This new initiative will help finance efforts to harness information to fight climate change in Africa. The Africa Development Bank (AfDB) has launched a fund drive worth €33 million to be used for building regional capacities in climate information gathering and dissemination in order to overcome challenges posed by climate change in Africa.
The ClimDev-Africa special fund, launched on the sidelines of CCDA-IV in the city of Marrakech-Morocco, will be managed by the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme, an initiative of the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and AfDB.
Public and private sector institutions and organizations in Africa are now expected to submit proposals to ClimDev-Africa to enable them access the financing which is intended to build viable, reliable and regular climate change information sources in Africa.
During the launching in Marrakech on the 09th of October 2014, the coordinator for special initiative at the AfDB, Mr. Ken Johm, expressed his optimism that despite the fact that the fund may not be enough to meet the entirety of Africa’s climate information needs, it will be demonstrative enough that others can also benefit and learn from such experiences. Climate Change has become a major drive for poverty in our African counties, especially among indigenous smallholder farmers who are increasingly becoming vulnerable with about 37% of the continent at risk desertification.
The AfDB has committed to support countries adapt to the negative effects of climate change, ensure food security and support good land, water and forestry management good practices. Climate information services enable better integration of the water, energy and land nexus, which are critical along the entire agricultural commodity value chain, Says Dr. Fatima Denton, coordinator of the Africa Climate Policy Center (ACPC).
Our deepest conviction is that climate change remains a double-edged sword, she said. It constitutes the greatest challenge of our times, but it is also Africa’s greatest opportunity to widen out ripples of prosperity across our mother continent. ClimDev-Africa is entrusted with a mandate to improve climate information services in support of African development agenda. Consolidating the potential for agriculture, using climate information services, will have a multiplier effect in catering for our youth, shared prosperity, and providing food, water and energy security, observed Dr. Denton.
“By Tandong CALISTUS Jong in Marrakech”
