Climate change is a grave threat to Africa and any development gains the continent has made, but ambitious action and investment in response could hold tremendous opportunities.

This is the message heard at the High-level session of Africa Climate Week in Nairobi, Kenya, where African policymakers, climate change officials and a broad swath of private and public sector representatives are gathered to address climate change.

“Nations are far away from the level of commitment needed to achieve the Paris Agreement‘s goal of limiting temperature rise to 2 degree Celsius, let alone 1.5 degrees, and countries in Africa are among the hardest hit,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa. “We need to invest in ambitious, integrated strategies and programmes in all sectors to turn Africa’s grave threat into a sustainable development opportunity.”

Nations agreed in Paris, France, in 2015 to limit global temperature rise to 2 degree Celsius and strive for a safer 1.5-degree limit. However, commitments made to date, described in countries’ nationally determined contributions, are far from the 2-degree target.

“Africa sees and is sadly witnessing the grave danger posed by climate change,” said Keriako Tobiko, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Kenya. “We can’t be scared into inaction, but must rally with investment, ideas and ambition that can turn calamity into development opportunities.”

The meetings, workshops and networking of private and public sector actors and high-level policymakers at the at the first Africa Climate Week are intended to spur climate action on the ground in key sectors, for example energy, agriculture and human settlements.

How to mobilise the vast investment needed to tackle climate change, through market-based approaches and targeted finance, will receive special attention in Climate Week’s cornerstone event, the 10th Africa Carbon Forum.

Another important outcome of Africa Climate Week will be its harvesting of views for consideration in the official climate negotiation process, as part of the year-long Talanoa Dialogue launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, last November.

“Countries made an historic agreement in Paris in 2015. The work now is on implementation, to limit warming, foster climate resilience, and align global finance flows with a pathway towards climate-neutral, sustainable development,” said Tomasz Chruszczow, a Champion of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action and Special Envoy for Climate Change, Ministry of Environment, Poland, in urging participants at Africa Climate Week to grasp the opportunity offered by the Talanoa Dialogue to inform and shape the international response to climate change.

Africa Climate Week is hosted and supported by the Government of Kenya and organised by the Nairobi Framework Partnership, together with Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority.

A team of scientists from the Kenya Markets Trust (KMT) on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 shared all the key research findings of four different thematic studies conducted in Kenya under the Pathways to Resilience in Semi-Arid Economies (PRISE) project.

“The Kenya government is now focusing on the “Big Four” agenda aimed at improving livelihoods, creating jobs and growing the economy by focusing on critical areas of the economy in the next five years,” noted Kamau Kuria, the head of KMT.

“It is noteworthy that part of the PRISE study, which aimed at strengthening the understanding and knowledge of decision makers on the threats and opportunities that semi-arid economies face in relation to climate change, will go a long way in helping unlock the potential of semi-arid lands in Kenya and thus enhance  their contribution to the national agenda,” he told delegates drawn from Kenya, Senegal, International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Overseas Development Institute (ODI) during the event to disseminate key research findings in a Nairobi Hotel.

The study, which was commissioned by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Canada and the UK based Department for International Development (DFID) aims at supporting climate resilient economic development in partner countries by identifying opportunities for adaptation that are also opportunities for investment by the public and private sectors.

“These findings from Kenya will help change the narrative in semi-arid areas,” said Dr Eva Ludifrom the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), which is coordinating the PRISE project at a global level.

According to Dr Evans Kitui of IDRC, direct involvement of government officials both at the county and the national level is a pointer towards implementation of policies that will emanate from the four studies. “In the past, research has not been well appreciated. But now, we can see a lot of government participation,” he said.

One of the studies found that, in the past 50 years, temperatures have risen in all the 21 semi-arid counties in Kenya, with five of them recording an increase of more than 1.5^oC increase. They include Turkana (1.8^oC), West Pokot, ElgeyoMarakwet (1.91^oC), Baringo (1.8^oC), Laikipia (1.59^oC) and Narok (1.75^oC).

This, according to Dr Mohammed Said, one of the lead researchers, has impacted greatly on livestock survival, on one hand presenting a disaster, and on the other hand providing an opportunity that can be exploited.

“There were winners and losers,” he told delegates at the forum. “Generally, cattle do  not survive the higher temperatures, while at the same time, sheep and goat population increased exponentially,” said Dr Said.

According to the study, whose theme was to harness opportunities for climate-resilient economic development in semi-arid lands and identifying the potential for economic transformation and diversification in semi-arid lands especially in the beef value chain, the overall population of cattle in all the semi-arid counties reduced by more than 26% between the year 1977 and 2016.

However, the study also reveals that goats and sheep population increased tremendously by 76% in the same period, with camels’ population increased by 14%. “This shows that goats, sheep and camels enjoyed the higher temperatures while cattle could not survive the stress,” said Dr Said.

“We’ve seen great potential for implementing some of the adaptation options and I call upon the stakeholders gathered here today, to pull together so we can build resilience and open up the ASALs for trade, investments and better livelihoods,” said Kuria of KMT.

In Nyeri County for example, Dr James Gakuo began with buying severely emaciated cattle for fattening at his farm in Kiganjo through intensive system of beef production that focuses on feeding cattle for 90 days on concentrate feeds till they reach the desired weight for the market, thereby creating a market for such animals that would otherwise have died.

In just two years, 14 other farmers have followed into his footsteps, and are in the business of fattening emaciated cattle thus providing more market to pastoralists who are hardly hit by tough climatic conditions.

Another study looked at the land tenure with special focus on Maasai pastoralist community in Kajiado County.

The study found out that 64 percent of the entire Kajiado County is now private land that is not open for grazing. “Though this has provided opportunity because privatisation can always lead to greater investment opportunities for those who can secure land, it marginalizes the poor and particularly women in the process,” said Dr Stephen Moiko, one of the lead researchers.

According to Dr Eva Ludi of ODI, these findings will be presented at the Talanoa Dialogue in Bonn, Germany come May 2018.

The purpose of the Talanoa Dialogue is for parties to share climate change related stories, build empathy and to make wise decisions for the collective good.

According to Dr Said, county governments should also take advantage of the research findings and scenario projections to develop their spatial plans.

“These findings will be important in formulation of new policies and strategies such as the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP 2018-2022), the National Wildlife Conservation and Management Strategy, and the County Development Integrated Plans (CIDPs),” said Joseph Muhwanga, the PRISE project National Coordinator in Kenya.

Courtesy: PAMACC News Agency