Strengthen scientific evidence and its use to inform policy, negotiations and climate implementation in Africa
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Lead institution(s)
Summary
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has become the major international body searching for ways of building international climate agreements between developing and developed countries.Read more
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has become the major international body searching for ways of building international climate agreements between developing and developed countries. As a result of the Paris Climate Agreement 2015, new types of commitment and responsibilities emerged for signatory parties. This includes the National Determined Contributions (NDCs), which outline what will be done in terms of climate policy in each country. Negotiations at the international level can and should reinforce the role of the NDCs and define conditions for implementing national actions and goals.
Significant progress has been made at the global and national levels in advancing climate policies and governance, but important leadership gaps remain in evidence and knowledge, negotiations, policy and practice, and coordination among climate scientists, negotiators, policymakers and practitioners.
This project, implemented by the Nairobi, Kenya-based African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), is designed to fill these gaps by ensuring that negotiators are informed by adequate scientific information. This will be achieved by enhancing the institutional and technical capacity of the African Group of Negotiators-Expert Support (AGNES) to consolidate and package scientific evidence to support African institutions’ and governments’ influence in international, regional, and national climate policy processes, decision-making, and implementation.
The project will deliver an expanded resource pool of climate scientists, negotiators, and policymakers to amplify the voices and interests of African experts at multilateral climate change scientific assessments, negotiations, and policymaking. It will produce commissioned papers in key areas, including implementation of NDCs, national action plans, and low emission development strategies, as well as papers on agriculture, gender, and technology think tanks to support climate action. Other activities include two regional climate negotiator dialogues, six national adaptation documents, and two scientific papers. The project will also conduct regional and cross-African and Latin American meetings for sharing of experiences, best practices, and expertise to stimulate climate actions. Gender will be a central issue for exchange and learning in these fora, given the quest to develop a gender action plan under the UNFCCC.
AGNES will be institutionalized within ACTS as a pan-African network or knowledge platform and expert facilitation service for climate scientists, negotiators, policymakers, and other stakeholders in Africa.
Research outputs
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Without implementation of adequate measures, climate change will exacerbate the vulnerability to desertification among dryland populations in Africa. Desertification has led to reduction in agricultural productivity and incomes; it has also contributed to the loss of biodiversity in many dryland regions. This briefing paper provides a synopsis of the impacts of desertification in Africa. Integrated intervention options and policy responses are suggested.
Land degradation at the current pace is projected to render more than half of the cultivated land in Africa unusable by 2050. Human drivers of land degradation include demographic growth, grazing pressures, agricultural practices, agricultural expansion, forest clearing and fuel wood harvesting. This briefing paper provides an overview of the interactions between land degradation, human activity and climate change in Africa, with suggestions for policy responses. One of the principal signs of land degradation is the loss of soil organic carbon; land degradation interacting with climate change is an urgent challenge.
Climate change is projected to negatively impact the four pillars of food security: availability, access, utilization and stability, as well as their interactions. Opportunities exist for the development of climate-proof food systems across Africa through technology diffusion, agronomic practices and innovations that can be optimized and scaled up. This policy brief outlines the routes by which climate change can impact food security and thus human health. “Spontaneous” adaptation in food systems is triggered by changes in agroecosystems, markets, or welfare changes. Areas of interactions between climate change and food security are identified, through which transitions can be made towards more resilient systems.
Sustainable Land and Water Management (SLWM) comprises a suite of technologies and practices crucial in promoting land, water, biodiversity and environmental management to ensure their long-term potential while sustaining ecosystem services and livelihoods. This policy document provides essential information regarding land use and water resources in Africa and their relation to climate change mitigation. It provides principles of best practices guidelines for SLWM along with pathways for scaling up practices to counter effects of extreme weather. Experience shows that SLWM can enhance food security and reduce poverty while helping to adapt to and mitigate climate change.
Scaling up agronomic technologies and practices for African farming systems has the potential to benefit low-input systems in becoming more productive while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This policy brief provides an overview of soil management and fertility enhancement using organic fertilizers including manure. Strengthening technical capacity of agricultural extension should be prioritized, parallel to coordinated research on soil information systems. Reducing GHG while increasing productivity requires a combination of organic and mineral fertilizers; climate-smart technologies; legume-cereal rotations; agroforestry, and applying the right source of fertilizer, the right amount, at the right time, in the right place (www. ipni.net/4R).
