YAOUNDE, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - The African Forest Forum, AFF working with African governments and other international partners have been supporting research, innovation and knowledge building in the forestry sector to better improve livelihoods and fight against climate change in the continent. Some 15 PHD and 3 Msc. research students in forest conservation management from 10 African countries who benefitted from such funding , have presented their findings at a knowledge sharing regional workshop in Nairobi,Kenya July 3-7 , 2023. Environment experts agree the research findings present some interesting results that will help drive the fight against climate change and improve livelihoods of the population in the continent. " The findings show a lot of challenges but at the same time opportunities and resource potentials that will go a long way to drive the fight against climate change," says Ben Chikamani Executive Secretary at Network for Natural Gums and Resins in Africa (NGARA) Kenya and one of the chairs of the discussion and exchange session of the workshop. He adds that the research findings will reinforce synergy in the global fight against climate change and the push for sustainable development goals in line with article 13 of UN NDGs https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs/sdg-13-climate-action/ The goals accordingly call for the improvement of human and institutional capacity to fight climate change . It is against this backdrop that the knowledge sharing workshop focused on the theme « Forest and Tree-based ecosystems services for socio-ecological resilence to climate change in Africa » according to AFF . The students carried out their studies in different ecosystems( Sahel parklands,moist forest,mangroves and woodland) on varied Forest issues like Forest cover dynamics, forest ecosystems goods and services, dynamics of fruit trees, ecosystem services and reduction of the vulnerability of populations to climate change , adaptation of tropical trees species to climate change, Contribution of coffee and cocoa agroforests in adapting to climate change, Climate change and climate justice: a gender analysis of REDD+ . Basiru Adenyi Okanlawon PHD student from Nigeria worked on « Climate change and climate justice ; a gender analysis of Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest degradation (REDD+) » in the South of Cross River ,Nigeria . He notes in his findings that International NGOs and organisations were more concerned in driving gender mainstreaming than local NGOs and the government as evidenced by the number of available funded projects on the ground . « In Nigeria cultural norms impede women from getting involved with men in development actions. They must seek and get the consent of their men, who are reluctant to accept » Okanlawon says . This explains why according to his findings only 7 % of women in the South of Cross River are engaged in REDD+ activities . Another PHD research students Alice Jebiwott from Kenya worked on « An assessment of Mau Forest Cover, Climate Change and impacts of Evictions on livelihoods in the Rift-Valley, Kenya » She notes in her findings that the eviction of Rift Valley forest population from their…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - As Africa prepares for the crucial climate change conference later in the year, President Hakainde Hichilema has assured his Kenyan counterpart, who is also Coordinator of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), William Ruto, of Zambia’s unwavering support for Africa’s climate aspirations at COP28. Speaking during a virtual CAHOSCC meeting on the Africa Climate Summit (ACS) that was co-hosted by President Ruto, in collaboration with His Excellency Mr. Mousa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), President Hichilema said, “Zambia, in its capacity as Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN), will continue to work closely with you in pursuit of Africa’s climate and development aspirations.” The Africa Climate Summit is set to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from 4th to 6th September 2023 while the 28th session of the Conference of Parties (COP28) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is scheduled for 30th November to 12th December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Writing on his Facebook page shortly after the meeting, President Hichilema congratulated President Ruto for the idea to host the Africa Climate Summit and assured him of Zambia’s support in achieving the summit's intended objectives. President Hichilema emphasized the importance for Africa to clearly and specifically identify areas that need resolution in order to ensure a unified approach towards making a meaningful impact on the challenges posed by climate change. The Zambian President further encouraged unity of purpose and speaking with one voice saying, “Africa should maintain coordination, consistency and rationality throughout the climate change debate and avoid polarisation.” Some recent report statistics on climate ambition show that Africa is already sacrificing a lot of its resources towards the fight against climate change as captured in African countries’ highly ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). This is despite the continent’s both historic and current negligible contribution to climate causing emissions. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which provides the best available science, Africa is the least contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions with less than 4% of global emissions and yet the most adversely impacted region. Despite this well noted imbalance, statistics show that Africa is demonstrating its commitment to combating climate change, through the submission of highly ambitious NDCs and spending up to 9% of their GDPs in addressing climate change. However, the full ambition of African countries’ NDCs cannot be realised without support from the international community, hence the call for the global north to continue taking the lead in the climate action agenda by not only cutting their emissions but also supporting developing countries with finances and other means of implementation as espoused in the Paris Agreement. In highlighting the importance of financial support from the global north, President Hichilema also used the meeting to highlight and acknowledge the continent's strong momentum in pursuing the green investment agenda as well as noting the importance of private sector investments.…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Global forestry experts sitting in Nairobi for a week long workshop have termed climate change as one of the major environmental challenges Africa is facing at the moment, and this calls for innovative solutions to tackle. According to Dr Joshua Cheboiwo, Chief Research Officer, Director at the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), there is growing evidence that climate change is impacting on forests and forest ecosystems in Africa, and therefore on the livelihoods of forest dependent communities as well as on national economic activities that depend on forest and tree products and services. "There is thus need for innovative solutions for climate and ecosystem smart forest management" Dr Cheboiwo said at a regional workshop organised by African Forest Forum (AFF). Cheboiwo was speaking at a workshop taking place in Nairobi-Kenya under the theme 'Forest and Tree-based ecosystems services for socio-ecological resilence to climate change in Africa' Experts at the workshop emphasised on the role of ecosystem services, as a concrete, innovative, sustainable solution that can strengthen Africa’s climate efforts. ecosystem services procedure and the supporting business model to enable its effective roll out as a market-based instrument. He described ecosystem services as benefits that people obtain from nature as he presented the solution to the event’s audience. He highlighted that forests have many positive effects on society, such as stable clean water supplies, productive soil, and carbon sequestration. According to AFF executive secretary , Professor Godwin Kowero, the population of Africa expected to rise to 2.5 billion by 2050 and a projected demand for industrial wood estimated to grow from about 75 million m3/per year in 2020 to 250 million m3 per year by 2030 . Consequently the strain on the African forests and trees outside forests has to be carefully managed, especially in the context of increasing deforestation and forest degradation on the continent that are increasingly been made worse by adverse effects of climate change. "These resources consist of a myriad of different tree species, good for timber and other building materials, as well as abundance of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), thus offering the resources the capacity to serve the people on the continent with many products to meet their many and varied demands " Prof Kowero said . "One good way such demands could be met is largely through adding value on the resources through processing. This forward linkage to primary forest production is critical to Africa’s development, and especially so when the population is rising rapidly, urbanization is accelerating very rapidly," he added . According to experts , ecosystem services demonstrate, and promote the beneficial effects of responsible forest management practices. "There is need to increase commercial value for people that sustainably manage forests and take steps to conserve forest ecosystem," says Ben Chikamai, Executive Secretary at Network for Natural Gums and Resins in Africa ,NGARA, Kenya . Experts from different countries presented the business case for ecosystem services in some African countries illustrating how the innovation has been used to…

We, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) make this statement on behalf of 41 African Networks and organizations representing up to 200 million Africans, including Non-Government Organizations, small-scale farmers, pastoralists, fisher folks, indigenous peoples, women, and youth groups, agroecological entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and consumer groups. In reference to paragraph7 of the Conference of Parties draft Decision -/CP.27 Joint work on implementation of climate action on agriculture and food security, inviting parties and observers to submit views on future topics for consideration by the subsidiary bodies at their fifty-eighth session, AFSA acknowledges and commends party and observer submissions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change( UNFCCC) proposing agroecology as one of the future topics for agriculture and food security workshops within the UNFCCC negotiations on agriculture and food security. We strongly call upon parties at the 58thSubsidiary Bodies (SBs) meeting to adopt agroecology as a climate adaptation and mitigation measure, which promotes sustainable food systems and enhances the resilience of agrarian communities, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, improves food security and nutrition.AFSA further calls on parties and agriculture negotiators to adopt agroecology as a standalone future topic related to agriculture and food security. We anchor our call on the following reasons. The recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report specifically notes with high confidence that “Human-caused climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe. This has led to widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damage to nature and people. Vulnerable communities that have historically contributed the least to climate change are disproportionately affected” (IPCC AR6 SYR). We are aware that within the agriculture and food security sector, negative human actions have been exacerbated by the aggressive push for the adoption of an industrial model of agriculture and food production, which involves intensive use of chemical inputs, including fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides which are polluting farmlands, waterways, and compromising biodiversity and ecosystem health in general. The resource-intensive industrial agriculture model has also promoted monocrops in place of farming with diversity and deprived communities of a wide range of ecosystem services. Conversely, agroecology is a sustainable and holistic approach to agriculture that can help address the challenges posed by climate change. Agroecology prioritizes the needs of small-scale farmers, indigenous peoples, pastoralists, youth, and women, often marginalized in conventional agriculture systems. Agroecology fosters social and economic equity, which is essential for resilience in vulnerable communities. Agroecological practices promote using natural and organic inputs, reducing the reliance on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Farmers can therefore reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and synthetic inputs. Agroecological practices mimic natural ecosystems, thus allowing agricultural landscapes to capture and sequester more carbon than conventional monocultural landscapes. Agroecology elements such as circular and solidarity economy, human and social values, responsible governance, and cultural and food traditions address complex challenges within the food systems, such as high post-harvest losses and high carbon footprint for food. AFSA’s position is aligned with…