AFRICAN CLIMATE EMERGENCY:
A CALL FOR ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE THROUGH AGROECOLOGY TO COP27 AND BEYOND
“WHENEVER you see a toad jumping in broad daylight, then know that something is after its life.” Chinua Achebe justifies in this African proverb that, the 32 African countries cannot convene in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for nothing; something strange is happening in Africa - climate is now an emergency.
Africa is the driest continent and warming at twice the global rate. The impact of climate crisis is intense and is felt primarily on farming, food production, and food systems in Africa. Mostly, women food producers are the first to suffer from these impacts.
The current African policy solutions places further pressure on small-scale food producers to participate in industrial agricultural programmes such as climate-smart agriculture, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) seeds, and chemical inputs derived from fossil fuels.
In this context, the 32 African countries issued the call to action to COP27 and beyond, because climate change is now an emergency. “We demand that COP27 put agroecology at the centre of Africa’s climate adaptation, creating resilience for her small-scale farmers, fishers, pastoralists, indigenous communities and their food systems.”
The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), the biggest continental voice for food sovereignty and agroecology in Africa in partnership with Consortium on Climate Change Ethiopia in this context, organised the three-day “Clarifying Africa’s Roadmap to Adaption and Mitigation through Agroecology” recently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The overall objective was a roadmap for the transition to climate adaptation, community resilience, and land justice through agroecology with concrete lobby activities agreed upon among climate actors.
“We are part of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), the continent’s largest civil society movement representing 200 million small-scale farmers, fisherfolk, pastoralists, consumers, religious groups and indigenous peoples, demand that COP27 puts agroecology at the centre of Africa’s climate adaptation,” the participants requested.
Africa has great potential, rich cultural diversity, natural resources and creative young people. Yet African agriculture is plagued by under-investment and policy gaps that prevent access to productive capital and land. We need a radical and just transition away from industrial agriculture, corporate monopolies, and false climate solutions – toward food sovereignty and agroecology.
“Uniting generations of indigenous knowledge, farmer-driven and science-based innovation, and an ecosystem’s natural processes, agroecological food systems can adapt to the climate crisis and even help solve it,” the participants added.
The participants justified, “Farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples and local communities use agroecology to steward their land sustainably, produce nourishing food that celebrates cultural heritage, and strengthen local markets and economies.”
The participants called on COP27 to first recognise agroecology for adaptation and prioritise agroecology to transform the agri-food system, build resilience, and enable small-scale farmers, pastoralists and fishers to adapt to climate change. Include agroecology in the UNFCCC climate negotiations.
Secondly, the participants urged the COP 27 to put smallscale farmers at the centre of adaptation. Meaningfully engage small-scale food producers and indigenous communities, including women and youth, in the COP 27 negotiations and beyond – they manage landscapes across Africa. Reject false solutions that threaten land, seeds and breeds and increase reliance on global agrochemical corporations.
Thirdly, “The COP 27 to focus climate financing on sustainable food systems. The COP 27 should direct climate finance to agroecology. The time is now for an appropriate and deliberate increase in financing for small-scale farmers, fishers, pastoralists, and indigenous communities to deliver sustainable food systems through agroecology,” the participants implored.
And in affirmativeness, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Land 2019 recognised agroecology’s key role: “In summary, increasing the resilience of the food system through agroecology and diversification is an effective way to achieve climate change adaptation (robust evidence, high agreement).”
Besides, according to ‘FAO’s Work on Agroecology: A pathway to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals’ 2018 Publication - the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) nods, “Agroecology simultaneously addresses climate change adaptation and mitigation, making it a promising option to implement the Paris Agreement.”
“Africa can feed herself, many times over. And agroecology can, and it must not be overlooked by decision-makers, but as the most effective means to build resilience and enable small-scale farmers, pastoralists and fishers to adapt to climate change,” Dr. Million Belay, AFSA General Coordinator said.
Dr. Belay said, “The consensus was not only aimed at COP27, but on the way and beyond that. “What shall we do before COP 27, What shall we do at COP27 and what shall we do post COP27, so it is to define an agenda at COP27. To collaborate, and unite our agenda for Africa by bringing all these actors together, we are creating a broad base for advocacy to issues related to the subject matter to discuss, deliberate and advocate.”
Dr. Belay maintained, “There was so much confusion about what kind of agriculture Africa should have, towards adapting to the climate crises. Some of us advocate for agroecology, some say it is climate smart agriculture while others say it is nature based solution, so there is a lot of confusion, lots of agendas which emanate from outsiders.”
And in an exclusive interview, the Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Zambia - National Coordinator, Muketoi Wamunyima responded to the call while in Addis Ababa, “PELUM Zambia will continue to play a role in bringing together a wide range of actors to learn from experiences, to share policy lessons, and to collaborate in supporting and agroecology, beyond COP 27.”
Mr Wamunyima assured, “To our farmers back home in Zambia, the strong relationships and collaboration has been established among climate, food, and land actors to promote agroecology in national climate policy spaces; and investing in knowledge and innovation is essential.”
“Farmers therefore, need to be placed in the centre of co-innovation systems, allowing a process that combines both scientific and traditional knowledge that complement and reinforce each other,” Mr Wamunyima observed.
Further, the World Resources Institute (WRI)’s Director for Vital Landscapes, Dr. Susan Chomba advocated, “Africa offers the “late comer advantage,” the ability to change its food transformation without damage to nature (excessive use of synthetic nitrogen, pesticides, etc.) There is an urgent, holistic food systems approach, which is offered by Agroecology, is immediately needed.”
“Take your heads out of the sand and stop fiddling with false solutions, they’re meaningless.” This was a crystal clear message echoed for COP27 and beyond, abridges on agroecology that offers a unique approach, as a people-centred option to climate adaptation, while meeting the needs of future generations.