Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development

Monday, September 4, 2023

Africa Climate Week (ACW 2023): sessions on agriculture and food systems



4 - 8 September 2023. Africa Climate Week (ACW 2023) + African Climate Action SummitThe Africa Climate Action Summit is being co-hosted by the Government of Kenya and the African Union Commission and is co-convened by the African Development Bank and GCA.
The Summit will coalesce partners, including international financial institutions and the private sector, around accelerating adaptation financing and climate action leading into the United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit and COP28.

ACW 2023 will be organized into four systems-based tracks, each focusing on specific themes: 
  1. Energy systems and industry. 
  2. Cities, urban and rural settlements
  3. Infrastructure and transport. 
  4. Land, ocean, food and water.

Extracts of the main programme


04/09 Opening ceremony



04/09 Climate innovation in agriculture - practical solutions and lessons to be shared from Israel

This event explored innovative ways and technology how to maintain and increase agricultural production in the face of growing draught and water scarcity. It used the example of the TIPA project in Senegal to illustrate how to move to drip irrigated agriculture using solar power to pump water, growing up to 3 harvests per year.

TIPA is a small-scale horticultural production package based on low-pressure drip-irrigation, a mix of vegetables and tree crops, and modern crop management systems. TIPA is engineered towards small scale farmers and rural communities in Senegal. The TIPA project is a MASHAV initiative. (MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation).

Related: 03/09 Israel, NGOs Launch New Farming Innovation Center In Kenya. AITEC was jointly developed by the Israeli Embassy and several Israeli and international NGOs focusing on agricultural and technological development. Embu County Government and Don Bosco Tech Africa, which empowers African youth by providing them with technical training also contributed to the project. 




04/09 AB Testing for Farming - Unlocking Transformation of Smallholder Livelihoods in Africa

Chinese-led FarmWorks is empowering farmers in Africa through technology.

The event discussed the approach of FarmWorks Field School - an effective approach of applying tech-industry's A/B testing method to farming. in field schools, farmers divide their plots into 2, one using traditional techniques and the other using recommended techniques - a group of farmers meet at the school weekly to monitor crop growth and learn the impact of different techniques. 

Using this method, we've significant changed farmer behavior, encourage them to use more climate-resilient farming methods, while improving their yield and income. We will share the case study and propose ideas to engage the broader community of stakeholders to build partnerships and replicate the good lessons learnt globally.

05/09 @10:00-11:30 CEST (11:00 to 12:30 EAT) Charting the pathway towards an inclusive green transition – The unique role of local digital innovations in driving climate action

IFAD, GIZ, WFP
To participate online please click this link.

Launch of Digital Green Innovation Acceleration Programme (DGIx) - DGIx Charting the pathway towards an inclusive green transition – The unique role of local digital innovations in driving climate action!

05/09 @11:45 - 12:15 CEST (10:45 - 11:15 EAT) Just Transition: Panacea for Africa’s climate, energy and development agenda

MS Teams link

A new report co-authored by a collective of independent experts coordinated by Power Shift Africa titled: Just Transition: A Climate, Energy and Development Vision for Africa (# 92 p.), shows how the continent can embark on an African Just Transition that strengthens food and energy infrastructure and sets out a more resilient and just development path.

06/09 @11:30 - 12:30 CEST (10:30 - 11:30 EAT) The Connections Between Food Security and Climate



The report CITI-GPS (2022) Food Security Tackling the Current Crisis and Building Future Resilience (# 80 p.discusses the main causes of food insecurity which include conflict, environmental challenges and social, political and economic shifts. 

In another report CITI-GPS (2022) Food and Climate Change- Creating Sustainable Food Systems for a Net Zero Future   (# 76 p.) argues that climate change would have a devastating impact on food production affecting the most vulnerable communities. 

This event aimed to discuss the following questions: 
  1. What solutions are available to reduce food insecurity? 
  2. What role do governments, MDBs and the private sector have in helping solve food insecurity in Africa? 
  3. How do we mobilise financing to tackle this?

06/09 @15:00 - 16:00 CEST (14:00 - 15:00 EAT) Science and Practice: Water-Food-Energy nexus for resilient conservation landscapes



To effectively address the resilience of landscapes to climate change, a comprehensive approach is necessary, transcending sector-based initiatives and embracing the nexus approach. This approach allows for the identification of landscape solutions that benefit multiple sectors like agriculture, energy, and water, and emphasizes their interconnectedness in enhancing conservation efforts. During the event, panelists will present emerging evidence, sharing examples and experiences from Africa, to develop a framework that unites key sectors based on the nexus approach.

06/09 @16:30 - 17:30 CEST (15:30 - 16:30 EAT) Learning to Build Better Food Systems through the Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative – a regional multi-stakeholder platform in West & Central Africa



This event will share lessons from 8 years of partnership, culminating in the Africa Sustainable Commodity Initiative (ASCI), a multi-stakeholder platform, inclusive of government, communities, companies and NGOs. African owned and led, ASCI is a single set of principles for the responsible production of agricultural commodities: protecting forests, while ensuring social benefits for farmers (the majority of whom are women), communities, indigenous peoples and their human rights. 

This event would highlight the progress being made across the ten countries in West and Central Africa (accounting for 75% of Africa’s forests), from policy (FPIC in Liberia) and legislation (Forest Law in Edo State, Nigeria), to capacity building (sustainable forest management) and institutionalization of responsible principles of production (Tree Crops Development Authority in Ghana). The event will also highlight the key role of women, the majority of smallholder farmers in Africa, and the importance of engaging their voice in such multistakeholder initiatives. Panelists will include representatives from Sesdev, a civil society organisation in Liberia, the ministry of Environment in Cameroon, and private sector in Ghana, moderated by Proforest, which has facilitated the platform for many years, working at a regional and national level.



07/09 @10:00 - 10:30 CEST (09:00 - 09:30 EAT) Safeguarding human and animal health in a changing environment

MS Teams Link
ILRI, VSF Germany, Zoonosis Disease Unit, Swiss Tropical and Pubic Health Institute, University of Greenwich, Natural Resource Institute, University of Liverpool, University of Copenhagen

This event will demonstrate tools and approaches that are being developed to support early detection and response to these diseases in order to minimise health and socio-economic impacts that they cause. Such interventions include data-driven disease forecasting and mapping systems, community-based participatory surveillance systems, and more efficient ways of bundling of health care services to enhance their coverage.

07/09 @ 12:30 - 13:00 CEST (11:30 - 12:00 EAT) Considering GST outcomes to drive nature-positive climate action in Africa


Conservation International

Nature-based solutions (NBS) for climate mitigation and adaptation are a huge win-win for African countries to meet their climate, sustainable development, food security, and biodiversity goals – and the GST outcomes can be a powerful signal to the international community to prioritize support for these solutions. Yet, the urgency of pre-2030 NBS action – especially transformations necessary within food systems – and the large NBS financing gap have often been buried in general calls for ambition.

07/09 @13:00 - 14:00 CEST (12:00 - 13:00 EAT) Unlocking Nature based solutions for transformative climate adaptation in Africa


WWF and CARE, UNEP, AfDB, AU

Nature-based Solutions (NbS)  seeks to address societal challenges while ensuring biodiversity and wellbeing co-benefits. The side event will provide evidence and share experiences from WWF and partners on how NbS initiatives have contributed to strengthening climate resilience in Africa and what action and finance is needed to unlock their full potential. 


07/09 @14:30 - 15:30 CEST (13:30 - 14:30 EAT) Nature as the Backbone for Climate and Biodiversity Solution


MS Teams Link
UNEP , WWF , IUCN, AU, NEPAD, AFDB, FAO

Solving climate change, biodiversity loss and development in Africa cannot be separated. They must be done in tandem, simultaneously and with equal urgency. Healthy terrestrial and marine ecosystems are the foundations for natural systems in regulating climate including mitigation and adaptation. Healthy ecosystems also build resilience of communities to withstand impacts of climate change. This side event seeks to build momentum and promote nature-based solutions as a means for co-implementing the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to address the planetary crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. 

07/09 Adapting Agrifood Systems and Ensuring Food Security in Africa Amidst Climate Change


FAO, Ban Ki-Moon Center for Global Citizens, and UNDP

Extreme weather events in sub-Saharan and North Africa caused a staggering USD30 billion in losses in 2020, leading to declines in crop and livestock production. This has had devastating effects on rural livelihoods, food supplies, and exacerbated hunger. The event aims to unveil essential finance, policy, innovation, and knowledge interventions that support the development of resilient agrifood systems in Africa. The aim is to contribute to the region's economic growth, improve the livelihoods of local farmers and food producers, and enhance food and nutrition security. By leveraging existing regional initiatives and engaging stakeholders from agribusinesses and financial institutions, this panel seeks to promote blended finance, private capital investments, lending opportunities, and risk insurance to strengthen adaptation and transform agriculture and food systems.


07/09 @15:30-16:30 CEST (16:30-17:30 EAT) Leveraging finance and investments for food systems adaptation in Africa - Register for the event


ECDPM, AKADEMIYA2063 & UNDP Rome Centre for Climate Action and Energy Transition

Drawing from the Malabo Montpellier Panel’s report ADAPT and ECDPM’s AgrInvest project, this event will pinpoint food systems financing gaps and showcase lessons learned and best practices, drawing from recent experiences in five countries: Benin, Mali, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and Kenya.

  • Ms. Kerstin Opfer, Policy Advisor Energy Policy and Civil Society, Germanwatch
  • Presentation of the key findings from the Malabo Montpellier Panel report - Dr. Seraphin Niyonsenga, Senior Scientist, AKADEMIYA2063
  • Presentation of the key findings of ECDPM’s AgrInvest project - Ms. Cecilia D'Alessandro, Policy Officer, Sustainable Food Systems, ECDPM
  • Mr. Ayman Cherkaoui, Director, Hassan II International Center for Environmental Training
  • Ms. Beatrice Cyiza, Director General, Environment and Climate Change, Ministry of Environment, Rwanda
  • Mr. Sauli Hurri, Senior Regional Technical Specialist, IFAD
  • Ms. Lade Araba, Non-Executive Director, African Risk Capacity (ARC)
  • Ms. Laureen Njuguna, General Manager Starlight Farmers’ Cooperative Kenya
  • Ms. Enid Charana, CEO, Nyamira North Women Savings and Credit Society, Kenya
This Malabo Montpellier Panel report analyzes the experience of systematically selected four African countries: Benin, Mali, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe to apprehend what government actions – policy and institutional innovations and programmatic interventions – have contributed to building a conducive enabling environment for leveraging international climate finance for food systems transformation. The report brings to the fore what these four African countries are doing right and explores lessons for the continent for replication and scaling up.

07/09 @16:00 - 17:00 CEST (15:00 - 16:00 EAT)  Agroecology as a Pathway for Climate change Adaptation and Mitigation


AFSA

The side event, organized by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), aimed to promote and strengthen advocacy efforts for Agroecology as a sustainable approach to food systems and adaptation to the climate crisis in Africa. The event will provide a platform for knowledge exchange, dialogue, and collaboration among key stakeholders, including farmers, researchers, policymakers, civil society organizations, youth, and Agroecological entrepreneurs

07/09 @16:00 - 17:00 CEST (15:00 - 16:00 EAT)  Supporting smallholder climate adaptation from seeds to basin


MS Teams Link
IWMI, IHE Delft, World Bank, The Alliance Bioversity - CIAT

The event brings together different actors to discuss how climate adaptation for agricultural farmers requires a systems approach to climate hazard identification, adaptation solution priority setting and impact evaluation. The panelists will discuss the role of the latest advanced digital and remote sensing innovations in supporting user-oriented agronomic solution bundles and scaling efforts from seeds to basin scale to ensure sustainable climate adaptation with mitigation co-benefits.

07/09 @16:30 - 17:30 CEST (16:30 - 17:30 EAT) Walking the talk : Advancing smallholder farmers land rights for climate adaptation and resilience


International Land Coalition Africa (ILC Africa) and International Land Coalition Africa The Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF) Pastoralist Women Council (PWC) Kenya Livestock Producers Association


Small holder farmers rely mostly on land for their livelihoods for food and income to support their basic needs. Since most farmers are smallholder farmers contributing to food production, a healthy and safe environment remains crucial to enable them till their lands and secure the right to food. However, the sad reality remains: the impacts of climate change are more manifest for smallholder farmers (including pastoralists), bearing the brunt of the crisis through climate-induced droughts and other extreme weather patterns, while having minimal contribution to its causes. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that these same smallholder farmers, particularly women and youths, often lack secure rights to their land. Indeed, limited access to natural resources like water and land may further push smallholder farmers into poverty and lead to political tensions and land conflicts. This calls for recognition of the crucial role of land rights in climate adaptation and resilience. Without tenure security, women, men, and communities who mostly rely on adaptation strategies continue facing numerous hurdles. There is need for smallholder farmers to contextualise adaptation programs to suit different contexts. Climate adaptation policies should also address socioeconomic conditions, and climatic stresses that smallholder farmers face.

07/09 @16:30 - 17:30 CEST (16:30 - 17:30 EAT) Climate Change and Food Security: The contribution of pastoralism through sustainable management of rangelands across the Horn of Africa: How improved pastoralism can contribute to increased food security, climate adaptation and mitigation.


Welthungerhilfe and Welthungerhilfe University Hohenheim Germany Local partner(s)

Protection and well-managed animal movement is key for a recovery of the often badly degraded vegetation. Most rangelands could harbor two to four times biomass. Simple rotational grazing may easily double the stocking rates. But success in area protection attracts more animals and more destructive use of the range if territorial governance is weak or non-existent. Such governance requires a fine-tuned balance of private owners, communities, and local authorities.

08/09 @11:30 - 12:30 CEST (10:30 - 11:30 EAT) From Farm to Fork – what is required to pivot agriculture and food systems towards food secure, regenerative, climate resilient outcomes - Event of the Climate Champions


UNFCCC

Led by the Climate Champions Team, this dialogue will explore the essential policy, finance and technical interventions which will deliver long term resilience via sustainable agriculture and improved food security outcomes in Africa and which contribute to the Sharm El Shaikh Adaptation Agenda on agriculture. An Africa-based study commissioned by IUCN for the Climate Champions in 2021 showed regenerative, sustainable agriculture model will add tens of billions to the economy, improve farmer livelihoods, food security and nutrition outcomes, and, when managed well, will reduce pressure on the land, sequester carbon, and support biodiversity and conservation.

08/09 @14:30 - 15:30 CEST (13:30 - 14:30 EAT) CompensACTION: Mobilizing carbon finance for food security and environmental benefits


CompensACTION Initiative, GIZ, Eastern Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance Clim-EAT

Transforming agriculture and food systems requires a paradigm shift – away from a one-dimensional system that only produces food - to a system that provides multifunctional services. Smallholder farmers already make a significant contribution to nature- and climate positive agriculture but are not rewarded for it. The CompensACTION initiative has been launched under German G7 presidency in 2022. Its vision is that agricultural producers, especially smallholders in developing countries, receive adequate compensation for the multifunctional services they provide to ecosystems.

 

Extracts of the side events ACW 2023



06/09 7:00 - 8:00 AM by Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), P4G and Danish Embassy Accelerating green business models through public private partnership - P4G contributes to green and inclusive growth in developing countries by supporting businesses to become investment ready and supporting country climate transitions in food, water and energy systems.
07/09 10:00 - 11:00 AM by ILRI: P4G contributes to green and inclusive growth in developing countries by supporting businesses to become investment ready and supporting country climate

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