Adaptation gaps remain a critical barrier for many countries in implementing agricultural adaptation practices to a changing climate. In this context, a group of six graduate students of
Wageningen University, conducted a research project to assess co-benefits of adaptation measures for the agriculture sector across the six regions in the African continent.
"Because of the huge diversity in socioeconomic, cultural and climatic conditions across Africa, the precise impacts of climate change on agriculture are locally specific and largely uncertain. Capacity building thus is more important than any number of technical adaptations to climate change. Some key mechanisms to achieve this are to improve education, expand people’s access to finance, and increase institutional support for adaptation, for example through the establishment of innovation centers", said Asher Lazarus on behalf of the project team.
In response to these gaps, a framework was designed using a multi-criteria analysis to assess co-benefits that focused on climate change mitigation, socio-economic wellbeing. In addition to a literature review, students also conducted interviews with regional agriculture experts to gather information for the research.
"We were fortunate to have a diverse group in terms of both academic background and nationality, and we also benefited from the input of colleagues at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the African Development Bank and Wageningen University. This helped us develop what we hope serves as a useful tool to holistically analyse the co-benefits and tradeoffs of different adaptation options", Asher added.
Key findings
- In North Africa: The main climate-related vulnerability is water stress, as the hot and dry climate is expected to become even more extreme over the coming century. A multi-criteria analysis showed that planting cactus on land used for rainfed cereal production is the most favourable adaptation option of those analysed.
- For the Sahel region: Climate-driven vulnerability is related to drought, desertification (northern part), and extreme rainfall events (southern part). Planting species to stabilize sand dunes was found to give relatively higher co-benefits compared to the other measures.
- In East Africa: Countries face similar vulnerabilities including more droughts, less rainfall on average. Access to climate financing was highlighted as a key adaptation gap. Integrating dairy livestock to crop-only systems scores low, but can serve as a solution to underlying issues such as poverty.
- In West Africa: The findings show an increased variability in precipitation patterns; occurrence of extreme events, such as droughts, floods and storms; temperature and an overall increase in annual precipitation except for a part of the Sahel region of West Africa.
- For Central Africa: Variability in rainfall, more frequent flooding, seasonal droughts and soil erosion, and the increasing emergence of pests and diseases are the main expected impacts of climate change. A co-benefit assessment of conservation agriculture and agroforestry as adaptation strategies shows promise, however support is required for credit access, land tenure rights and infrastructure for success.
- For Southern Africa: Climate change presents high risks to the Southern Africa region’s rain-fed agriculture sector, making it vulnerable to climate variability and change. Several adaptation measures target an increase in agriculture productivity and drought resilience. Gaps in technology, finance, data access and actionable knowledge impede adaptation activities in Southern Africa.
Adaptation measures in these regions show great potential to increase productivity, reduce environmental impacts, and ultimately improve livelihoods. However, most adaptation priorities across the continent provide technical solutions rather than offering integrated policies to tackle underlying problems such as poverty, lack of education and infrastructure needs. Finance also emerged as a key challenge to implementing climate adaptation measures.
More information
The research project was undertaken in the context of the UN Climate Change and Universities Partnership Programme. The findings will be integrated in the scoping paper to be prepared under the NWP thematic area of agriculture and food security.
The UN Climate Change and Universities Partnership Programme fosters collaboration between graduate students and Nairobi Work Programme (NWP) partners for joint efforts on adaptation projects across the globe.
Access the full report on Assessment of Agricultural Adaptation Measures in Africa, considering Adaptation Gaps and Co-benefits
here.
Find more details on the UN Climate Change and Universities Partnership Programme can be found here.