Groups push for door-to-door climate change drives in Africa

Mr Aklilu said the financial pledges made at the Copenhagen conference were inadequate and ambiguous on concerns like sources and guarantees for funding as well as institutional arrangements on channelling the resources.

At the Copenhagen, developed countries pledged to mobilise Sh7.4 billion by 2020 to help developing countries reduce the impact of climate change.

“The money that was promised by the developed countries is not only less to cover the cost of adaptation and other necessary measures but also is being drawn from the already allocated fund for development projects,” said Mr Aklilu.

The so-called political deal signed at the Copenhagen talks agreed to limit to global temperature increase of two degrees Celsius and reassessment in 2015 of the science in relation to temperature rises.

The solution, it appears, would be to educate Africans on how they can as individuals and communities to slow down climate change effects rather than counting on the goodwill of developed nations.

Agriculture scientists said this awareness should in particular give high attention on what farmers can do to ensure they increase or maintain high yields from their farms even in the face of climate change.

Research already carried by scientists focusing on food production in arid and semi arid areas show that improved use of fertiliser and harnessing rainwater would increase food production even if climate changes for the worse.

ICRISAT scientists said they found out that enhanced fertiliser use, rainwater harvesting and mulching could almost double crop yields, even with a three degrees Celsius temperature increase with the quantum of rainfall and its distribution remaining the same.

Three degrees Celsius has been termed as “suicidal” because of its ability to completely change the weather patterns of a region.

The latest report of the UN agency for climate change cites that average global temperatures are currently 0.43 degrees Celsius to 0.54 degrees higher than the yearly temperatures recorded between 1961 and 1990.

The model used concur that temperatures are increasing steadily within the tropics like in Kenya but give divergent predictions on rainfall trends.

“However uncertain climate changes might be, farmers must eventually adapt to them,” said ICRISAT director general William Dar.

Most farmers in the semi-arid tropics of sub-Saharan Africa rely exclusively on highly unpredictable rainfall to produce food and generate income and are, therefore, extremely vulnerable even to prevailing climatic shocks and rainfall variability.

Climate change is expected to worsen matters for them. Food and Agriculture Organisation (Fao) statistics show that while all other regions of the world have recorded steady increase in fertiliser use over the past four decades, sub-Saharan Africa’s fertiliser use stagnates at a very low level at five kilos per hectare.

“We find that vulnerable communities tend to over-estimate the negative effects of the current climate-induced uncertainties by trying to minimise losses, but this also means they fail to take full advantage of the better seasons, losing opportunities to recoup losses from poor seasons.”