topics

Working Group 2.1
How will climate change affect rural populations in Africa? What mitigation and adaptation strategies are required?

English speaking working group

Resource persons

• Hubert Meena (CEEST Foundation - Tanzania)
• Filipe Domingos Freires Lucio (National Institute of Meteorology of Mozambique)
• Kjell Havnevik (Nordic Afrika Institute)
• Walter Kennes (European Commission)

Moderator

• Ulrich Mohr (GTZ)

Questions to guide working group discussions

• What are the latest climate change scenarios for Sub-Saharan Africa? What can we say with confidence? What is uncertain?
• What will be the main environmental impacts (desertification, flooding, water scarcity, shifting biomes etc)?
• What will be the effects on crop yields?
• What economic and social impacts are possible? What may be the pattern of gainers and losers?
• What are the main strategies available to assist rural communities to adapt to climate change and uncertainty? How can development agencies support such strategies? Does this imply different priorities for development programmes?
• What should be the priorities for scientific and policy research in order to enable farmers to adapt to climate change and uncertainty?
• Will mitigation measures have a significant impact on rural livelihoods? What are the opportunities and threats posed by biofuels? Could carbon trading create new rural development opportunities? Are current carbon trading arrangements of any use to African smallholders?
• How can we reduce agriculture’s share of global emissions?
• What are the implications for development strategies, and what do donors need to do differently?

These questions illustrate the range of issues that could be addressed by the working groups. While they should not be considered to be the only issues that may be discussed, and participants are at liberty to raise others that fall within the scope of the working groups, presenters are asked to consider giving priority to some of these questions.

Please note that all working groups are asked to consider: What are the implications for development strategies, and what do donors need to do differently?

partners: European Commission. Directorate General Development and Relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific States | Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations | Global Donor Platform for Rural Development | Department for International Development (DFID), UK | Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany | Irish Aid, Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland | Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France | Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Development Cooperation, The Netherlands | Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Switzerland | Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) | Deutsche Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, Germany | InWEnt Capacity - Building International, Germany

www.ruralforum.info/en/topics/environment/rural_populations
09.01.2009, 21:01