest systems
 Interventions that
enhance farmer access
to, and use of land,
improved agricultural
technologies, climate
information and markets
hold promise for
adaptation.

11. Gender-transformative strategies
Climate Change impacts and effects are not gender neutral.
Women provide more than 60% of the labor force - this makes women at
greater risk of livelihood insecurity
 Tap into women’s traditional
knowledge on land management
techniques, soil enrichment and
drought resistant seeds.
 Provide women access to weather
and agro-advisory services,
fertilizers, irrigation and
mechanized equipment.
 Investments in modern, low-
carbon energy systems e.g.,
agroforestry
 Training national expertise on
gender mainstreaming and
climate change
 Aesign of adaptation actions –
NAPs NDCs should integrate
gender considerations

12. Key Messages

13. 1: Scientific data on climate risks and associated
agriculture losses is limited and/or lacking
 Investment in Research on impacts of Climate change
 Investment in equipment and data software to monitor weather
and climate
 Gender disaggregated data on impacts of climate change
needed

14. 2: Promotion, use and scaling up of inexpensive
agricultural adaptive technologies
Successful scale-scale localized agricultural intervention that
can greatly reduce the effects of extreme weather events:
 Farmer-managed natural
regeneration of trees;
 Green manure/cover crops
for restoring soil fertility and
moisture
 Water harvesting to
improve yields and prevent
crop losses from drought
 Climate information
services (forecasting, early
warning and agro-advisory,
emergency responses)

15. 3: Institutionalization of adaptation measures into
national policy frameworks
African governments need to institutionalize climate smart
agriculture and ecosystems based adaptation, into national policy
frameworks for building resilience against impacts of extreme
weather and climate events e.g.,
 INDCs ---- National Determined Contributions
 National Adaptation plans
 Climate Change Polices, Plans and Strategies

16. 4: Low (and or untrained) institutional capacity to
implement adaptation measures
Ongoing monitoring and analysis of the efforts to integrate
adaptation measures into agricultural sector show that such efforts
are cost effective. However institutional capacity remains low and
the level of financing insufficient.

17. 5: Multistakeholder participation
 Increase farmer involvement and participation
 Mobilization of multi-sector agencies to co-learn and innovate
with farming communities
 Learning-based platforms and approaches that integrate
agricultural production to natural resources management

18. Thank you/Merci