The first AfricaAdapt Climate Change Symposium was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in March 2011. At the symposium, researchers explored five main themes which included linking policy and practice, the roles of local and indigenous knowledge in addressing climate change and links between adaptation, mitigation and low carbon.⁽²⁾ This discussion paper focuses on the last theme, under which researchers explored the intersections between adaptation, mitigation and development strategies, or what can be collectively referred to as ‘climate compatible development’. The article will highlight some of the key messages that emerged from this theme.

Climate compatible development

Poverty alleviation remains one of the major challenges facing the African continent. Since the second half of the 1970s, economic growth has been on a general decline in most parts of Africa.⁽³⁾ Although there has been a slight improvement in economic performance over the years, the poor performance spanning over two decades resulted in living and income levels well below those of other developing countries.⁽⁴⁾ According to a World Bank report, sub-Saharan Africa constitutes 28% of the world’s poverty.⁽⁵⁾ Poverty, in conjunction with the adverse socio-economic impacts of climate change, largely undermines the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)⁽⁶⁾, a problem which exacerbates a number of challenges including food insecurity and decreasing household incomes.

Adaptation is undoubtedly high on the agenda in a region that is heavily reliant on rain-fed agriculture⁽⁷⁾ and where the livelihood of poor rural communities is under immense threat given the low levels of financial, institutional and technological adaptive capacity.⁽⁸⁾ Mitigation on the other hand, has often been treated as a side note, given that developing countries contribute but a fraction to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While this is true, researchers note that vulnerable communities in Africa are foregoing several benefits and opportunities by treating mitigation as a secondary issue. The climate compatible development framework is the notion that communities can build resilience, lower emissions and achieve sustainable growth under the same policy framework. It is a departure from the tendency to treat adaptation, mitigation and development strategies separately.

In contrast to the aforementioned tendency to treat these strategies separately, climate compatible development “emphasises climate strategies that embrace development goals and development strategies that integrate the threats and opportunities of a changing climate.”⁽⁹⁾ The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) defines climate compatible development as “development that minimises the harm caused by climate impacts, while maximising the many human development opportunities, presented by a low emissions, more resilient future.”⁽¹⁰⁾ It stems from the notion that climate change presents both threats to and opportunities for development.

Some have argued that adaptation is the key priority in Africa and that the climate change agenda should rest primarily on developing adaptation strategies. While it is well recognised that developing countries, and particularly those in Africa, are relatively low-intensity producers of greenhouse gases, researchers argued that vulnerable communities stand to benefit from climate change mitigation strategies, as the processes needed to build mitigative capacity are also strongly correlated with sustainable development.⁽¹¹⁾

Mitigation strategies - sustainable land management practices

Mitigation encompasses activities that reduce GHG emissions into the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Mitigation can be achieved through various ways, some of which include: the protection of carbon stores such as forests; using less energy; developing low emissions technologies and providing incentives to discourage high-emissions investment.⁽¹²⁾ Researchers note the need to promote awareness with regard to interlinkages between mitigation, adaptation and agricultural productivity. In one presentation based on a Kenyan survey, it was noted that while most farmers recognised that agroforestry and afforestry would assist in mitigating climate change, they displayed very little understanding of the connection between sustainable agricultural management practices and climate change mitigation, with only 5% stating that reduced chemical use or organic farming mitigates climate change.⁽¹³⁾ Undoubtedly, this knowledge gap is pervasive across the developing world, particularly in Africa where limited access to information and extension support are key challenges for smallholder farmers.

The aforementioned Kenyan survey also found that many of the soil management practices already in use in the study area, including leaving crop residues on the field and the application of soil nutrients, have positive effects on both soil carbon sequestration and crop yield. In terms of increasing carbon concentration in the soil, it was noted that combining inorganic fertiliser, manure and mulch is a particularly effective strategy which enhances sustainable crop production.

During the symposium, conservation (or zero) tillage was cited as an important agricultural practice in linking low carbon emissions and increased agricultural productivity. Conservation tillage, which is the planting of seeds without ploughing, and as such with minimal disturbance to the soil, promotes the retention of soil carbon deposits which are often washed away as run-off through the use of ploughs. According to one of the presentations, by leaving at least 30% of residue on the soil surface, conservation tillage lowers the loss of carbon dioxide and may also help to reduce evaporative water losses from soils.⁽¹⁴⁾ Furthermore, conservation tillage improves soil quality by improving the structure of fragile soils, making them less prone to drought and erosion. An added advantage of conservation tillage to resource-poor farmers is that it does not involve the use of ploughs and requires low fertiliser use.

Adaptation strategies - the use of indigenous practices and biotechnology

On a micro-level, the impact of climate change on farmers’ net revenue and social welfare will depend to a large extent on their adaptive capacity, which refers to their “ability to manage change sustainably by strengthening resilience.”⁽¹⁵⁾ It is well recognised that vulnerable households in Africa have minimal adaptive capacity relative to other developing countries. According to one report, Africa has the most limited capacity of any region on the globe in terms of climate expertise and resources.⁽¹⁶⁾ This is hardly surprising, given that poor rural households face major credit constraints, limited access to information and extension support. This is not to say however, that rural communities do not employ any adaptation strategies at all. Several presentations made reference to some of the common indigenous adaptation practices which include crop diversification, mixed crop and livestock farming and the use of organic manure. On this issue, it was pointed out that many effective indigenous adaptive strategies are not well documented, and that government departments, donor communities and civil society should promote the use of these strategies.⁽¹⁷⁾

However, while indigenous adaptive practices can abate climate shocks to an extent, in isolation they are not a sufficient measure in the face of protracted climate extremes and variability. One effective adaptive measure which can help to reduce emissions while improving agricultural productivity is the use of biotechnology crops. It was noted that the adoption rate of biotechnology crops is still low in Africa relative to developed countries, with the exception of South Africa.⁽¹⁸⁾ There is an urgent need to increase crop yield and one way of doing so is through the use of improved seed varieties which are heat tolerant, have an in-built mechanism to resist pests and diseases, use water efficiently and are water-logging tolerant.⁽¹⁹⁾ The development of crops which require fewer insecticide treatments means that farmers use less fuel in spraying pesticides and herbicides, and as such this reduces carbon dioxide emissions.⁽²⁰⁾ A reduction in pesticide use results in lower costs for farmers and facilitates the preservation of biodiversity. Furthermore, many of the crops require minimal fertiliser use which results in a reduction in the emission of nitrous oxide. Despite the benefits, it was noted that the use of improved seeds is knowledge intensive and there is a consequent need to equip farmers with information with regard to the use of biotechnology crops.

Empowering resource stakeholders

Climate compatible development is a complex framework as it involves linking processes that were previously tackled in isolation. It is therefore imperative to provide information on this new development trajectory while also taking the perspectives of different stakeholders into account. The need to identify knowledge gaps and to engage resource stakeholders in the decision-making process on matters pertaining to climate change was acknowledged in most of the presentations. Researchers emphasised the pressing need to empower stakeholders by increasing access to information and allowing them to actively participate in the formulation of adaptation and mitigation strategies. Indeed the importance of incorporating the insights of those who are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change cannot be over-emphasised.

However, as has been noted in one study on climate change governance, states and government agencies have played a dominant role in shaping adaptation policy responses while local communities and non-state actors have been largely excluded from the decision-making process.⁽²¹⁾ On this issue, one of the presenters called for the participation of stakeholders that goes beyond consultation and the securing of consent; which seeks inputs before the formulation of a policy decision or strategy and entails finding out the insights of stakeholders with regard to the problem and how it will affect them.⁽²²⁾

Concluding remarks

While building resilience is undoubtedly a key priority in Africa, the essence of sustainable development is the use of resources in a manner that does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. As such, adaptation and mitigation should no longer be regarded as mutually exclusive endeavours. The challenge is therefore to enhance adaptive capacity while simultaneously ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.

NOTES:

(1) Contact Feri Gwata through Consultancy Africa Intelligence’s Enviro Africa Unit ( enviro.africa@consultancyafrica.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
(2) ‘AfricaAdapt Climate Change Symposium 2011’, http://www.africa-adapt.net.
(3) Barrios, S., Bertinelli, L., & Strobl, E., 2003. Dry times in Africa: rainfall and Africa’s growth performance. Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA), Paper No. 5705
(4) Ibid.
(5) Washington, R., et al., ‘African climate change: taking the shorter route’, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, October 2006, http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk.
(6) Masego Mwadzamuse, ‘Climate governance in Africa: adaptation strategies and institutions’, A synthesis prepared for the Heinrich Boll Stiftung, October 2010, http://www.boell.org.za.
(7) Agriculture accounted for a third of total GDP in Africa in 1997, compared with an average of 14.1% for the rest of the developing countries (Barrios, S., Bertinelli, L., & Strobl, E., 2003. Dry times in Africa: rainfall and Africa’s growth performance. Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA), Paper No. 5705.
(8) Masego Mwadzamuse, ‘Climate governance in Africa: adaptation strategies and institutions’, A synthesis report for the Heinrich Boll Stiftung, October 2010, http://www.boell.org.za.
(9) Ibid.
(10) Tom Mitchell & Simon Maxwell, ‘Defining climate compatible development’, Climate & Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) Policy Brief, November 2010, http://cdkn.preprod.headshift.com.
(11) Fatima Denton, ‘Links between adaptation, mitigation and low carbon, or climate compatible development’, Presentation Transcript, 2011, http://www.africa-adapt.net.
(12) Tom Mitchell & Simon Maxwell, ‘Defining climate compatible development’, Climate & Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) Policy Brief, November 2010, http://cdkn.preprod.headshift.com.
(13) Elizabeth Bryan et al., ‘Agricultural land management: capturing synergies among climate change adaptation, greenhouse gas mitigation, and agricultural productivity’, 2011, http://www.africa-adapt.net.
(14) Maurice Oyoo, ‘Biotechnology as a tool for improved agricultural yield as a result to climate change and solution to reduced global warming due to agricultural activities’, 2011, http://www.africa-adapt.net.
(15) Maurice Onyango, ‘Climate smart disaster risk management - an approach for climate compatible development’, 2011, http://www.africa-adapt.net.
(16) Washington, R. et al, ‘African climate change. Taking the shorter route’, http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk.
(17) Tennyson Magombo, ‘Incidence of indigenous and innovative climate change adaptation practices for smallholder farmers’ livelihood security in Chikhwawa District, southern Malawi’, 2011, http://www.africa-adapt.net.
(18) Maurice Oyoo, ‘Biotechnology as a tool for improved agricultural yield as a result to climate change and solution to reduced global warming due to agricultural activities’, 2011, http://www.africa-adapt.net.
(19) Ibid.
(20) Ibid.
(21) Masego Mwadzamuse, ‘Climate governance in Africa: adaptation strategies and institutions’. A synthesis report for the Heinrich Boll Stiftung, October 2010, http://www.boell.org.za.
(22) Leisa Perch, ‘Reconciling participation and benefits-sharing – policy implications for how Africa adapts to climate change’, 2011, http://www.africa-adapt.net.

Written by Feri Gwata ⁽¹⁾