By Moses Sserwanga in Mombasa
Climate change and food insecurity are two interlinked problems that are contributing to underdevelopment of the 11 countries that form the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development IGAD region, Dr. Workneh Gebeyeyu, the IGAD SecretaryGeneral, has said.
Speaking at the official opening of the 54th Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF54), in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa , Dr. Gebeyeyu didn’t mince words when explaining the grim picture that faces the region noting that about 10% of the region’s 250 million people are chronically food insecure while over 80% of the population derives their livelihood from agriculture and therefore factors that affect land productivity due to climate change directly impact their welfare.
His remarks were echoed by a representative from CARE, Ms. Fiona Percy, who told the gathering that in recent times, 25 countries have reported climate change emergences. She said that above releasing the periodic seasonal weather forecasts , countries now need to focus more on climate change issues to put in place measures that will help communities to be resilient in the future since we live in a warming world.
Impact of climate change
Climate variability and climate change , Dr. Gebeyeyu said, has significant impact on the social and economic development in the IGAD region and other parts of Africa. “The region is particularly exposed to the shocks of climate extremes mainly due to the economic significance of our rain-fed agriculture. Climate related risks affect water resources, health, energy, and tourism. Scarce resources such as water, pastures due to climate change, will to conflicts that lead to insecurity and displacement,” he warned at the event which is being attended by over 200 delegates.
The IGAD Secretary General however ,hastened to add that recent advances in science and technology offer significant hope in improvements of the quality of climate services. He said that his organization , through the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) avails and promotes accessibility of timely climate early warning advisories that should help communities to deal with any potential adverse effects that will be precipitated by climate change .
“The centre supports specific sector applications to enable the region cope with various risks associated with climate variability and changes. ICPAC organizes regional climate outlook forums before the onset of the major rainfall seasons to release regional consensus climate guidance, assess associated impacts and develop sector specific mitigation strategies,” Dr.Gebeyeyu said adding that since February 1998, ICPAC has organized fifty-four regional climate outlook forums (RCOFs) and according to WMO among all climate centres globally, ICPAC has held the largest number of RCOFs.
In order to address problems of food insecurity and environmental degradation, the IGAD boss said that his organization was working with the member states and other development and civil society partners to improve food access especially in the chronically food insecure areas by boosting agricultural production and facilitating the movement of food from surplus producing areas to the deficit ones.
He said IGAD was committed to strengthening rational utilization of trans-boundary natural resources, promoting the use of renewable energy resources and rational management of freshwater resources .
Need for user-friendly weather and climate forecasts
The guest of honour, Hon. Mohammed Elmi, who is the Chief Administrative Secretary at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Kenya called for user friendly weather and climate forecasts and urged the IGAD member states to find practical solutions to the global phenomenon of climate change.
Climate change is real
Mr. Gilbert B. Kitiyo, MBS, County Commissioner, Mombasa , noted that the negative effects of climate change can be seen all around us in the form of global warming and corresponding increase in the frequency of adverse weather and extreme climate events which occasionally evolve into disasters. He underscored the importance of the meteorology agencies across the region arguing that they play a critical role in the socio-economic development of any country .
THE Climate Prediction and Application Center (ICPAC) Director, Dr. Guleid Artan ,emphasized that Climate related hazards are becoming more intense and frequent due climate change. Our region in the past few years has seen several extreme climate induced disasters.
He said that unlike in the past , 2019 experienced climate extremes which included 8 cyclones in the western Indian Ocean which used to experience one or to two cyclones every couple of years. The October, November to December rainfall season was one of the wettest on record and rains have continued into January which is usually a dry season, he noted, adding that in the first part of year ,most of the equatorial sector of the region saw prolonged droughts.
The delegates were also alarmed to learn that July 2019 was the warmest month globally since 1880.“From data published in the last 10 days, 2019 was second warmest year on record, just 0.04°C behind 2016 that was the warmest year for global temperature. He also attributed the desert locust invasion in the region to favourable conditions, warm temperatures, excessive rains which provided the insects with ample vegetation to feed on.
What ICPAC is doing
ICPAC is a specialized institution of IGAD. It is a regional climate center of excellence that creates regional products including long-range forecasts that support regional and national climate activities and thereby strengthen capacity of Member States in the GHA region to deliver better climate services to national users.
GHACOF54 is being held under the theme; “Managing Climate-Related Risks for Resilience”in the 11 member states of IGAD which are ,Uganda , Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi and Rwanda.
The sessions are being moderated by, Mr. Bernard Chanzu, Mr. Martin Owor Commisioner Disaster Management Uganda, John Mungai, Ms. Fiona Percy, Abiy Hailu, Deus Bamanya, Abubakr Salih and Geoffrey Sabiiti.
Fact file;
GHACOF54 is organized by the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) and partners.
Participants include, climate scientists, researchers, users from key socio-economic sectors, governmental and non-governmental organizations, development partners, decision makers, media and civil society stakeholders .
The writer is a Media and Communications Consultant and Advocate Of the High Court
msserwanga@gmail.com
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