Day 4 at Climate talks: Adapting to climate change in Africa: towards regional solutions
L-R: Sekou Toure, Global Environment Facility; Josué Dioné, UN Economic Commission for Africa; moderator Youba Sokona, Sahara and Sahel Observatory; Fatima Denton, International Development Research Centre; and Al-Hamndou Dorsouma, OSS.
Fatima Denton, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), advocated regional adaptation projects, which have multiple benefits, including: mobilizing, sharing and maximizing resources; generating climate leadership; and increasing knowledge sharing.
Al-Hamndou Dorsouma, Sahara and Sahel Observatory, said climate change and development linkages need to be widely acknowledged and acted upon and stressed their links to desertification adaptation. He introduced the “Great Green Wall” initiative, which aims to stimulate information sharing and increase fundraising potential for adaptation.
Sekou Toure, GEF, stressed the need for institutional capacity strengthening, particularly in water management issues. He stated that the risk of water stress and scarcity is projected to increase and that sea level rise will cause groundwater salinization in many large coastal cities. He added that the transboundary nature of most of Africa’s water resources is a limitation to current institutional arrangements, and highlighted the need for regional cooperation on adaptation.
Josué Dioné, UN Economic Commission for Africa, addressed regional approaches to food security, highlighting the under-capitalization and poor performance of the agricultural sector, and the reliance on imports for 25% of the food stuffs in Africa. He called for more effective use of water resources.
Participants discussed: aquifer storage and recharge possibilities; New Partnership for Africa’s Development climate action plan; and barriers to regional cooperation.
More information
http://www.idrc.ca
http://www.oss-online.org
http://www.gefweb.org
http://www.uneca.org
Contacts
Fatima Denton <fdenton@idrc.org.sn>
Al-Hamndou Dorsouma <dorsouma.alhamandou@oss.org.tn>
Sekou Toure <stoure1@thegef.org>
Josué Dioné <jdione@uneca.org>
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