BELETWEYNE, Somali (PAMACC News) - On the outskirts of Beletweyne town in southern Somalia, Maryam Muse Duale breaks up small sticks in her hands, stoking a fire in the dirt to keep her young children warm at night. Maryam has made a flimsy shelter of sticks and cloth; it doesn’t keep the cold night air out. Her children sit on a mat, waiting for food from humanitarian agencies. When it comes, she shares among the children first. Parents eat whatever is left. Like many other rural Somalis, Maryam is facing a new reality; it is a far cry from her life as an agro-pastoralist just a few months before. The drought in Somalia, which began in late 2020, has only been spreading and deepening. Not so long ago, Maryam’s family used to raise goats, collect firewood and do some rain-fed farming to support themselves. But after three failed rainy seasons, the land has dried up, her goats are dead, and her family has been left destitute. “Before the drought, we had a cart and a donkey, and we used to harvest wood. We had no camels, but we did have goats. Now that is all gone,” she said. With no options left, her family made the tough choice to leave their home and head to the town of Beletweyne in search of help. “We came to the town here in search of life.” Maryam’s family has also had to separate as a survival mechanism. The women have taken the children to town for help, while the men search for odd jobs and stay in their village to protect what’s left of their belongings. They don’t know when they will be reunited. In the Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp where Maryam and her children have found temporary shelter, everything must be provided for them – food, water, medicine. Living amongst strangers and away from the protection of their relatives, displaced women and children are also at a higher risk of gender-based violence and physical harm, not to mention disease outbreak. The decision to flee from home comes with a heavy economic and psycho-social toll. “There is a big difference between our past and our present because in our past, we were living in our homes, and if we needed anything, we had a place to go,” said Maryam. She is now entirely dependent on the goodwill of others for her survival and that of her family’s. Like Maryam, some 667 000 people have already been displaced by the drought, and this number is predicted to rise exponentially in the second quarter of 2022, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). With other agencies providing support to those in IDP camps, FAO is in the drought affected areas, providing cash transfers, livelihood assets and other support to people in their villages, giving them the option to stay and helping to decrease the massive displacement and pressure on already crowded IDP camps. With funding from United States…

GENEVA, Switzerland (PAMACC News) - Within the next five years, everyone on Earth should be protected by early warning systems against increasingly extreme weather and climate change, according to an ambitious new United Nations target announced today. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has tasked the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to lead the effort and present an action plan to achieve this goal at the next UN climate conference in Egypt this November. The announcement was made on World Meteorological Day on 23 March, which this year has the theme Early Warning and Early Action. “Human-caused climate disruption is now damaging every region. The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change details the suffering already happening. Each increment of global heating will further increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events,” said Mr Guterres. “We must invest equally in adaptation and resilience. That includes the information that allows us to anticipate storms, heatwaves, floods and droughts,” said the UN chief. However, one-third of the world’s people, mainly in least developed countries and small island developing states, are still not covered by early warning systems. In Africa, it is even worse: 60 per cent of people lack coverage. “This is unacceptable, particularly with climate impacts sure to get even worse,” said Mr Guterres. “Early warnings and action save lives. To that end, today I announce the United Nations will spearhead new action to ensure every person on Earth is protected by early warning systems within five years. I have asked the World Meteorological Organization to lead this effort and to present an action plan at the next UN climate conference, later this year in Egypt,” Mr Guterres said in a video message to the World Meteorological Day ceremony. “We must boost the power of prediction for everyone and build their capacity to act. On this World Meteorological Day, let us recognize the value of early warnings and early action as critical tools to reduce disaster risk and support climate adaptation.” Climate change is already very visible through more extreme weather in all parts of the world. We are seeing more intense heatwaves and drought and forest fires. There is more water vapor in the atmosphere, which leads to extreme rainfall and deadly flooding. The warming of the ocean fuels more powerful tropical storms and rising sea levels increase the impacts. Over the past 50 years (1970-2019), a weather, climate or water-related disaster has occurred on average every day – taking the lives 115 people and causing US$ 202 million in losses daily, according to a 2021 WMO report on disaster statistics. The number of recorded disasters increased by a factor of five over that 50-year period, driven by human-induced climate change, more extreme weather events and improved reporting. But thanks to improved early warnings and disaster management, the number of lives lost decreased almost three-fold over the same period thanks to better weather forecasts and proactive and coordinated disaster management. “The growing number of disasters due to climate change…

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (PAMACC News)- African Forestry sector stakeholders say they have now been empowered to stand to the challenge climate finance opportunities up for grabs.They expressed satisfaction and their readiness after a one week training workshop in Douala, Cameroon March 14-18, 2022 organized by the African Forest Forum, AFF in collaboration with Global Forest Financing Facilitation Network - GFFFN).Rosine Bayogo, technical director, Timberland Industries, Central African Republic says knowledge acquired will help her improve in climate change project drafting in her organization.“Climate finance is a challenging task requiring some technical details. The workshop had permitted me sharpen my knowhow on some of the salient details in project drafting for funding,” Rosine said.The same optimism was shared by Tabita Radian of Ivory Coast, who lauded the initiative by African Forest Forum to train forest stakeholders.“Training of forest stakeholders is the best way to ensure not only forest governance but also providing the opportunity to better access finance. I am elated because the resource persons we had showed great knowledge on the issues and we are all going back very satisfied,” Tabita said.Knowledge acquired ranged from project drafting strategies, sources of finance[domestic, regional, international] and the intricacies involved, Models of financing, risqué involved, networking and partnership etc.Climate finance experts say Climate change presents a US$3 trillion investment opportunity up for grabs in Africa by 2030 with the private sector expected to lead in driving green investment and development.According to Barbara Buchner, the Executive Director for Climate Finance Program at Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) , Climate change stakeholders should mobilize and work in synergy to stand the chance of grabbing the available funding opportunities.Even though opportunities exist to finance climate change projects, African countries still find it hard accessing climate funding.One of the key reasons according to experts is that stakeholders in the forest sector don’t fully master what funding opportunities exist, and how to draft bankable projects to attract such funding.“African Forest stakeholders have to be abreast with the different funding opportunities and also be empowered with skills on drafting bankable project,” says Peter Gondo of the UNFF Secretariat.AFF says they are committed to pushing their drive to better empower forest stakeholders in this regard.“Training is one of the key roles and objective of AFF and we committed to working with all the forest stakeholders in the continent. Just we are training now in Francophone Africa, so is another scheduled for English speaking African countries in the weeks ahead,” saysDr Marie Louise Avana-Tientcheu, of AFF.The participants, drawn from governmental / forest administration and non-governmental organizations (and this includes the private sector) have come from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and TogoThe papers presented by the different resource persons, Peter Gondo, Larwanou Mahamane, Kouassigan Tovivo all highlighted globally the multiple climate funding opportunities and institutions as well as the elements potential project proposals need to address to be able to attract funding.The African Forest Forum (AFF) is a pan-African non-governmental organization with its headquarters…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - AGRAhas begun acceptingnominations for the 2022 Women Agripreneur of the Year Awards (WAYA), which recognizes female entrepreneurs excelling in different segments of the agricultural value chain. To qualify, entrepreneurs need to have an innovative product or service in the agriculture value chain with evidence of impact on their communities and countries. Submissions are being received on the WAYA website until May 31 in three categories: young female agripreneur; outstanding value-adding enterprise and female Ag tech innovator. Winners will be announced at the AGRF Summit 2022, slated for 5-7September in Kigali, each receiving a cash prize of USD20,000. AGRA’s President, Dr. Agnes Kalibata notedthat the WAYA programmeis part of the VALUE4HER initiative that aims to address constraints faced by women in accessing productive resources and business opportunities. “Women provide up to 50% of agricultural labour force, contribute up to 70% of food production, and account for 80% of food processors.They represent a crucial resource in agriculture and the rural economy through their roles as farmers, laborers, and entrepreneurs. However, they are faced with constraints limiting their full participation. AGRA’s interventions through the VALUE4HER initiativesare strengthening women’s agribusiness enterprises and increasing voice and urgency across Africa,” Dr Kalibata added. The VALUE4HERprogram is focused on increasing the performance of women agripreneurs by facilitating access to markets and trade, finance, and investments, as well as opportunities for tailored online and offline matchmaking activities, learning, networking, and global advocacy. The 2021 WAYA inaugural award celebrated Dr.HajiaSalamatu the Founder and Executive Director of WOFAN in Nigeria, Beatrice NkathaMmunyi the Founder and MD of Sorghum Pioneer Agencies in Kenya and Linda Kudakwashe Manyezathe Founding Director of Food Masters South Africa. Building on lessons from engaging with women agriprenuers across the continent, AGRA seeks to encourage countries to invest strategically in women’s development, strengthening the private sector enabling environment, and building evidence-based participatory processes that will advance inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led growth, resilience, and nutrition. The VALUE4HER initiative presents an opportunity to deliver inclusive economic growth, jobs, and health to the African continent by supporting women agriprenuers across the continent.