Empowering Africa's smallholdet farmers at COP29

By Robert Mutasi

While addressing the high-profile meeting on the Africa Climate-Smart Agriculture Initiative during COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Musalia Mudavadi said that the transformative potential small-scale farmers had should be unlocked.

Accordingly, the initiative provides millions of farmers with drought-resistant seeds, water-efficient irrigation systems, and methods for soil conservation across the continent.

Such progress is protecting the livelihoods of farmers while increasing food security in Africa.

Mudavadi looked back at some of the milestones since the first Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi and said the Nairobi Declaration has helped crystallize several key initiatives, such as the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action program.

Indeed, he added that an Africa empowered locally-driven approach to climate action is perhaps a model for global policy on climate.

This approach, he underlined, draws on community-led solutions befitting their peculiar regional challenges and brings out the capacity of local actors to achieve meaningful impact.

"We are noticing that the appetite for transformation is increasing, as evidenced by the success of initiatives like FLLoCA," said Mudavadi, and added: "This indeed goes to prove that when we put our acts together through meaningful and focused collaboration, we can achieve tangible results."

Notably, Mudavadi warned that this response has not kept pace with a spiraling climate crisis. He drummed for a rise in concerted effort to translate commitments into meaningful outcomes.

"While we celebrate our successes, we must acknowledge that they are still grossly inadequate against the prevailing stringent climate imperatives facing humanity," he added.

Mudavadi invited all countries to work together and realize the ideals expressed in the Nairobi Declaration.

He urged the developed world to scale up support for adaptation financing with a view to making such finances relevant to Africa's pressing needs for climate resilience.

The meeting was attended by dignitaries headed by Hon. In attendance were Aden Duale, Cabinet Secretary of Environment, Forestry, and Climate Change, accompanied by service delivery, Dr. Festus Ng'eno, the Principal Secretary for Environment and Climate Change.

Key speakers also included H.E. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, President of Togo, during the keynote address, alongside H.E. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, African Union Commissioner.

In unison, these leaders reaffirmed their common commitment to ensuring robust climate action-a united position toward the achievement of sustainable development across Africa.

It is now time to take concrete action because, in many ways, the continent has risen to prominence regarding the global climate challenge.