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Africa’s smallholders adapting to climate change

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WOMEN, FOOD AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Across the continent of Africa producing food is getting harder. Seasons are shifting, rainfall is becoming less reliable, temperatures are rising, weather is becoming more extreme, and, as a result the fight against hunger is becoming much harder. Smallholder producers,1 especially women, are on the front line of the consequences of climate change because of how dependent on the weather food production is, and how dependent on that food their families and communities are. The pressures that food producers in Africa now face are unprecedented.

Considerable progress has been achieved by governments across Africa to manage the risks of current climate variability and short-term climatic changes on food production. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns, however, that in spite of this progress actions to date will be insufficient to ensure adaptation to the long-term impacts of climate change on agriculture, nutrition, and food security across Africa.2

Over the last 50 years the African continent has experienced a strong warming trend, which is continuing. Whilst the whole world is experiencing global warming, temperatures over Africa will rise faster than the global average, particularly in the more arid regions where food shortages and nutritional challenges are already a reality.3 On current trends, average warming across Africa will have exceeded a 2°C rise in the coming decades, an increase that will severely disrupt food production.4

Climate change is putting food production under threat. It is amplifying existing stressors and undermining vulnerable agricultural systems. Nowhere will that be felt more than in the semi-arid areas of Africa where changing rainfall patterns and rising temperatures are already reducing, and will continue to reduce, the productivity of vital cereal crops. Production of high-value perennial crops such as tea, coffee and cocoa are also set to be negatively impacted,5 as well as livestock and fisheries.6

The progress that national governments have made to respond to climate change and establish governance systems for adaptation has been praised by the IPCC. However, the Panel remains concerned that these institutional frameworks are not yet able to effectively coordinate across the range of adaptation initiatives already being implemented, let alone the broad-reaching package of initiatives much needed for adaptation. Oxfam analysis found major gaps in the preparedness of the global food system to cope with climate change, with developing countries the least prepared of all.7

Whilst climate change has to some extent been mainstreamed into national planning, the IPCC notes ‘incomplete, under-resourced, and fragmented institutional frameworks and overall low levels of adaptive capacity, especially competency at local government levels’ which have led to a largely ad hoc and donor-driven, project-level approach.8 In conclusion, adaptive capacity is considered to be low.