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What you need to know:
- In order to catalyse climate action, especially for the agriculture sector, a mainstreaming approach is crucial.
- Enabling sector actors to integrate a climate lens in their mandate areas and routine work ensures that there is no silo between normal agricultural activities and climate change activities in the agriculture sector.
Climate change is contributing to food insecurity and conflict in Africa. Rapid sustained action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience is needed now to help stop both from spiralling out of control.
The world is heating fast, rainfall patterns are changing and storms are becoming stronger and more destructive. If heating continues, food production will decline across many countries in Africa. In others, little will grow at all.
As a result, food shortages, price spikes, hunger and malnutrition are almost certain. Furthermore, there is no national security without food security. And no food security will exist without enhanced action to stop climate change. Investment in adaptation and resilience in agriculture can increase prosperity and food security and help avoid conflicts.
The outcomes of the African Leaders Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change and Call for Action provide a framework for Africa’s investment to promote the sustainable use of Africa’s natural assets, including agriculture.
To boost finance for adaptation in agriculture and food systems, an elaborate policy and institutional framework is critical in guiding and facilitating climate action by all stakeholders and actors – both state and non-state at all levels.
This enables the unlocking of the means of implementation by creating confidence among investors, financiers and development partners and takes care of the diverse sectoral needs of actors in agriculture and food systems.
Regrettably, the unfair global financial system is inappropriate for unlocking increased agricultural investments. Reforms to the international financial architecture are integral to achieving the Paris Agreement goals while also considering specific country and development contexts and the trade-offs that may be involved towards a more resilient, just and inclusive economy.
In Kenya, three – five per cent of GDP is lost to climate change impacts. To mitigate the effects of climate change in Kenya, the government passed a raft of policy measures, which include the National Climate Change Action Plans and the Climate Change Act of 2016.
The Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Strategy and its Implementation Plan is also a policy we have, which diagnosed the climate change challenges to the sector and came up with practical actions and innovative solutions that could drive the sector and ensure food security in a changing climate.
In order to catalyse climate action, especially for the agriculture sector, a mainstreaming approach is crucial. Enabling sector actors to integrate a climate lens in their mandate areas and routine work ensures that there is no silo between normal agricultural activities and climate change activities in the agriculture sector.
This enables planning, budgeting and implementing agricultural activities in a climate-smart manner – achieving both development and climate goals together and enhancing efficiency and effectiveness. Mainstreaming is a fundamental theme across Kenya’s national laws, policies and plans at the grassroots levels.
To ensure appropriate locally-led climate action at the village levels, the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, working closely with the National Treasury and the Council of Governors, formulated the Financing Locally Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) Program in 2020.
The 1.05 billion USD programme is funded by various development agencies, with World Bank funding the first phase. The project has innovatively developed tools and structures to ensure villagers identify their climate risks and come up with actionable solutions to current or anticipated climate impacts, which is then financed through their county treasuries for action.
The structures ensure accountability of the finances as well as appropriate reporting through the county government structures. Innovative and targeted climate finance solutions as well as appropriate innovative climate technology options that address such vulnerabilities are essential.
Intentional efforts must therefore be put during the processes of developing and implementing policies, laws, plans, programmes and projects to ensure their responsiveness. The ownership of the processes would also enhance effectiveness and efficiency.
Investing in agriculture and food security is both sensible and feasible; it is a win-win for Africa and for the world as the social and economic rates of return in agriculture, especially in Africa, is very high.
The author is the Ministry of Environment CSi