The conference is on the theme: “Introspection on climate-smart agriculture actions to strengthen accountability, resource use and impact in Africa”, and being facilitated by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the EU and other partners.

Among issues being discussed are the creation of opportunities for international collaborations, investment in resilient crop varieties and adopting sustainable agricultural practices to mitigate the menace.

Among the 350 participants at the three-day Science and Partnerships for Agriculture Conference (SPAC), which started yesterday[September 14, 2022], are people from academia, researchers and policymakers from Africa and the EU.

Others are joining remotely via a dedicated zoom platform.

Other thematic areas being deliberated upon are the role of digitalisation in advancing climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in the smallholder systems, the nexus of CSA and the mechanisation of smallholder systems in Africa, bottom-up and system-wide capacity development approaches to enhance CSA practices, strengthening the support of extension and advisory services to ensure CSA compliance among smallholder farmers in Africa and advances in CSA technology generation and use in crop, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture.

The output of the conference will contribute to the Africa Position at the next Conference of Parties on Climate Change (CoP 27) in Egypt in November 2022.

Collaboration

The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, called for strategic innovations to respond to threats posed by climate crisis.

He said the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the agricultural sector and the cross-cutting nature of the climate crisis required countries to work together to identify solutions.

“Prediction up to 2024 shows the possibility of continued warming and decreasing rainfall, especially over North and Southern Africa, and increased rainfall over the Sahel.

“These changes are going to affect food systems and will take only science and policy action to enable the world to respond adequately,” he said.

The minister said agriculture contributed 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions — the second highest contributor to climate crisis.

“The scientists must come up with new technology and knowledge that will help us produce food and fibre in a sustainable way that aligns with the new climate realities. We will need new farming systems and techniques that will help us produce more with less external input,” he added.

Dr Akoto mentioned the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), Rearing for Food and Jobs, as well as Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) and Horticulture and Mechanisation initiatives as some of the policies that had been implemented by the government over the last six years.

Relevance  

The Chairperson of the FARA Board of Directors, Dr Alioune Fall, described SPAC as timely and relevant, as it provided opportunity for stakeholders in the agricultural value chain and policy makers to explore smart and green technologies to help transform agriculture.

He said current challenges confronting the sector, such as climate change, drought, deforestation and poor funding, required international collaborations to grapple with.

Dr Fall said when adopted, CSA and green technology would not only help address climate crisis but also motivate the continent’s youth to venture into agriculture.