Standing up for smallholder farmers at the Africa Climate Summit
By Meshark Sikuku, Farm Systems and Sustainability Coordinator, Ripple Effect
Heads of states, ministerial meetings, exhibitions, plenaries and side events, and three days of intense discussions. So, what did we achieve at the first-ever Africa Climate Summit?
The stated aim was to showcase solutions for green growth and climate finance for Africa and the world. And the summit did bring Africa together for the first time to consider the impacts of climate and recognise that unified action is vital.
Getting 30,000 delegates, the UN Secretary-General, the president of the European Commission and 25 African heads of states together on African soil, focused on this crisis, really is an achievement.
What was the result for our continent?
We were invited to host a side event showcasing innovations around the theme on Agroecological Solutions to Community Resilience. That in itself was no mean feat: hundreds of organisations working in climate adaptation applied to host events at the summit, and were turned down. Apparently it was our focus on communities, and our in-practice solutions, that got us a place at the table.
It was exciting, and hugely encouraging, to see how much interest there was in our agroecological approach. The venue for our presentation was packed out, and we received scores of questions via the summit’s mobile app from delegates who couldn’t make it to our event.
What this tells us is that many of the organisations and decision-makers concerned with how to make rural communities more resilient to the effects of climate crisis are looking for agroecological solutions.
Showing the way forward for resilient communities and food systems
We wanted to share our experiences with Africa because we not only believe, but we KNOW from our many years of experience that agroecology is the way to building sustainable and transformative community resilience in our continent.
We’re able to show how agroecology integrates local and scientific knowledge and builds interactions between plants, animals, people and the environment, in a farming system inspired by nature, that serves people and the planet.
What did we learn from the Africa Climate Summit?
It was a busy, inspiring and encouraging three days – our team was running from one venue to another, trying to cover as many presentations as possible, and connect with all the influencers we wanted to meet up with.
The summit was a great platform for learning about green growth and nature-based solutions across sectors including policy, finance, public-private partnerships, agriculture and food systems, forestry, energy, the blue economy, young people, women, and other marginalized people.
It WAS encouraging to see Africa not just following but demonstrating its intention to lead the way in determining her own development and becoming a global example for transforming a green continental economy.
This is what we need from Africa: a stronger voice on the global stage, and especially in climate debates which are always dominated by the self-interest of powerful developed economies.
What were we hoping the Africa Climate Summit would deliver?
From the stated theme of the conference, we wanted to see four key results from this high-powered meeting:
- A clear roadmap drawn up by Africa, for Africa and the world, to achieve the ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2030. We must not let this slip.
- An adaptation action plan that prioritizes African agriculture and communities, regenerating farming landscapes by putting the needs of smallholder farmers first.
- Clear pathways and legally binding instruments to ensure that institutional climate financing reaches smallholder farming communities on the frontline of climate crisis.
- Concrete proposals to scale up financial resources for adaptation and mitigation, focusing on nature-based solutions such as our agroecological approach.
What was the result: The Nairobi Declaration
Did the Africa Climate Summit deliver what Africa needs?
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