Tag Archives: Smart agriculture

AMA

For Somalia, Building Climate Resilience is Key to Unlocking Long-Term Growth and Jobs

MaraviPost

Washington, USA, 05 March 2026 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- A new World Bank Group report finds that cost‑effective and smart development investments, particularly in climate-smart agriculture, resilient cities, disaster risk management, and stronger institutions, could cut projected economic losses for Somalia by half and deliver more stable, productive jobs for its people.

Launched today by the Government of Somalia and the World Bank Group, the Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) for the Federal Republic of Somalia emphasizes the importance of linking adaptation to employment and productivity, which can enable Somalia to convert resilience investments into job opportunities, advancing its ambition to reach middle‑income status by 2060.

“Our focus is to ensure that climate action directly benefits our communities while building a stronger, more resilient Somalia,” said Bashir Mohamed Jama, Minister of Environment and Climate Change for Somalia. “Our priority is to ensure that climate resilience supports economic stability and opportunity for our people. This report provides valuable analysis to guide coordinated action across sectors and strengthen collaboration with our partners”.

Somalia is among the countries most vulnerable to climate shocks. Without urgent action, climate change could reduce Somalia’s GDP by up to 13.5 percent by 2060, compared to a scenario without climate impacts, undermining growth and employment and exacerbating fragility.

“Building a climate‑resilient Somalia is a shared responsibility. Through coordinated leadership, evidence‑based policy, and strong partnerships, Somalia can turn climate challenges into opportunities for employment and productivity,” said Hideki Matsunaga, World Bank Country Manager for Somalia. “With smart investments, particularly in resilient rural livelihoods, climate‑smart cities, and stronger institutions, Somalia can break the cycle of vulnerability, create jobs, and unlock its development potential.”

Somalia has made important strides in state‑building and macroeconomic stabilization, completing the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative debt relief process in 2023 and acceding to the East African Community in 2024. However, decades of conflict, weak institutions, recurrent droughts and floods continue to erode livelihoods, displace millions, and strain public services. The report emphasizes that integrating climate and development strategies can reduce vulnerability while supporting private‑sector‑led growth and job creation, shifting from crisis response toward sustained economic opportunity.

Investments in early warning systems, disaster preparedness, water management, and climate‑smart agriculture are not only cost‑effective, but they are also essential for protecting lives, supporting growth, and sustaining jobs and livelihoods in communities affected by conflict and displacement. Analysis shows that higher‑quality growth and targeted climate action can sharply reduce economic losses from climate change compared to a business‑as‑usual scenario.

At the same time, the report notes that while Somalia will continue to rely on external funding in the near term, over the longer term it will need to take stronger leadership in planning, implementing, and financing climate action. Deepening partnerships with the private sector will be essential to translate resilience investments into durable employment and reduce dependence on humanitarian assistance.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of Word Bank Group.

Contacts
In Nairobi:
Lydia Gachungi
lgachungi@worldbank.org

In Washington:
Daniella Van Leggelo Padilla
dvanleggelo@worldbank.org

About Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs)
The World Bank Group’s Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs) are new core diagnostic reports that integrate climate change and development considerations. They will help countries prioritize the most impactful actions that can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and boost adaptation, while delivering on broader development goals. CCDRs build on data and rigorous research and identify main pathways to reduce GHG emissions and climate vulnerabilities, including the costs and challenges as well as benefits and opportunities from doing so. The reports suggest concrete, priority actions to support the low-carbon, resilient transition. As public documents, CCDRs aim to inform governments, citizens, the private sector and development partners and enable engagements with the development and climate agenda. CCDRs will feed into other core Bank Group diagnostics, country engagements and operations, and help attract funding and direct financing for high-impact climate action.

The post For Somalia, Building Climate Resilience is Key to Unlocking Long-Term Growth and Jobs appeared first on African Media Agency.

AMA, Environment

UN Climate Adaptation Expo in Zambia concludes with urgent call for more finance to save lives and economies; helps countries harness AI to build climate resilience

MaraviPost
© Photo Credit: UNFCCC/Zambia | Dr Youssef Nasser, Director of Adaptation at UNFCCC, delivering remarks 
at the NAP Expo 2025 opening

LUSAKA, Zambia, 18 August 2025 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/-The largest annual climate adaptation event has concluded in Lusaka, Zambia, with an urgent call for scaled up investment to save lives, lift living standards and boost economic growth.

NAP Expo 2025 focused on strengthening countries’ capacity to advance National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) ahead of COP30 in Brazil, and closing the financing gaps that threaten effective climate adaptation.

The Expo also launched updated adaptation guidelines, and helped countries to make use of new AI tools to build climate resilience, in many countries for the first time, among other key developments.

“Adaptation isn’t a bill we can skip. If we don’t fund it, the poorest pay in lost harvests, poorer health, and – at worst – with their lives,” said Youssef Nassef, Director of Adaptation at UN Climate Change.

“Around USD 300 billion is needed annually for climate adaptation by 2030. Governments will spend this amount and much more, whether they like it or not, in rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by climate disasters, and importing food due to ruined crops,” said Nassef.

“Much smarter and cheaper is investing in resilience up-front, because this not only saves lives and money, it delivers massive dividends across every sector and every community, transforming lives and economies for the better.”

Zambia’s Minister of Green Economy and Environment, Mike Elton Mposha, said: “We must transform NAPs into investable and bankable plans attractive for investment, including by the private sector. It is also imperative to enhance horizontal and vertical coordination to ensure effective participation of various stakeholders – including women, children and youth, persons with disabilities, local communities and the private sector – in the design and execution of NAPs.”

“Climate change is a matter of life and death for our people. The 2023-2024 drought reduced crop yields by about half, and similarly reduced electricity generation by more than half. This requires a multi-pronged approach across multiple sectors and scales, centred around the critical role of water,” added Douty Chibamba, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Green Economy and Environment of Zambia.

The Expo, attended by around 400 participants from 80 countries, launched updated technical guidelines, welcomed by least developed countries and others as a strong basis to help nations in designing and implementing their NAPs by 2025, in line with the latest science and the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA).

Adaptation plans are vital to ensuring that vulnerable communities have access to the funding and support they need to build resilience to worsening droughts, floods and other climate disasters.

Key outputs from the Expo include:

  • Over six technical sessions focused on promoting mobilization and access to financing for NAPs: (i) maximizing access to existing sources and modalities under the UNFCCC Financial Mechanism; (ii) exploring new sources and modalities of adaptation finance and how countries can mobilize or engage.
  • Five sessions aiming to accelerate the uptake and use of frontier and digital technologies in the NAP process, including big data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning.
  • For many participants, it was the first time using AI in supporting the formulation and implementation of NAPs, and the guided sessions provided an introduction to several powerful resources.
  • The AI session was so successful that participants requested an additional one, which was offered on the next day and focused on co-producing a sample open NAP to showcase concepts relevant to adaptation assessment, planning and implementation.
  • Various sessions strengthened inclusive stakeholder engagement in the NAP process by promoting the incorporation of diverse values and worldviews of Indigenous Peoples and the experiences of local communities, as well as private sector involvement, with a strong focus on vulnerable communities, gender-responsiveness and youth participation.
© Photo Credit: UNFCCC/Zambia | Fumukazi Zilanie Gondwe, Indigenous leader from Malawi’s Nyika Plateau, delivering remarks
at the opening.

Fumukazi Zilanie Kamgundanga Gondwe, traditional leader of the Phoka people, Rumphi, Malawi, said: “What we refer to as innovation is often rooted in long-standing Indigenous practices such as seed sovereignty, sacred forest protection, and cultural rituals for ecological balance.”

Ana Toni, CEO of the upcoming COP30 climate conference in Brazil, called on the global community to “transcend outdated mindsets whilst preserving shared values and innovating towards a new planetary renaissance, where humankind regenerates its relationship with itself and with the nature it belongs to.”

“COP30 will serve as a turning point for adaptation, and NAPs must lead the way, building capacity and securing funding to strengthen our efforts. In Belém, adaptation must be elevated to the same level of importance as mitigation on the global agenda, especially as the impacts of climate change have already infiltrated our homes. Together, we have the power to implement meaningful change and safeguard our communities for a more resilient and sustainable future,” Toni added.

Attended by government officials, technical experts, Indigenous leaders, private sector representatives, and development partners, the Expo from 11-15 August was marked by a focus on implementation – how to help countries meet the 2025 NAP submission target.

Countries also showcased practical solutions to the Global Goal on Adaptation targets:

  • Water security: nature-based solutions for urban rainwater harvesting, climate-smart agricultural practices, and restoration of rivers and streams.
  • Food security: climate-smart agriculture techniques improving soil health and yields without expanding land use.
  • Secure Livelihoods: diversified income and strengthened resilience through sustainable resource management.
  • Resilient infrastructure: coastal protection projects rooted in nature-based solutions.

Youssef Nassef expressed deep gratitude to the Government and people of Zambia for their gracious hospitality in hosting this important global event, noting how the Zambian spirit of solidarity, of hope, of collectivism and harmony helped underpin a successful Expo.

As the Expo closed, participants pointed to next month’s Climate Week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (1-6 September) convened by UN Climate Change, as another key moment to advance adaptation and resilience, including financing needs, along with other key issues.

By bringing together negotiators with implementers in government and the real economy, along with key financiers including development banks, Climate Week will help lay a foundation for progress on finance, adaptation, mitigation and a Just Transition, in Belém and beyond.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of UNFCCC 

About the NAP Expo 

The NAP Expo is an annual outreach event organized by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) under the UNFCCC. It serves as a platform for exchanging experiences, fostering partnerships and mobilizing support to advance the formulation and implementation of NAPs in developing countries. 

About the UNFCCC 

With 198 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. The Paris Agreement aims to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level which will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, and to protect all people from worsening climate impacts now and in the future. Through multilateral cooperation under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, and national efforts, projected temperature increase has been reduced from up to 5 degrees Celsius, to around 3 degrees Celsius now, if pledges are implemented. Efforts continue to lower projected temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as all countries in the UNFCCC have agreed, as well as to build more climate-resilient economies and societies, and to spread the vast benefits of climate action across all nations and peoples. 

The ultimate objective of all agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.

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African Media Agency (AMA)

Amy Minnie

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The post UN Climate Adaptation Expo in Zambia concludes with urgent call for more finance to save lives and economies; helps countries harness AI to build climate resilience appeared first on African Media Agency.

Lifestyle

Nigerian farmers struggle as climate change dries up water sources

Maravi Post Reporter

Farmers in Nigeria are finding it increasingly difficult to get enough water for their crops. Riverbeds have started to run dry leading some to have no choice but to pump for groundwater. The finger is pointed firmly at climate change, with conservationists warning that food could become scarce if measures are not urgently put in place to help the farmers irrigate their land. STORYLINE: The ground is cracked and dry – once a lake and a river had been here.

These are the conditions for farmers in Nigeria and many believe climate change is to blame. After two decades of working his farm in north-western Nigeria, and struggling to find water for his crops, Nasiru Bello has no other option but to resort to pumping groundwater. A muddy puddle is all that remains of a river that had provided water for his over five-hectare farm and those of others in the Kwalkwalawa community in arid Sokoto state. “All these things are a result of climate change, because in the previous years we didn’t know the dryness of rivers like that but now due to climate change they are dry.

Surely, all the people around there, some of them counted the loss some years back when the rivers dried because they don’t have any means of irrigation apart from the river,” says Bello. He continues to plant his leeks in the dry earth. “I am facing a lot of difficulties because I’m not using the river,” he says. “It’s a well and sometimes you can dig a well but it dries up while you’re using it. You have to dig another one and to dig another is not easy because you have to spend money on any well that you are going to dig. And you don’t have the money to charge generators (to power the well) every year, you will be managing the ones you have until you get the money to buy another one. If you don’t, you will continue to manage it.”

Climate change is challenging agriculture in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. The decisions of farmers in the north, which accounts for about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s agriculture, are already affecting food prices and availability in the booming coastal south that’s home to the city of Lagos (with an estimated population of over 21 million people). Farmers say once-reliable water bodies are drying up.

And they have few resources to draw on. More than 80% of Nigeria’s farmers are smallholder farmers, who account for 90% of the country’s annual agricultural production. Some work their fields with little more than a piece of roughly carved wood and their bare hands. Maize, Nigeria’s largest cereal crop, saw a decline in cultivated land from 6.2 million hectares in 2021 to 5.8 million hectares in 2022, according to AFEX, a licensed private commodities exchange.

For years, Nigerians and others have taken note of the dramatic example of Lake Chad in the country’s northeast. It has shrunk by about 90%. There is little data available on the drying-up of other, smaller water bodies across the north. But farmers say the trend has been worsening. Elsewhere in Sokoto state, Umoru Muazu is tilling his farm to cultivate various crops without the certainty of a meaningful harvest. He says: “The year we started, we had enough water but now there is no water. Therefore, we have to dig a well in order to get water to continue to irrigate, except in the rainy season.

In the rainy season, we get water, but not now since the water withdrew, and before it didn’t dry as early as this, but now it does. We must dig a well to complete our work.” Nigeria is forecast to become the world’s third most populous nation by 2050, alongside the United States and after India and China. Experts are warning about the impacts of decreasing crop yields.

Dr. Isa Yusuf-Sokoto is an environmentalist from Sokoto’s Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic, he says: “The drying of rivers, lakes, streams in recent decades is associated to climate change that has come to stay. This is coupled with the precarious nature of Sokoto State being semi-arid region whereby desertification and other related climatic problems have been bedeviling the area. So this is why we’re battling with drought, which is the farmers are now complaining.”

Dr Yusuf-Sokoto explains how studies have shown that two-thirds of the trees across Sokoto are now gone, which contributes to rising temperatures. “If there is no intervention to farmers and this intervention has to be an emergency one,” he says. “There will virtually be a crisis, food crisis will occur, water crisis will also come up, and even health crisis can come up because all these are sons and daughters that could be given birth by climate change crisis.”

The decreasing farm yields are being felt elsewhere in Nigeria, especially in the south. Data from the government-run statistics agency show that local agriculture contributed 22% of Nigeria’s GDP in the second quarter of 2024, down from 25% in the previous quarter, while food imports reached their highest in five years.

With Nigeria’s population expected to reach 400 million by 2050, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has been encouraging climate-smart agriculture to help ensure food security. Nigeria’s government has directed agricultural research institutes to develop solutions. That couldn’t come soon enough – for now farmers like Bello and Muazu continue to try cultivating in dry earth.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/64/34/07/ED_PYR_1464347_20250512041228.mp4
Lifestyle

Climate change threatens agriculture in Nigeria

Maravi Post Reporter

Farmers in Nigeria are finding it increasingly difficult to get enough water for their crops. Riverbeds have started to run dry leading some to have no choice but to pump for groundwater. The finger is pointed firmly at climate change, with conservationists warning that food could become scarce if measures are not urgently put in place to help the farmers irrigate their land. STORYLINE: The ground is cracked and dry – once a lake and a river had been here.

These are the conditions for farmers in Nigeria and many believe climate change is to blame. After two decades of working his farm in north-western Nigeria, and struggling to find water for his crops, Nasiru Bello has no other option but to resort to pumping groundwater. A muddy puddle is all that remains of a river that had provided water for his over five-hectare farm and those of others in the Kwalkwalawa community in arid Sokoto state. “All these things are a result of climate change, because in the previous years we didn’t know the dryness of rivers like that but now due to climate change they are dry.

Surely, all the people around there, some of them counted the loss some years back when the rivers dried because they don’t have any means of irrigation apart from the river,” says Bello. He continues to plant his leeks in the dry earth. “I am facing a lot of difficulties because I’m not using the river,” he says. “It’s a well and sometimes you can dig a well but it dries up while you’re using it. You have to dig another one and to dig another is not easy because you have to spend money on any well that you are going to dig. And you don’t have the money to charge generators (to power the well) every year, you will be managing the ones you have until you get the money to buy another one. If you don’t, you will continue to manage it.”

Climate change is challenging agriculture in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. The decisions of farmers in the north, which accounts for about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s agriculture, are already affecting food prices and availability in the booming coastal south that’s home to the city of Lagos (with an estimated population of over 21 million people). Farmers say once-reliable water bodies are drying up.

And they have few resources to draw on. More than 80% of Nigeria’s farmers are smallholder farmers, who account for 90% of the country’s annual agricultural production. Some work their fields with little more than a piece of roughly carved wood and their bare hands. Maize, Nigeria’s largest cereal crop, saw a decline in cultivated land from 6.2 million hectares in 2021 to 5.8 million hectares in 2022, according to AFEX, a licensed private commodities exchange.

For years, Nigerians and others have taken note of the dramatic example of Lake Chad in the country’s northeast. It has shrunk by about 90%. There is little data available on the drying-up of other, smaller water bodies across the north. But farmers say the trend has been worsening. Elsewhere in Sokoto state, Umoru Muazu is tilling his farm to cultivate various crops without the certainty of a meaningful harvest. He says: “The year we started, we had enough water but now there is no water. Therefore, we have to dig a well in order to get water to continue to irrigate, except in the rainy season.

In the rainy season, we get water, but not now since the water withdrew, and before it didn’t dry as early as this, but now it does. We must dig a well to complete our work.” Nigeria is forecast to become the world’s third most populous nation by 2050, alongside the United States and after India and China. Experts are warning about the impacts of decreasing crop yields.

Dr. Isa Yusuf-Sokoto is an environmentalist from Sokoto’s Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic, he says: “The drying of rivers, lakes, streams in recent decades is associated to climate change that has come to stay. This is coupled with the precarious nature of Sokoto State being semi-arid region whereby desertification and other related climatic problems have been bedeviling the area. So this is why we’re battling with drought, which is the farmers are now complaining.”

Dr Yusuf-Sokoto explains how studies have shown that two-thirds of the trees across Sokoto are now gone, which contributes to rising temperatures. “If there is no intervention to farmers and this intervention has to be an emergency one,” he says. “There will virtually be a crisis, food crisis will occur, water crisis will also come up, and even health crisis can come up because all these are sons and daughters that could be given birth by climate change crisis.”

The decreasing farm yields are being felt elsewhere in Nigeria, especially in the south. Data from the government-run statistics agency show that local agriculture contributed 22% of Nigeria’s GDP in the second quarter of 2024, down from 25% in the previous quarter, while food imports reached their highest in five years.

With Nigeria’s population expected to reach 400 million by 2050, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has been encouraging climate-smart agriculture to help ensure food security. Nigeria’s government has directed agricultural research institutes to develop solutions. That couldn’t come soon enough – for now farmers like Bello and Muazu continue to try cultivating in dry earth.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/64/34/07/ED_PYR_1464347_20250512041228.mp4