Africans Agriculture!! Dangers of climatic change, Time to act is now

Climate change refers to a periodic and prolong shift in weather conditions. 

This change is measured by a variety of climate indicators such as precipitation, temperature and wind; most especially changes in average and extreme conditions. Climate change can be the result of natural and/or human activities.
The World’s climate has changed throughout its history long before human activity could have played a role; natural factors such as changes in the Earth's orbit, in the sun's intensity, in the amount of explosive volcanic activity, by changes to the surface of the Earth. 

Human activity has now become the main cause of recent climate change. The high global warming observed since the 20^th century can be attributed to human influences on the climate. Global warming can be referred as the observed long-term rise in global surface temperature and is one of the major visible manifestations of climate change. The global warming can be attributed to the enhancement of the natural greenhouse gas effect. Human influence can be observed from its activities of burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Burning these fuels generates carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas; also land uses such as deforestation and conversion of land to agriculture, have also contributed carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2014) agriculture, forestry and other land use account for about a quarter of worldwide human induced greenhouse gas emissions.

Crop yield decreases with an ever increasing population will put additional pressure on an already fragile food production system in Africa. Experts have warned that if the current decline persists, Africa will be fulfilling only 13% of its food needs by 2050. About 65% of African workers who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods will be threatened including children and the elderly, who fall under the food insecurity vulnerable group.

As the years go by, water for agriculture in Africa will be stretched to an all-time low; as we have been told that by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that 95% of agriculture in Africa relies on rainfall for water. The World Bank has further informed that most likely by 2100 the total availability of water in all of Africa could decline by more than 10%. There is also the triple threat of biodiversity and ecosystems, which are the core foundation of agriculture.

Biodiversity losses and ecosystem degradation will affect the quality of the soil and the vegetation upon which livestock depends, states the World Bank, adding that potential reductions in water, biodiversity and crops should compel Africa to pay closer attention to its current food system. In short, Africa needs an approach that works with nature, not against it.

 

What African need to do to slow down the effect on climate change on its food security

The ability to adapt to climate change by smallholder farmers who form the bulk about 65% of the farming activity in Africa is limited by lack of the necessary resources, including technical assistance, access to finance and capacity-building support at the local level. 

Short-term support by their various government to community-based adaptation strategies can help rural communities strengthen their capacity to cope with disasters, improve their farming skills, waste water management and diversify their livelihoods. There should be a plan to mitigate the inappropriate or excessive use of agricultural chemicals. Emission in the rural area can be reduced by switching from firewood to biogas as a cooking fuel; unfortunately most African governments have not embraced the biogas technology.

There should be a concrete effort to adopt friendly agricultural practices that focus on increasing the carbon content in soil by practicing conservative agriculture in the various agro-ecology; this includes cover crops, farming perennials crops, reduced tillage or crop rotational and grazing, reduce the need for chemical fertilizers (responsible for nitrous oxide emissions) by promoting organic farming, restoring forests and vegetative grasslands and controlled pastoralist livestock systems with ranching to reduce methane emissions.

There should be a concrete effort to adopt friendly agricultural practices that focus on increasing the carbon content in soil by practicing conservative agriculture in the various agro-ecology; this includes cover crops, farming perennials crops (perennials retain a strong root network between the growing seasons so that a large amount of biomass remains in the soil instead of being released as greenhouse gases), reduced tillage and or crop rotational and grazing, reduce the need for chemical fertilizers (responsible for nitrous oxide emissions) by promoting organic farming, restoring forests and vegetative grasslands and controlled pastoralist livestock systems with ranching to reduce methane emissions.

This contribution can be achieved without jeopardizing food security but has the added effect of promoting sustainable development. Implementing the right policies will be key component to achieving the set objectives. There is need for reforms especially in the areas of land tenure system (very difficult to tackle and address by most African government), support to agricultural inputs and international trade policies.

The farmers managing the land plays a vital role in climate change; also the industrialist that acts as off-takers; influence the choice of crops cultivated, quality standards and processed products consumed, determines the profitability in the sector.

Consumers’ behaviour cannot also be overlooked as regards purchases that bring about finances which clearly plays a role in scaling up agricultural investment that will reduce climate change.

Invariably all have a role to play in reducing greenhouse emission in the world which affects climatic change. We Africans most especially need to know that even our traditional agricultural practices have strong effect in climatic change and not just industrialization occurring in the western world. our governments need to be more pro-active to ensure that food security is not hampered by encroaching climatic challenges.    

  

Credits: Claire Schaffnit, Dr. Richard Munang, UNEP’s Africa