Adaptation and developing working mitigation mechanisms to climate change set the tone at this year’s Regional Climate-smart Agriculture Policy Dialogue.
The three-day climate change event, which ends tomorrow, is being hosted by the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) at the Future Africa Campus at the University of Pretoria.
Attended by over 200 delegates from all over sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the event was opened by South Africa’s minister of agriculture, land reform and rural development, Thoko Didiza.
Addressing delegates, Didiza said the timing of the dialogue was critical as the country is dealing with weather patterns disruptive to the agricultural sector.
Didiza said transitioning to climate-resilient farming is a shared responsibility between the government and all stakeholders, and required all hands on deck.
Mitigation measures ‘critical’
“The topic on how we [are] looking at strategies and possible solutions [to] enable us to transition to climate-resilient farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa is taking place here,” Didiza remarked. “It is indeed a stark realisation – without us addressing climate change through adaption and mitigation measures, we run the risk of having food insecurity.”
Pointing to recent floods in Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and heavy rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal, Didiza said climate change is undeniable.
“Therefore we need to work with the necessary speed to ensure that we find adaptative measures that would work.”
Time for action
The dialogue is supported by several partners including the Agricultural Research Council (ARC).
In her remarks, the chief executive for the ARC, Dr Litha Magingxa, said it is important that response mechanisms are appropriately aligned to address matters of climate change.
“It is about developing solutions. We should be focusing on adaptation, the effects of climate change are evident, and we have adapted to promote food security,” he said.
The board chairperson of FANRPAN, Theo de Jager, said it is time to focus on solutions and innovations on how to deal with climate change at a farmer’s level. If not, food production in Africa is at risk.
“I am a farmer, so forgive me if I have very little patience. If you earn your livelihood with your fingers in the soil, you will know that the seasons will not wait for you.
“As farmers, we feel it. If not in our orchards, fields, or on our bodies, certainly we feel climate change in our pockets,” he said.
Out with the old and in with the new
According to Dr Matilda Azong Cho from Future Africa at the University of Pretoria, new ways of farming should be explored and implemented.
“Change in traditional modes of agricultural practices and an increase in farm investment is required, particularly for technology and innovation, to ensure that farmers are sensitive [to] climate-smart farming on the continent.
“Therefore promoting farmers’ cooperation can assist in improving their adaptation to the new way of farming and producing food without closing them down,” she said.
Government’s response
In the meantime, government is hard at work responding to the effects of climate change on agriculture, Didiza said.
“Our response as a country to these challenges and disasters which are associated with an increase in climate variability and change, is guided by our national legislative mandate.”
“The South African agricultural sector is mandated to respond to these challenges through sector response measures that includes developing and implementing effective policies, plans and strategies in a properly coordinated manner,” Didiza told attendees.
The following days of the regional climate-smart agriculture policy dialogue will explore:
- The importance of social inclusion in transforming agricultural systems in SSA;
- Capacity gaps in transforming smallholder farming in SSA;
- Policy priorities for transitioning to climate-resilient farming systems in SSA; and
- Investment priorities for transitioning to climate-resilient farming systems in SSA.
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