By JIMOH BABATUNDE

The Director General, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, has said that there is need to go beyond rhetoric to action in dealing with negative consequences of climate change on agricultural production and productivity.

Cassava farm

While noting that the negative consequences of climate change on agricultural are with us, he said resolutions must be implemented to save West and Central Africa.

Addressing national and international researchers attending a conference on Biotic stresses, climate change and agricultural productionin Cotonou, Bénin, recently, Dr Sanginga noted that the emergence of agricultural pests such as the papaya mealybug was closely linked to climate change

“Whatever recommendations we make at this meeting, let’s work towards implementing them,” he said.

The Director General pinpointed to agricultural research and the capacity development of adequate human resources as the critical tools needed to tackle the challenges posed by climate change.

He cited the example of cassava pests (cassava mealybug) in which past research by IITA and partners had played a critical role in solving the problem and saving the crop from probable extinction in Africa.

The Interim Director General of AfricaRice, Dr Adama Traoré, pledged that his organization would support the implementation of the meeting recommendations, as they would go a long way in addressing agricultural productivity in the region.

Researchers at the conference said the impact of climate change on biodiversity linked to biotic stresses could have a deep impact on agricultural productivity.

For instance, studies suggest that climate change might adversely influence established biological control by curbing natural enemy–pest interactions.

Also, extreme climatic events may affect the benefits provided by living things in the soil ecosystem such as endophytes, rhizobia, and mycorrhiza.

“All these interactions need to be properly assessed and documented to develop and deploy preemptive and adaptation strategies,” said Dr David Arodokoun, the Director General of the National Institute of Agricultural Research of Bénin (INRAB).

In West and Central Africa, most of the current studies targeting the impacts of climate change on agriculture have focused directly on productivity which are crop yields, or indirectly, on livelihoods.

Dr Arodokoun said the regional meeting had brought together researchers working on biotic stresses linked to climate change affecting the region as a first step to take stock of the available human and infrastructural resources. This, he said, was a starting point for defining a common regional strategy for managing biotic stresses and biodiversity under changing climatic conditions.

The regional meeting attracted policymakers and national and international scientists working in the West and Central African region, and was attended by donors and IITA’s board of trustees.

The President of the   Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Jane Karuku, has called for African led solutions to issues of climate change saying that farmers cannot plant on time as the rains are unpredictable and too much attack on crops from pests.

Karuku said this at the meeting convened by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the World Bank in Nairobi, Kenya on the 2014 Africa Agriculture Status Report (AASR).

The effects of Climate Change on Smallholder Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) emerged to be the major focus of the meeting which saw experts from across the agricultural value chain.

At the meeting AGRA President, Jane Karuku, said, “Farmers’ problems are a manifestation of climate change; they cannot plant on time as the rains are unpredictable and too much attack on crops from pests and diseases and unpredictable climate conditions lead to high post-harvest losses.”

The first AASR was released in 2013 and brought together extensive information and data to assist policy makers to develop suitable policies to foster agriculture in Africa.

The 2014 AASR will highlight the importance of addressing climate change to increase African agricultural productivity, improve food security and enhance the resilience of farmer’s to climate change.

The report will focus on five areas: Agriculture and Climate Change in SSA; Agriculture Productivity and Climate Change in SSA; Climate Smart Agriculture for Addressing Food Insecurity and Climate Change; Integrating Climate Smart Agriculture in SSA and Knowledge Management Systems and Education for Resilience Building.

World Bank’s Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist, Dr. Ademola Braimoh, who is a specialist on Climate Smart Agriculture, chaired the meeting and said climate smart agriculture, is a practice to help African farmers increase their productivity and enhance their resilience to climate change.

“You cannot eliminate poverty without addressing food insecurity in Africa. To address food insecurity you must address climate change because climate change would affect agriculture. Business as usual cannot help us met the challenges of the current moment. We need to factor in climate change in our development plan and that is what the 2014 AASR will do,” remarked Dr. Ademola.

The 2014 AASR will be released on 2 September 2014 at the Alliance for a Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The forum will address key issues and inform policy making in a bid to assist African farmers in adapting to the effects and challenges posed by climate change.