Dec 28, 2015 | News

NEPAD’s Climate Smart Alliance Gains Momentum

The NEPAD Agency aims to ensure that up to 6 million farming households in Africa practice climate smart agriculture by 2021 by providing technical and capacity building support to farmers across the continent. This is one of the main objectives of the NEPAD-led International NGO Alliance on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) in Africa. 

The Alliance is an innovative partnership involving five international NGOs (Catholic Relief Services; Concern; CARE; World Vision; Oxfam). These will also get technical support from  the Research Programme on Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa (FARA), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and th Food Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) all agro-based institutions.

The Alliance aims to build upon the institutional strengths and expertise of its members in supporting more farmers, countries and communities to scale-up Climate Smart Agriculture practices in Africa.

United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, Former President John Kufuor of Ghana has lauded the role of the Alliance. Speaking during a side event on the margins of the UN Climate Summit and General Assembly in New York, Mr Kufuor described the Alliance as very innovative and one that is committed to supporting small holder farmers meet the challenges posed by climate change.

Farming and agriculture in general heavily depend on climate and if we don't take lasting measures then coming generations could face serious avoidable calamities,” said Mr Kufuor. He said it was gratifying that most African leaders attended the Climate Change Summit, saying that their presence could impact positively on attitudes of people. 

The Alliance meeting in New York, attended by over 100 high-level representatives from government, business, development sector and civil society included two panel discussions namely; Farmers concerns and expectations and; Specific value addition of the Alliance towards scaling up Climate Smart Agriculture. There were solidarity messages from Agriculture Ministers from Zambia and Benin as well as from Niger’s 3N initiative - Nigeriens Nourish Nigeriens – which is aimed at improving production and securing livelihoods, particularly in rural areas.

NEPAD CEO Dr Ibrahim Mayaki called for closer collaboration and coordination among all stakeholders to ensure that the targeted goals of the Alliance were achieved.  Dr Mayaki stated that the challenges posed by climate change go beyond the agricultural sector and it is pertinent that all actors think and adopt a multi-sectorial and multi institutional approach in addressing the issue of climate change.

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African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Mrs Rhoda Peace Tumusiime pledged the AU’s support to the work of the Alliance stating that her Commission was engaging a number of stakeholders to ensure that climate change is seen as a multi-sectoral issue that should not be tackled in isolation.

Ms Villa Kulid, Director General of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), which has worked on CSA programmes in many parts of Africa, said that it is encouraged by the commitment of African leaders through the Malabo Declaration on climate change and agriculture. She said NORAD would support millions of small holder farmers who will benefit from the intervention of NEPAD and its partners. The World Bank also pledged unflinching support to the Alliance and was hopeful that the initiative will serve as a catalyst for African governments and partners to engage constructively on the issue of agriculture and climate change.