- Seven of the ten countries most at risk from climate change are in Africa.
- She asked women to find alternatives in the case of shortage of rains or even drought that will see their families have food on the table.
Image: FILE
Climate change threatens the lives and livelihoods of over 100 million in extreme poverty, experts have warned.
According to them, global warming is expected to melt Africa's remaining glaciers in the next few decades, and the reduction in water essential to agricultural production will create food insecurity, poverty, and population displacement.
This is well captured in the Climate Change Vulnerability Index for 2015, which indicates that seven of the ten countries most at risk from climate change are in Africa.
This is likely to worsen food crisis in the region, with food production in countries like Kenya expected to worsen in coming decades.
Speaking during a conference planned by New Faces New Voices-Kenya and Women Win dubbed ‘Addressing the climate challenge with gender lens, Akina Mama wa Afrika Economist, Justice and Climate Action Leader Stella Agara said that there is need to urgently address the crisis.
"There is an unending debate on whether climate change is real in Africa, yet the continent continues to experience changing climate patterns that threaten both human health and food security,"Agara said.
She added that climate change conversations are very complex and as a result this influences low contribution in addressing the climate crisis in Africa hence affecting food production in the continent.
“We must bridge the knowledge gap by building capacity through agencies in Government and Private Sector to promote the management of the climate crisis,” Agara said.
She added that there was a need to start with the grassroots level, through Nyumba Kumi initiatives to gather data from farmers on how climate change has affected food production.
“Consolidating this information will petition the policymakers for accountability and action to avert the climate crisis for the sake of the vulnerable women and young people who bear the blunt''.
She urged women to find alternatives in the case of shortage of rains or even drought that will see their families have food on the table.
Growing resilient crops, for instance, she said will enable the farmers have a bounty harvest regardless of change of weather patterns.
While a lot of conversations revolving around climate change have been evident, inclusion of women in decision-making conversations has been relatively less, leading to a slow progress in the implementation of long-term and adaptable solutions in the East African Region.
As a result, women have been forced to insist or find ways to attend climate change forums and conversations in order to be able to negotiate their space as key stakeholders and sometimes have to organise their own separate meetings in order for their voices to be heard.
The stakeholders recommended that key actors in the private sector find opportunities for women to participate meaningfully in the benefits of climate change such as carbon credit.
Women have had a special relationship with nature as they always contribute enormously to the well-being and sustainable development of their communities, as well as to the maintenance of the planet’s ecosystems, biological diversity and natural resources.
UN figures indicate that 80 per cent of people displaced by climate change are women.
Roles as primary caregivers and providers of food and fuel make them more vulnerable when flooding and drought occur.