The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) in collaboration with the African Development Bank and the Wangari Mathai Institute have concluded a three-day regional forum on the future of resilient food systems in Africa.

The Forum, called the Future of Resilient Food Systems in Africa – AAAP Digital Solutions for a Changing Climate provided training aimed at strengthening the capacity of stakeholders from across Eastern Africa to design and implement solutions to improve food security and climate resilience and to facilitate knowledge sharing among farmers on approaches to scale up the use of Digital climate-informed advisory services, or DCAS.

Digital climate-informed advisory services are tools and platforms that integrate climate information into agricultural decision-making. These services range from digital mobile apps, radio, and online platforms to digitally enabled printed bulletins based on climate models and extension services that utilize climate information platforms.

DCAS offers crucial opportunities to build the resilience of small-scale producers in the face of worsening climate change impacts. From seasonal forecasts to pest advisories, effectively designed services provide producers with the resources to adapt to climate shocks and plan for new climate conditions.

Globally, more than 300 million small-scale agricultural producers have limited or no access to such services because service provision is still fragmented, unsustainable beyond project cycles, and not reaching the last mile.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the forum, Professor Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of Global Center on Adaptation called for urgent financial support to put Africa on the path of food sovereignty.

“Africa needs urgent support to scale up the implementation of adaptation solutions that are already yielding good results for irrigation, developing drought-resistant seeds, crops and livestock diversification, “ he said. 

“Through the African Adaptation Acceleration Programme, AAAP, we are rolling out a $350 million project to build resilience for food and nutrition security in the Horn of Africa towards mobilising new digital climate technology for market information, insurance products, financial services that can and must be tailored to smallholder farmers’ needs”, he added.

Speaking on behalf of the African Development Bank’s East Africa Regional Director General,  Nnenna Nwabufo, Dr Pascal Sanginga, Regional Sector Manager for Agriculture and Agro-Industries noted that the forum was timely, coming hot on the heels of the recently concluded Dakar 2 Feed Africa-Food Sovereignty and Resilience summit , organised by the African Development Bank.

“The Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) is already contributing to closing Africa’s adaptation gap by supporting African countries to make a transformational shift in their development pathways by putting climate adaptation and resilience at the center of their policies, programs, and institutions. There is no doubt that AAAP will be a strong component of the Country Food and Agricultural Delivery Compacts to accelerate the transformation of Africa’s food systems and build a more resilient Africa”, he said.

Professor Stephen Kiama Gitahi, Vice Chancellor of the University of Nairobi, reiterated the relevance of the forum pointing out that 70% of the population in Eastern Africa live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. He encouraged the trainers to simplify the modules in a manner that removes the fear for technology and accelerate adaptation for rural farmers. Citing the legacy of late Professor Wangari Maathai he stated:  

“We acknowledge that gaps exist on climate adaptation in the rural communities and those can be smartly bridged with the use of digital smart agriculture and climate innovations to create great conservation impact in our region.”

The forum brought together stakeholders from ministries of agriculture, related government agencies, public research institutions, farmer organizations, universities and non-profit organizations working on climate adaptation for food security in Eastern Africa. These included participants from Djibouti, Eritrea, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Mauritius, Tanzania, Seychelles, Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya.  

About Global Center on Adaptation
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is an international organization which works as a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions, from the international to the local, in partnership with the public and private sector. Founded in 2018, GCA operates from its headquarters in the largest floating office in the world, located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. GCA has a worldwide network of regional offices in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; Dhaka, Bangladesh and Beijing, China.

About the Wangari Maathai Institute, University of Nairobi
The Wangari Maathai Institute (WMI) for peace and environmental studies is a global centre for teaching and research on environmental management, governance, peace and conflicts and the nexus between peace and democracy. The centre was founded in 2009 with the support of the Government of Kenya (GoK), the African Union(AU) and the African Development Bank(AfDB) to celebrate and immortalize the work of the late Nobel Laurete
Prof.Wangari Maathai who was a global champion on environmental conservation and governance. The centre trains future leaders and Champions for environment. The Centre is located in the serene environment in Upper Kabete suburb of Nairobi City.

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27, is dubbed ‘African COP’ as the impact of climate change on African countries will be a key theme of discussions. Agriculture and food systems will also be a critical focus of COP27, with Saturday, 12 November, dedicated to both themes, in addition to adaptation. Also high on the climate agenda is the role of the youth, as 10 November is dedicated to their participation.

Ahead of COP27 and in line with their commitment to this youth agenda, the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation hosted a webinar to examine ways to make agriculture attractive to the youth.

The webinar titled, Are Climate-Smart and Digital Agriculture Solutions the Silver Bullet to Attract Youth, highlighted the potential of climate-smart and digital agriculture in attracting young people and thereby rejuvenating an aging global agricultural sector.

Dr. Kevin Kariuki, African Development Bank’s Vice President for Power Energy, Climate and Green Growth, pointed out the challenges the agriculture sector faces due to the changing climate change.

“Agriculture across most of sub-Saharan Africa is still predominantly rain-fed and therefore extremely vulnerable to both short-term fluctuations and long-term changes in climate conditions. It is the most exposed sector with estimates indicating that climate change will cause a decrease in yields of 8 – 22% for Africa’s rain-fed staple crops over the next 20 years,” Kariuki said.

Dr. Beth Dunford, African Development Bank’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, noted that while agriculture holds tremendous potential for job creation in Africa, its current traditional form is not attractive to young people for various reasons, including negative perceptions.

“Who wants to wear overalls, dig the field with a hoe or drive a tractor when we can do it in a suit and dust coat, right? However, technology makes agriculture cool enough to motivate them to use tech-enabled enterprises to be part of agricultural value chains,” Dunford said.

Prof. Anthony Nyong, Senior Director for Africa at the Global Centre on Adaptation, said: “There is a gap in the agriculture sector in Africa, and that is in the use of digital solutions.”

AAAP’s Climate Smart Digital Technologies for Agriculture and Food Security Pillar is scaling up access to digital technologies and associated data-driven agricultural and financial services for at least 30 million African farmers.

In the African Development Bank’s Program to Build Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security in the Horn of Africa (BREFONS), currently ongoing in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, the AAAP is facilitating the integration of climate-smart digital technologies for adaptation and resilience.

“The project will increase the productivity of crops and livestock by 30%, reaching about 1.3 million farmers and pastoralists using climate services such as index insurance. About 55,000 additional jobs will be created for youth and women,” said Oluyede Ajayi, Africa Program Lead, Food Security and Rural Well Being, Global Centre on Adaptation.

Panelists said the youth must utilize their digital skills to accelerate the transformation of the agricultural sector, which forms the central pillar of Africa’s economy. They urged participants to contribute to solutions that enhance market linkages to promote agribusiness.

“Africa’s significant youth population faces rising unemployment with myriad negative consequences. These challenges are further exacerbated by climate shocks, skill gaps & limited preparedness to address the effects of climate change,” said Andre-Marie Taptue, Principal Economist at the African Development Bank's Jobs for Youth program.

AAAP’s YouthAdapt program promotes sustainable job creation through entrepreneurship in climate adaptation and resilience in Africa by unlocking $3 billion in credit for adaptation action.

Last year, the first set of ten young African entrepreneurs and Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises offering innovative solutions and business ideas that can drive climate change adaptation and resilience were awarded at COP26 in Glasgow. This year the Africa Youth Adaptation Competition 20 enterprises across Africa will each receive up to $100,000 in addition to mentorship and coaching to support their climate change adaptation innovation.

Panelists included Claude Migisha from the African Development Bank, Dr. Fleur Wouterse, and Aramide Abe from the Global Center of Adaptation. They shared their views on how AAAP was shaping and adding value to the Bank Digital Agriculture Flagship program, ways to accelerate investor engagement in agriculture adaptation, and how the YouthADAPT was moving the needle on entrepreneurship, unlocking finance and job creation.

Gislaine Matiedje Nkenmayi from Mumita Holdings, a recipient of the 2021 YouthADAPT Challenge award, shared her experience on how the $100,000 grant transformed her enterprise.

“With the grant, we were able to reach out to more than 10 cooperatives with a total of 257 smallholder farmers, to whom we offer free advisory services, low-cost greenhouses and solar-powered irrigation systems. We have been able to expand production from 100kg to 1000kg of fresh vegetables weekly,” Nkenmayi said.

In her concluding remarks, Edith Ofwona Adera, Principal Regional Climate Change Officer and AAAP coordinator at the Bank stressed the need to strengthen adaptation and resilience measures and expedite mainstreaming climate adaptation for transformation at scale. She called for the engagement of the private sector, given the role they can play in adapting to climate change, financing adaptation, and supporting others through products and services for resilience.

Global leaders on Tuesday rallied around climate adaptation for Africa. They attended the Africa Adaptation Leaders’ Event, convened by African Union Chair President Macky Sall of Senegal, Global Center on Adaptation CEO Patrick Verkooijen, and African Development Bank Group President Akinwumi Adesina.

The event took place at the global climate summit (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. It underscored the critical need for climate adaptation in Africa and responded to the call for the capitalization of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP).

“This is a pivotal step in the fight against climate change,” African Union Chair President Macky Sall said. “The commitments made by Africa’s partners will give the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program the boost that it needs to transform the development trajectory of the world’s most climate exposed continent. I am confident in the ability of the AAAP to deliver results for Africa.”

The Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program is an Africa-owned and Africa-led initiative developed by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) in close collaboration with the African Union. It serves as the implementation of the Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI) to mobilize $25 billion to implement, scale and accelerate climate adaptation across the Africa. Since 2021, AAAP has mainstreamed climate adaptation in over$3.5 billion of investments in 19 countries.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said: “I want to express my total solidarity for the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program […] I urge the international community to support Africa to mobilize the technical & financial resources for scaling up transformative adaptation.”

“With this innovative program, Africa has developed a plan to grow, create jobs and opportunities for people, and to be resilient against the climate crisis,” said President Akufo-Addo of Ghana. “AAAP’s singular focus on the issue of climate adaptation will also contribute to greater stability and progress in Africa and around the world. AAAP is aligned with Ghana’s plans to address climate change as it chairs the Climate Vulnerability Forum (CVF) to lead efforts from the world’s most climate vulnerable countries to spur and mobilize investment through the Climate Prosperity Plans."

James Cleverly, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom announced that the UK will provide £200 million to the African Development Bank’s Climate Action Window. This is in addition to the £20 million announced at COP26 in Glasgow to the AAAP Upstream Financing Facility.

Cleverly noted: “Climate change is having a devastating impact on countries in Sub-Saharan Africa facing drought and extreme weather patterns, which have historically received a tiny proportion of climate finance. This new mechanism […] will see vital funds delivered to those most affected by the impacts of climate change, much more quickly.”

Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands followed through on the commitment made at the Africa Adaptation Summit held at the Global Center on Adaptation in September to confirm that the Netherlands will contribute EUR110 million to the AAAP, with EUR10 million in support for the Upstream Financing Facility hosted by GCA and EUR 100 million for the Climate Action Window of the African Development Fund at the African Development Bank as part of the Netherlands’ commitment to dedicate half of its climate funding, fully grant based, to climate adaptation, with a focus on Africa.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre echoed African leaders’ calls for countries to rapidly scale up finance for climate adaptation, stating: “The climate crisis is here and now. Years of progress are at risk.”

“The AAAP Upstream Financing Facility is the delivery mechanism of adaptation and will use millions to leverage the billions that is required for adaptation,” he continued. “AAAP projects will generate effective climate adaptation outcomes. Adaptation is a growth agenda. A jobs agenda. And a prosperity agenda. On behalf of Norway, I am looking forward to continuing this partnership, investing in it, and supporting it with the Global Center on Adaptation.”

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva emphasized the need to accelerate adaptation in Africa, stating: “It is paramount to support Africa’s adaptation because Africa will not reach its tremendous potential without it. AAAP complements the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust, which helps countries address external shocks such as climate change and ensure sustainable growth that can give Africa a chance to leapfrog outdated development models.”

African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said: “Africa is suffering from the devastating effects of climate change. Our continent is being short changed by climate finance. The contributions towards the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program’s Upstream Financing Facility and the Climate Action Window – which the African Development Bank manages – will help capitalize the program. With increased capital, we can better deliver the investment needed to bridge the adaptation finance gap. We want to ensure that the most vulnerable communities can benefit from a sustainable and prosperous future.”

Endorsing the outcomes of the high-level meeting, Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation, closed with a statement emphasizing the AAAP’s impact to date, noting that “there is no pause button on the climate crisis. Africa must adapt to the threat of climate change, and it must adapt now.”

“Through the AAAP,” he continued, “Africa has charted its path towards a climate-resilient future for its youth, its economic growth, and for its prosperity.”

About the Global Center on Adaptation

The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is an international organization which works as a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions, from the international to the local, in partnership with the public and private sector, to ensure we learn from each other and work together for a climate-resilient future. Founded in 2018, GCA is hosted by the Netherlands, working from its headquarters in Rotterdam with a knowledge and research hub based in Groningen. GCA has a worldwide network of regional offices in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Dhaka, Bangladesh and Beijing, China. Through this evolving network of offices and global and regional GCA teams, the organization engages in high-level policy activities, new research contributions, communications, and technical assistance to governments and the private sector.

About the African Development Bank

The African Development Bank Group is Africa’s premier development organization. Its overarching objective is to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in its regional member countries, thus contributing to poverty reduction across the continent.

The Bank Group achieves this objective by mobilizing and allocating resources for investment in African countries and providing policy advice and technical assistance to support development efforts.

In 2015, all multilateral development institutions agreed on the same set of objectives, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Learn more: https://www.afdb.org/ 

About the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program

The Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) is a joint initiative of the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA). It aims to mobilize $25 billion, over five years, to accelerate and scale climate adaptation action across the continent. This ambition is delivered through the AAAP Upstream Financing Facility managed by the Global Center on Adaptation and the African Development Bank’s climate action window in the ADF replenishment. AAAP works across four pillars to achieve transformational results: Climate-Smart Digital Technologies for Agriculture and Food Security; African Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator; Youth Empowerment for Entrepreneurship and Job Creation in Climate Adaptation and Resilience and Innovative Financial Initiatives for Africa. AAAP has already guided over $3.5 billion of upstream investments in 19 countries with every dollar spent influencing $100 downstream.

COP27 - COP27 Leaders' Event, Accelerating Adaptation in Africa (DAY 2)

African and other global leaders came together at COP26 in Glasgow yesterday for the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Summit, the largest summit to date on climate adaptation.

The summit called for the rest of the world to ramp up its support for the African continent as it adapts to the adverse   effects of climate change, including devastating human impacts in Madagascar, where 1.3 million people live under food distress following four years of no rain. Madagascar’s situation has been described as the first climate induced drought.

President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chairperson of the African Union led Tuesday’s event.  He highlighted the $6 billion in financial commitments for climate adaptation that African countries had put forward in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and called for increased funding to produce the additional $27 billion a year that the continent requires.

President Tshisekedi said: “Adaptation finance flowing to Africa is grossly insufficient compared to the enormous resources needed for the continent to adapt to climate change. That is why African countries, working with the Global Center on Adaptation, the African Development Bank, and other partners, launched the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP). The program lies at the heart of Africa’s climate change needs. It is Africa-owned and Africa-led. African nations have endorsed it as Africa’s preferred mechanism to deploy adaptation finance for adaptation projects in Africa.”

African Development Bank Group President Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina said: “The Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program is a game changer for Africa to deliver results and impacts on adaptation, fast and at scale. It will support 30 million farmers with digital climate advisory services. The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation program supported by the African Development Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has already delivered climate resilient technologies for 11.2 million farmers in just two years.”

He added: “With the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program, we expect to reach 40 million farmers. We plan to support farmers in producing 100 million metric tons of food, which will be enough to feed 200 million people and reduce hunger by 80%.”

Moderating summit proceedings, Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation, underscored the urgent need for accelerated climate adaptation action across the continent: “COP26 must deliver on the promises of Paris,” he said. “We are failing and we are failing Africa. We must bring more ambition and more finance to help Africa adapt to the pace of a climate emergency devastating the continent with increasingly serious consequences for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable,” the GCA CEO added.

COP26 President Alok Sharma announced $197 million in new funding for adaptation for Africa from the UK government. Of this amount, $27 million will support the Africa Adaptation Accelerated Program upstream facility to deliver technical assistance and a pipeline of bankable projects. The package is expected to unlock almost $1.2 billion for climate adaptation in Africa. Sharma said there will be more to come.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also announced new funding for climate adaptation from the United States government. He said the US President would work with the US Congress to dedicate $3 billion annually in adaptation finance by the year 2024. This is the largest commitment ever made by the US to reduce the impact of climate change in those most endangered by it around the world.

The Global Center on Adaptation today announced the launch of its regional office in Côte d’Ivoire.

Hosted by the African Development Bank at its headquarters in the Ivorian capital Abidjan, GCA Africa will work with partners across the continent to scale and accelerate adaptation action that protects African communities from the impacts of climate change.

GCA Africa will focus on programs and action, knowledge acceleration and capacity building and agenda-setting that respond to the acute challenges from the changing climate facing African countries.

The GCA Africa programs include improving the food security of one billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030 through a program on rural well-being and food security, as well as projects to support communities through water for urban growth and resilience; using nature for more resilient infrastructure; adaptation finance and building youth leadership.

Commenting on the launch, Ban Ki-moon, Co-Chair of the Board of the Global Center on Adaptation and 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations said:

“This is a historic moment to accelerate adaptation in Africa. Nowhere is the challenge of achieving sustainable development in the face of a changing climate more acute. Our new regional office will support regional and national adaptation efforts by emphasizing and spreading existing best practices on the continent and ensuring their fully fledged integration into broader international adaptation efforts”.

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank said:

“I am delighted with the launch today of the Global Center on Adaptation for Africa (GCA) hosted by the African Development Bank. The Bank has committed to doubling its financing for climate to $25 billion by 2025, with over 50% devoted to climate adaptation. Africa must not be short-changed by global climate finance. We will partner with the GCA to mobilize more resources for climate adaptation in Africa.”

Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabon and Chair of the African Adaptation Initiative said:

“The devastating effects of climate change, which include severe droughts, floods, reduced agricultural yields, sea-level rise, and other climate-related disasters, are on the rise. The launch of GCA Africa is a bold and innovative initiative to galvanize the support needed to significantly scale up adaptation on the continent, identify gaps and connect regional partners to find solutions.” 

Quotes from other partners:

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund said:

“More than any other region, sub-Saharan Africa is vulnerable to the impact of climate change, which threatens lives and livelihoods and undermines economic growth. After the current crisis, boosting resilience is an urgent priority so it’s vital we share the knowledge and best practice that can help accelerate climate adaptation.”

Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations said:

“There is an urgent need to step up the support for people in Africa, and around the world, affected by climate change.  I welcome the Global Center on Adaptation Africa as a crucial partner in delivering the elevated ambition and enhanced action that is needed to make this shift towards a resilient future.”

Feike Sijbesma, Co-Chair of the Board of the Global Center on Adaptation and Honorary Chairman of Royal DSM said:

“Millions of lives depend on Africa’s agricultural sector. Adapting and improving its resilience to climate change is therefore a must. By investing in African local food systems we catalyze sustainable value chains and support the vulnerable but small-scale often female producers.”

Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana said:

“Adaptation to the impact of our changing climate is essential if Ghana is to continue to grow and prosper. We look forward to working with GCA and its partners to meet the challenge of climate change and ensuring resilience is built into Africa’s economic recovery plans.”

Dag-Inge Ulstein, Minister of International Development for Norway said:

“Climate change is not only damaging for the environment, but devastating also for development. It is important that countries around the world, especially our partners in Africa, work together to address these global challenges. Norway is pleased to be able to support GCA Africa in accelerating this agenda.”

Peter Eriksson, Minister for International Development Cooperation for Sweden said:

“GCA is a key solutions broker and center of excellence with a holistic approach that aims to accelerate adaptation solutions for a climate-resilient future in Africa. By working with GCA Africa we will intensify climate adaptation efforts to ensure we integrate solutions to have a coherent response to our climate emergency.”

Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation said:

“The impacts of climate change are already being felt across Africa and will only increase in magnitude. Adaptation is not a nice-to-have, it’s a necessity. Through our role as a solutions broker, GCA Africa will work closely with partners in every sector to ensure the most effective adaptation measures are shared and scaled across the continent, responding to the growing demand for strengthening resilience to the impacts of our changing climate.”

The launch of GCA Africa comes shortly after the launch of its South Asian office in Dhaka by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in September 2020. Its first regional office was launched in Beijing by Premier Li Keqiang in June 2019.

In May 2020, GCA Africa published a GCA policy brief(link is external), with the African Adaptation Initiative and endorsed by 54 Heads of State and Government, which recommended focusing stimulus investment in Africa on resilient infrastructure and food security to overcome the COVID-climate crisis.

The GCA is the lead partner institution for the Climate Adaptation Summit in the Netherlands – the first major gathering of international leaders dedicated entirely to adaptation. The summit takes place on 25  January 2021 and is hosted by Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands. The GCA is also the Managing Partner to the Climate Vulnerable Forum and Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group of Ministers of Finance, a group of 48 developing countries highly vulnerable to climate change.

Watch the launch at the following links:

• Zoom
• Youtube
• Vimeo
• Facebook

About the Global Center on Adaptation

The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is an international organization which works as a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions, from the international to the local, in partnership with the public and private sector, to ensure we learn from each other and work together for a climate resilient future. Founded in 2018, the GCA is hosted by the Netherlands. Through an evolving network of offices and global and regional GCA teams including a global innovation hub for climate adaptation launched by Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing, the organization engages in high-level policy activities, new research contributions, communications, and technical assistance to governments and the private sector.

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