Browsing: Climate change

COP27 outcomes were far and few for Africa, yet the UN announced an Executive Action Plan for the Early Warning for All initiative, which calls for initial new targeted investments of US$3.1 billion between 2023 and 2027, which is equivalent to a cost of just 50 cents per person per year.  

This warning system comes to address crucial issues of extreme weather conditions such as disaster risk knowledge, observations and forecasting, preparedness and response, and communication of early warnings.

A couple of the notable outcomes for Africa included the continent’s rainforest giant, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) collaboration with Brazil and Indonesia, to launch a partnership to cooperate on forest preservation after a decade of on-off talks on a trilateral alliance.…

The 2023 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation shortlist represents ten African countries, including first timers Angola and Sierra Leone, and demonstrates the importance of engineering as an enabler of improved quality of life and sustained economic development.

The UK Royal Academy of Engineering shortlist of innovations tackle challenges central to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, including clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, good health and wellbeing, and clean energy, good health and wellbeing, and quality education.

Several water innovations are featured in the shortlist Africa Prize Engineering Innovation, including a real-time water quality monitoring and control system, an acid mine drainage solution to recycle contaminated water for human consumption, a portable unit that uses fish waste to boost production of vegetables, and a water management system to prevent excess borehole pumping and drying out of aquifers.…

Both nations have the right to attain energy supremacy as it has been a long-time ambition. Despite that goal, environmental and climate-related concerns must be addressed if they are present. 

The EACOP is one starting point that can catapult the region towards economic mastery and energy sufficiency. Tanzania, which is also banking on natural gas exploration and production, could learn a lot from EACOP complications now. 

Despite the challenges, EACOP’s potential has managed to draw the attention of other financiers, and things are turning out well. The project has attracted US$300 million from alternative lenders as its proponents rush to save the project from pressure groups citing environmental concerns, according to a report by The Citizen. …

Policymakers must advocate for pooling resources to support the most affected, particularly in Africa. They can financially support and share land restoration and climate adaptation technologies. Collaborations to expand inclusion that can attain a new paradigm in climate change mitigation.

The leaders of the major polluting nations and donor countries, as well as the leaders of African nations—must commit to implementing policies, allocating resources, and taking the necessary actions to address the deteriorating climate situations globally.…

Some worry that monetary policy is still excessively accommodating, given that rate hikes have not matched inflation. Policy cooperation may be beneficial. Fiscal consolidation and a mix of rate rises and currency depreciation may play a role in nations where policy is overly permissive.

The shaky recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa, coupled with domestic demand constraints, has not significantly fueled inflation so far. However, in the coming months, governments and policymakers must carefully monitor and prioritise tackling the rising inflation in Africa.…

The continent comes in last in terms of funding and green development mechanisms in the global carbon market, which increased by 164% to a record $851 billion last year.

The largest market for trading carbon credits is in Africa, but what are the responsibilities of the sellers and buyers? Munyazikwiye questioned.

According to Mohamed Adow, the founder of the climate think tank Power Shift Africa, “Rich countries do not want to decarbonize their economies. It’s a sky trap. Rather than cutting emissions, they pay poor countries to run projects that lower emissions and take credit for that. Africa doesn’t have emissions to cut, but emissions to avoid.”

Adow urged all African leaders to take the helm of climate talks in their nations because “you need to choose the appropriate climate path if you’re the least developed and confront the highest climate vulnerabilities.”…

e-GUIDE, which has effectively utilised AI to forecast the amount of electricity used in Africa and evaluate the amount of energy put to productive use in the continent’s agricultural sector, will now be able to collaborate with Atlas AI on this endeavour.

Atlas AI, Founded in 2018 by The Rockefeller Foundation and a team of professors from Stanford University. Collects data from various planetary sensors and combines that information with deep learning AI technologies to track changes in the economic and societal well-being of the entire world.

Atlas AI possesses a wealth of experience in constructing hyperlocal socioeconomic datasets, predictive analytics models, and software platforms to assist in making complex policy and investment decisions.…

Africa’s fast population growth exacerbates the issue. According to most estimates, Africa’s population will double by 2050 and then double again by 2100, finally reaching over 4 billion by the end of the century. Feeding Africa’s rising population will need considerable breakthroughs in the continent’s food systems.

However, agricultural progress may be difficult if African farmers are subjected to more severe climatic effects. To prepare for these future difficulties, one must understand how climate change will materialize in Africa and its impact on the continent’s agricultural systems.…

The CRDB alone offers at least 40 per cent of all loans issued to the sector and also unveils a vast opportunity package for local farmers via financing climate-resilient and adaptation projects in Tanzania, making available $200 million in agri-loans for the taking.

According to The Citizen, the adaptation projects target six million beneficiaries in Tanzania’s agriculture industry.

Top bankers are now taking agriculture as a viable product to invest in and develop. Tanzania’s best-performing retail bank, NMB, has set up a specialised agri-business department to serve and effectively attend to all farming financial aspirations.

Tanzania’s agriculture ministry has ramped up funding in research and development from $3.15 million to $4.86 million in the financial year 2022/2023. Further, irrigation is taking a new shift in Tanzania. According to the ministry, the area irrigated has increased from 695,045 hectares in 2020/2021 to 727,280 hectares in 2021/2022.…

In the East African powerhouse, agriculture insurance startup Pula Advisors was featured on the list for its innovation and impact in using technology to provide agriculture insurance to millions of smallholder farmers in emerging markets.

The firm which was founded in 2014 has used technology products through agriculture insurance and digital agronomy to advise and ensure many farmers adapt to an increasingly unpredictable climate.

“Farmers in emerging markets are the most hardworking citizens of the world yet the most likely to already feel the impact of climate change. The future is in farmers’ hands; they only need the appropriate technology and tools and then they can feed the world,” The firm’s CEO Thomas Njeru said.…