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colette.zia

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The problem of understanding climate change is one of the major challenges confronting African people, their governments and the African Union (AU). Concern over the negative impact of climate change has strengthened fears that environmental degradation and demographic pressures will displace millions of people in Africa and create serious social upheaval. 


Africa being a continent with vast potential in every aspect ,most of the sectors on which development efforts focus are climate sensitive, including agriculture, health,energy, transport and water resources. Water resources in particular comprise one sector that is highly dependent on and influenced by climate change. A number of countries in Africa already experience considerable water stress as a result of insufficient and unreliable rainfall that changes rainfall patterns or causes flooding. Climate change is real, and its impact is already being felt. It has affected the people of Africa and its food systems that are already vulnerable. The population is expected to increase from 700 million in 2007 to 1100 million in 2030 and 1500 million by 2050, and populations will become increasingly urban.13 Overall water demand can therefore be expected to more than double in the first half of the 21st century, without considering rises in per capita demand for food and water. Agriculture, which provides a livelihood for about three-quarters of Africa’s population, is mainly rain fed. Severe droughts, flooding, and loss of arable land due to desertification and soil erosion are reducing agricultural yields and causing crop failure and loss of livestock, which endanger rural populations. 


Rights to access basic needs to survive are important, without food to eat, without water to drink and a home without a shelter, clothing or human insecurity leads to an impoverishing potential of 1.3 billion lives. These critical needs for right for life are important for growth of innovations and artistry to thrive among the whole continent as well as internationally. Incorporating climate knowledge into economic growth of the continent could greatly enhance effectiveness and enable endless opportunities that are currently being missed in Africa.