NAIROBI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- A UN environment expert has called for the adoption of conservation agriculture in Africa to help save the continent from climate change.
Richard Munang, UN Environment Africa Climate Change Coordinator, said that if not checked, climate change is projected to shrink Africa's economies by a whopping 75 percent in the next few years.
"With climate change in the picture, the negative challenges it poses in the agriculture sector will be compounded by multiple other problems that will lead to food insecurity in the continent," Munang said on Wednesday at a conference in Nairobi.
He called for the adoption of smart agriculture, adding African countries agriculture sectors are at risk due to climate change.
Munang observed that Kenya's agriculture sector alone is projected to record 1 degree celsius temperature increase that will reduce crop revenue by 14 percent in the next two years.
He noted that conservation agriculture is capable of increasing yields by over 300 percent, from a high of seven bags to 30, and with additional benefits of reduced labor and improved soil fertility.
According to the UN Environment official, studies show that nature based agriculture can increase yields by up to 128 percent under the changing climate to enhance food security.
"Conservation agriculture can save farmers 30-60 percent in labor and time to enhance farm level incomes," he added.
He told farmers attending the conference to embark on climate smart agriculture and inter-cropping to help change the micro climate of the regions by growing crops that perform well under the current climatic conditions like sorghum.
He gave an example of Malawi that has used a similar technique where farmers are substituting maize for high value, climate resilient sesame.
The UN official noted that conservation agriculture techniques like minimum tillage and mulching not only increase yields like the conventional approaches promise, but go an extra mile to take care of the soils.
He said that Africa's population, especially the 200 million strong youthful populations, needs to be leveraged as the primary resource in driving conservation agriculture.
"Once appropriately exercised, this model could potentially create as many as 17 million jobs annually for Africa's youth and also catalyze an agro-sector projected to be worth 1 trillion U.S. dollars by 2030," he added.
Munang noted that through the UN Environment and the African Union (AU) through Ecosystem based Adaptation for food security in Africa Assembly (EBAFOSA), countries are fostering this amalgamated approach in developing these sectors with significant socioeconomic and climate impacts.
