Like most African countries, Ethiopia is one of the world’s poorest and most densely populated, experiencing climate change effects including changes in rainfall patterns and severe droughts. However, Ethiopia has taken advantage of the challenges and is transforming her once faltering economy into the world’s fastest growing economy, according to the World Bank.

World Bank’s June 2017 edition of Global Economic Prospects identifies Ethiopia as the fastest-growing economy this year. The country’s GDP was projected to grow at 8.3% in contrast to global growth projected to be 2.7%.

While, Analysts have credited the nation’s accelerated growth to government spending on infrastructural development, the Ethiopian government, however, attributes the phenomenal growth to the re-positioning of the country’s leadership to address its complex challenges “through the green growth path that fosters development and sustainability.”

Ethiopia is pursuing a path of green economy, in which growth in income and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Thus, the country has a vision to “achieve middle-income status by 2025 in a climate-resilient green economy.”

The country’s Green Economy Strategy document titled, “Ethiopia’s Climate-Resilient Green Economy,” (CRGE), outlines how the country intends to make progress in that direction. The country is focusing selectively on the four main pillars of agriculture, forestry, energy and transport, which are key to development and at the same time contribute significantly to carbon emissions.

Carbon emission is the release of carbon dioxide mainly from the burning of fossil fuels like natural gas, crude oil and coal as well as the destruction of forests and tilling of land. These activities also release other dangerous gases, which together with carbon, are known as greenhouse gases (GHG) that contribute to global warming and are harmful to the earth and human life.

Ethiopia’s strategic plan for agriculture is to improve crop and livestock production practices for higher food security and farmer income, while reducing emissions. In the forestry sector, the goal is to protect and re-establish forests for their economic and ecosystem services, including carbon stocks. The goal for the energy sector is to expand electricity generation from renewable sources of energy for domestic and regional markets. While, the country is seeking to completely overhaul its transport, industry and construction sectors through modern energy-efficient technologies.

As part of the strategy, the government has selected four initiatives for fast-track implementation. The initiatives are specifically looking at exploiting the vast hydropower potential, large-scale promotion of advanced rural cooking technologies, efficiency improvements to the livestock value chain, and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD).

According to the Strategy Document, “these initiatives have the best chances of promoting growth immediately, capturing large abatement potentials, and attracting climate finance for their implementation.” Moreover, implementing the initiatives will offer important co-benefits such as improved public health, through better air and water quality. It will also promote rural economic development by increasing soil fertility and food security as well as creating additional jobs with high value added.

The Strategy Document acknowledges that the green economy path goals “are ambitious,” considering the implementation period of 14 years from the time the Strategy was approved in 2011 to the assigned attainment deadline of 2025. Besides, building of Ethiopia’s green economy requires an estimated total expenditure of about $150 billion over the next 20 years, according to the Strategy.

But the government is committed to make this work and believes that one sure way of moving forward is through the exchange of GHG emissions abatement for climate finance to fund some of the required investment.

Ethiopia is taking advantage of the various Climate Finance Schemes such as the Green Climate Finance set up by the international community to compensate developing countries for the provision of environmental services to the world. The government is also collaborating with bi- and multilateral development partners as well as the private sector to achieve the ambitious national green goals.

The government has high optimism that many of the initiatives have potential to offer positive returns on investments, and thereby, directly promote economic growth. Indeed, the prospects for growth are high and the government projects a growth rate of 11%, which is above the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s forecasts for Ethiopia of a real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 8% yearly over a five year period from 2016 to 2020.

The Ethiopian Ambassador to Ghana, Regassa Kefale Ere, says the on-going transformation of his country’s economy is due to “quality leadership, dedication and determination of government to make the green economy strategy work.”

In an interview, he explained that government has ensured that private sector involvement and investment are being driven by local interests. This means government determines the conditions for financing, rather than the financiers setting the terms for investment. He said: “For instance, in the telecommunication sector, government will not open it up to foreign investors until the entire country is networked.”

“This approach has been adopted because of the realization that markets do not answer all problems, some require government interventions to make things work,” Regassa noted.

He expressed pride in his country’s present status as the world’s cheapest electricity supplier at 0.4 cents (USA) per kilowatts, and the country plans to expand energy production from the current 4,500 megawatts to 17,000 megawatts in the next three years.

“This will be realised after the expansion of the dam is completed to produce a top up energy supply of 6500 megawatts,” says Regassa. And this is likely to boost power supply to neighboring countries like Sudan and Djibouti, who are each currently getting 100 megawatts of power from Ethiopia.

Additionally, the country will be able to fulfill its mandate to Kenya and Tanzania per the terms of a recent power purchasing agreement. Currently, the power transmission line which connects Ethiopia’s national grid to Kenya and Tanzania is under construction, with funding from the African Development Bank (AFDB).

Regassa explained that “the essence of the Green Economy Strategy is that the land and people are the country’s main resources with majority engaged in agriculture, hence the government’s determination to promote agricultural based industrialisation.”

He said, “As part of the strategy, government is establishing a number of industrial parks to enhance and project agro processing, horticulture, leather products, garments and pharmaceuticals.”

To this end, the Hawassa Industrial Park alone is employing 10,000 people at its current partial operational level, but is projected to create over 60,000 jobs at its full operational capacity. Meanwhile, the recently inaugurated Mekelle and Kombolcha Parks are also attracting renowned foreign garment and textile manufacturers.

“Therefore, the number of people employed at the parks is increasing from time to time,” Regassa observed.

By Ama Kudom-Agyemang, Accra

The “Land Degradation Neutrality Fund” initiative promoted by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Mirova (Natixis) to support sustainable land use practices globally was highlighted as a concrete and innovative climate action during the One Planet Summit held on Tuesday, December 12, 2017 in Paris, France. Initial investors, including the European Investment Bank and the Agence Française de Développement, have announced financial commitments totalling more than $100 million out of a target of $300 million.

At the One Planet Summit, organised to celebrate the second anniversary of the Paris Agreement, the “Land Degradation Neutrality Fund” initiative was hailed by Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, as an innovative solution that aligns sustainable land management with the ambition of the Paris Agreement. Developed by the UNCCD and Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers who also provided initial seeding for the Fund, it is one of the responses to the call for public and private finance in support of global climate action.
Restoring degraded land is a huge, yet greatly underestimated and underutilised opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to climate change. By putting sustainable land use at the heart of its climate action, the “Land Degradation Neutrality Fund” initiative addresses the three summit objectives:

1. Act concretely and collectively: This joint effort to put finance at the service of climate action is the outcome of a unique coalition of actors. It will invest in sustainable land management practices all over the world that have already been shown to be effective, but need suitable financing and technical assistance.
2. Innovate: This will be the first investment vehicle to focus on a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target, and using an innovative public private partnership structure. Success could motivate the development of new investment vehicles for the goals.
3. Support one another: Climate change is a global issue, but the effects are distributed unevenly, with especially negative impacts on land users. Acting on a global scale, this investment vehicle will therefore provide flexible financing solutions where traditional bank funding is not available.

As early supporter of the fund, all the way through the design and structuring phases, the European Investment Bank was joined by the Agence Française de Développement to become the anchor investors. Other institutional investors include Fondaction, the first north-American private investor, foundation Fondation de France, insurance companies BNP Paribas Cardif and Garance. The initiative is also backed by de-risking partners including the Government of Luxembourg, IDB Invest and the Global Environment Facility. In total, investors have announced commitments of over $100 million out of a target of $300 million.

“The public sector must be bold and inventive to unleash a revolution in development and entrepreneurship that can tackle the manifold and complex challenges before us – climate change, loss of productive land, lack of jobs, forced migration, droughts, floods, the list seems endless. The moment we see the land differently our horizons open wide. Then, the options and possibilities are endless,” says Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD.

“Implementing such private public schemes is both a challenge, through the pioneering dimension of the approach and the challenge of coordination, but also a great opportunity, through the exchange of knowledge and know-how. Mirova, as a management company dedicated to responsible investment, is committed to supporting initiatives to redirect financial flows towards sustainable development,” comments Philippe Zaouati, CEO of Mirova.

Jean Raby, CEO of Natixis Investment Managers added: “We believe it’s our responsibility, as financial institution, to play a role in the transition to a low-carbon and climate resilient economy. This initiative is in line with Natixis’ commitments to provide concrete and creative climate solutions.”

European Investment Bank Vice President, Jonathan Taylor, said: “Land degradation has negative impacts on water, food and energy security, climate change and biodiversity. That’s why, as the EU Bank, we are proud to support the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund – a first of its kind public private partnership, attracting investments for sustainable land management and land restoration projects.

“This is important for two reasons: one, because we need pilots like this investment vehicle to demonstrate that investing in land degradation neutrality is good business for the private sector; and two because it is key to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Climate targets. We are committed to making the Paris Agreement a reality. Outside the EU, we have pledged 35% of total financing for climate action by 2020. This includes an increased focus on impact, adaptation and mainstreaming climate change considerations into everything we do.”

For Rémy Rioux, CEO of the Agence Française de Développement: “AFD is excited to join forces with other investors for financing climate resilient projects through Land Degradation Neutrality Fund and to participate to the emergence of a new asset class. This initiative complements AFD’s intervention in supporting transition through sustainable management of natural capital resources as common goods, and improving socio-economic conditions for family farmers. The investment policy of Land Degradation Neutrality Fund is in line with our commitment to foster the Paris Agreement implementation.”

Pascal Canfin, Managing Director of WWF France, says: “Every year, no less than 12 million hectares of arable land are degraded – the equivalent of one football field every two seconds – having major consequences on climate and food security. This Land Degradation Neutrality Fund, the biggest public private fund for sustainable land and followed by WWF France since its creation, is a great opportunity to channel investments towards innovative projects for land restauration. It therefore participates in the fight against climate change and global insecurity, and aims at ensuring food security especially for the most vulnerable populations.”

The United States of America has shunned the One Planet Summit that took place in Paris on Tuesday, December 12, 2017.

However, a former US secretary of state, John Kerry, has blasted the absence of the American government at the major climate change summit, saying it is a “disgrace”.

About 60 world leaders and hundreds of ministers, company bosses, and environmentalists gathered for the One Planet Summit called by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris after Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the global climate accord.

Trump was not invited and the US federal government was represented by the second-highest diplomat in the American embassy in Paris, Brent Hardt, two years to the day since Kerry and then-president Barack Obama helped lead pain-staking diplomatic efforts to clinch the Paris accord.

“It’s very disappointing, it’s worse than disappointing, it’s actually a disgrace when you consider the facts, the science, the common sense, all the work that’s been done,” Kerry told AFP on the summit sidelines.

The Paris Agreement took “26 years of work that’s being dishonoured by people who don’t even understand the science,” he added.

American summit participants included the campaigning governor of California, Jerry Brown, as well as former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg who has put together a coalition of cities, companies and activists called “America’s Pledge” to help reduce US emissions.

Trump’s announcement that he will withdraw from the global pact, which the United States is the only nation to reject, has cast doubt on the viability of the deal which aims to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.

Asked if the United States could meet its Paris accord pledge to reduce emissions by at least 26 percent by 2025, over 2005 levels, Kerry was upbeat because of efforts at the local level.

“I think it is possible, yes,” he told AFP.

Brown and Bloomberg both took aim at Trump’s climate stance.

“We have a climate denier in the White House who says climate change is a hoax,” Brown told a panel.

“We can’t wait for the White House to wake up. We in America are operating from the grassroots… Our work is incredibly difficult.

“We have mobilised to some extent, but we are not yet on track to reduce the rising greenhouse gases,” he added.

Bloomberg said the 1,700-member coalition of regional governments, cities, companies, and civil society groups that have formed America’s Pledge, represent more than half the US economy.

“If it was a country it would have the world’s third-largest economy and it continues to grow,” he said.

“Together we are going to meet the goal set by this country in Paris by reducing emissions by at least 26 percent and there isn’t anything that Washington can do to stop this,” he added.

“On the contrary, President Trump has helped rally people who understand the problem to join forces and to actually do something rather than wait for the federal government… In that sense we owe President Trump a measure of gratitude for helping us meet our goals,” he quipped.

In a joint statement released by the  International Development Finance Club (IDFC) and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) at the One Planet Summit in Paris on Tuesday, December 12, 2017, IDFC, MDBs together with major Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) declare that they are aligning financial flows with the Paris Agreement

The global development agenda is being transformed in fundamental ways. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed upon by the international community, constitute a universal compass, highlighting the need for systemic and collective action for sustainable, equitable and inclusive development for everyone on this planet. The imperative for mobilising and shifting financial flows, public and private, towards sustainable development was highlighted by the 2015 Addis-Ababa Financing for Development Conference. The Paris Agreement reached at COP21 recognised that all countries and stakeholders must act to combat climate change. Since the Agreement’s entry into force in 2016, the momentum for climate action has become irreversible.

Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) play a pivotal role in scaling up and directing climate finance, and in helping shape the policies and regulations needed to transition to low-carbon, climate resilient development, including achieving net zero emissions in the second half of this century. Development banks – national, regional, international and multilateral – represent some of the largest providers of public finance for sustainable development. Together, they can facilitate and accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement, continuously raising their ambitions.

Members of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) and the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) play a fundamental role in directing capital towards sustainable investments by demonstrating the opportunities and potential returns, and by reducing the risks associated with them. At the same time, IDFC members and MDBs can actively contribute to mainstreaming the sustainable development and climate agendas across all sectors, in accordance with their mandates. Their total annual climate finance commitments have increased over the last few years, and continue on an upward trend.

Members of the IDFC and MDBs are increasing their climate financing in mitigation and adaptation. They also continue to: mobilise external investments for climate actions; jointly lead on the transparent tracking and reporting of climate finance flows and impacts; support the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs); and facilitate activities that transition development to low-carbon and climate-resilient pathways.

On Tuesday, December 12, 2017 One Planet Summit organised in Paris, building on their proven capacity and combining the power of DFIs worldwide and at all levels, IDFC and MDBs commit to deepen their collaboration, with each other and with other interested entities, in order to:

• Further embed climate change considerations within their strategies and activities, and promote the mainstreaming of climate action throughout the financial community, inspired by the five voluntary Principles for Mainstreaming Climate Action within Financial Institutions. Specific attention will be devoted to managing climate risk and to the integration of climate resilience and adaptation.
• Redirect financial flows in support of transitions towards low-carbon and climate resilient sustainable development. Building on what is already being done, this will increase the overall amount or share of finance that goes towards climate action.
• Catalyse investments to address new economic, social and environmental challenges and opportunities related to climate change, in particular by using their capital to mobilise additional private capital and to blend their financing most effectively with other sources to drive climate action and results.
• Pursue the development of processes, tools, methodologies and institutional arrangements that make it possible to design and implement climate action at the required scale. This includes reinforcing the collaborative effort between DFIs to improve the quality, robustness and consistency of climate finance tracking and reporting through the sharing of best practices and knowledge and by increasing the transparency and accessibility of their climate finance data. It also involves the development of a common framework for tracking progress towards achieving resilience, to be shared by COP24.
• Collaborate with national and sub-national governments in promoting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, including through developing sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel investments, based on national circumstances and contexts, and prioritising the financing of these alternatives. This should involve the implementation of instruments or measures to shift investments to sustainable asset classes, such as: the use of a shadow price of carbon; reporting of greenhouse gas emissions; assessments to avoid the potential for stranded assets; employing measures to avoid deforestation and encourage improved land use; or putting in place more explicit policies to significantly reduce reliance on fossil fuels and rapidly accelerate financing for renewables.
• Support the development of enabling policy and regulatory environments, at both national and sub-national levels, in conjunction with the private sector and civil society, while remaining focused on the most vulnerable populations. IDFC members and MDBs will continue to deepen this work and increase country-level coordination between institutions. As per their respective mandates, IDFC members and MDBs will continue to contribute to policy dialogues, develop technical capacities of clients, and strengthen institutions to enable the translation of NDCs into policies, investment plans and financeable programmes and projects, as well as into incentives for the business community.
• Further support countries and partners to accelerate climate action and ambition by 2020, including the development of long-term 2050 decarbonisation pathways and strategies to reach zero net emissions and promote shorter-term actions that provide the building blocks for achieving these longer-term development pathways.

Poverty eradication and sustainable development goals cannot be met unless there is a collective push to address climate change at the same time. To accelerate impact, it is particularly important for all development partners to come together, move forward on their enhanced commitments, and raise the internal and external ambition on climate.

As public actors with long-term mandates, DFIs have a responsibility to contribute to the collective governance and action needed to fight climate change. Turning the Paris Agreement into concrete action requires new cooperative approaches. In this spirit of collaboration, the IDFC members and MDBs are teaming up, two years on from the historic moment at COP21, to reaffirm their joint commitment to align their financial flows with the Paris Agreement.

There is no gainsaying the fact that agriculture is regaining its lost glory in Nigeria as the mainstay of the economy as the present administration appears to have dutifully re-positioned it; and it seems to be growing in leaps and bounds.

Accordingly, agriculture which accounts for some 22 percent of national GDP and providing employment for about 70 percent of the labour force shapes Nigeria’s physical landscape and remains a significant contributor to its economic and social landscape. In the past, slow growth in the agricultural sector and rapid increases in population shifted Nigeria from self-sufficiency in food production during the 1960s to heavy reliance on food imports from the 1980s onwards. Poor agricultural output and widespread poverty have resulted in extensive and persistent food insecurity so much so that, in 2015, Nigeria was ranked 91st out of 116 in the Global Hunger Index and 91st out of 108 in the Global Food Security Index.

It is worthy of note that Nigeria’s over dependence on crude oil as a main-stay contributed in the decline of growth in the agricultural sector; however, in recent years, with declining oil prices, the potential economic significance of the agricultural sector has grown. Nevertheless, the sector faces significant challenges, including global warming and increasing climate variability. The potential for external shocks to further compound food insecurity and affect sector development is high.

Consequently, future food security and wider economic development driven by a thriving agricultural sector require an integrated approach under which agricultural development and environmental sustainability develop in tandem, reducing risks to communities and enhancing the sustainable development of key value chains.

To this end, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN) and the Federal Ministry of Environment is supporting the implementation of an initiative tagged: “Fostering Sustainability and Resilience for Food Security in the Savanna Zones of Northern Nigeria”.

The overall goal of the project is to enhance long-term sustainability and resilience of food production systems in Nigeria, by building greater community resilience to climate risks and other shocks that drive food insecurity.

To this effect, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) which are hosting the Project Management Unit (PMU) organised a two-day Inception Workshop in Kano from December 7 to 8, 2017 to kick-start the implementation of the project.

The workshop polled stakeholders and participants from different organisations which strategically play roles in agriculture, livestock and forestry sector and climate change, among others.

Day One, which was the pre-inception meeting with stakeholders, held at the Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN) conference hall with a highlight on the project overview, project funding and state commitments, and project MoUs, amongst others.

Day Two, which was a wrap-up inception meeting, held at the Conference Centre, Nassarawa Guest House. The highlight was  three-group work presentations by the participants, under the the following auspices: Policy, Up-Scaling and Monitoring & Evaluation. The idea was an outlook into possible additions to help make the project a success with a solid framework.

The project has four components, namely:

• Enhancing the institutional and policy environment for achieving improved food security;
• Scaling up sustainable agricultural practices and market opportunities for smallholder farmers in the target agro-ecological zones to increase food security under increasing climate risks;
• Scaling up sustainable agricultural practices and market opportunities for smallholder farmers in the target agro-ecological zones to increase food security under increasing climate risk; and
• Knowledge, monitoring and assessment.

Ultimately, the first component has the outcome of supportive policies, governance structures and incentives in place at federal and state government levels to support sustainability and resilience of smallholder agriculture  and food value chains.

For the second, the expected outcome is increased land area and ergo-ecosystems under sustainable agricultural practices, while the third posits increased youth involvement and reduced gender disparities in agricultural production for enhanced food security.

Meanwhile, the fourth component’s expected outcome is encouraging harmonised monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework in place for food security information, multi-scale assessment of sustainability and resilience in production agro-ecological zones and landscapes and monitoring of Global Environment Benefits (GEBs).

Little wonder, speaking separately at the meetings, climatologist and the projects Lead Consultant, Prof. Emmanuel Oladipo; UNDP Focal Person on Environment, Mr Muyiwa Odele; Deputy Director, Agriculture Mechanisation, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Abdullahi Abubakar; and Founder and Executive Director, Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN), Hajia Salamatu Garuba, among others, reiterated the importance of the project as it is meant to enhance productivity and promote sustainability and resilience of Nigeria’s agricultural production systems for improved national food security in the face of dwindling oil revenues in the country and beyond.

It is worthy of note that the success of this project is dependent on many indices such as commitment by state and non-state actors involved in its implementation as well as the political will by the various state governments to counter fund and sustain it. Invariably, when these stakeholders take the project as theirs and for them and not as any donors project, they would protect its good implementation and encourage its sustainability, which will result to enhanced food security in the savannah region of northern Nigeria in particular and the nation in general.

The five-year project, which is expected to kick-off in 2018 in the seven states of Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Gombe, Adamawa, Nasarawa and Benue which already have existing programmes on food security, will have selected project sites in 70 communities of 13 LGAs of Dutsima, Musawa, Kabo, Gwarzo, Jahun, Katungo, Balanga, Yola South, Fufore, Akwanga, Kokona, Otukpo and Ukum respectively, in reflection of the three major agro-ecologies of the northern part of the country’s savannah zones.

By Damian Daga, Kano