Tumwebaze calls for collective action on climate change in Africa

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Agriculture minister Frank Tumwebaze says there is a need for African countries to urgently scale up adaptation and resilience measures in light of increasing climate-related risks.

Tumwebaze said while Africa is contributing the least to climate change, countries on the continent, including Uganda, are facing the worst impacts. 

This is causing major population movements due to climatic-related hazards and associated hunger, food insecurity, and "malnutrition are increasingly becoming a common phenomenon,” said the minister. 

He said these realities should work as a motivation for Africa to work together to lessen the impact on their respective countries. 

Tumwebaze was speaking in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at a high-level event titled Climate Finance for Agriculture and Food Security: Implementation of Nairobi Declaration and Outcomes of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Cop 28 Outcomes on Finance and Green Growth in Africa.

The minister revealed that to cop, the Uganda government has prioritised several interventions aligned with the National Development Plan III, the Parish Development Model, and the Agriculture Value Chain.

These include the promotion of research, development, certification, multiplication, and distribution of seed, stocking, and planting materials that are resilient to climate change.

Others include the adoption of appropriate mechanisation and irrigation technologies to promote production and productivity (horizontal and vertical expansion).

"Through this, we are moving to provide alternative livelihoods to communities that previously produced in wetland eco-systems by setting up water reservoirs to support activities outside wetlands," Tumwebaze said.

He also noted that the government is prioritising pest, vector, and disease control as well as scaling up farmer mobilisation and education.

Tumwebaze called upon African Union member countries, development partners, and "friends" to align all support and solutions (technical and financial) towards enhancing climate resilience, mitigation, and income security through increased production and productivity. 

He said most of the interventions should target small-holder farmers, adding that these are the most vulnerable. 

He said with the support, however, the farmers can be able to transform from subsistence to commercial farming and all aspects of food systems transformation, which would help shield them from the impact.