1) The document discusses ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approaches for improving resilience in Africa and implications for policy. 2) It provides examples from Mozambique, Togo, and Burkina Faso that demonstrate how relatively small investments in ecosystem rehabilitation can significantly increase water access, food security, and livelihood opportunities. 3) The author argues that current food security policies focus too much on agricultural productivity and trade while neglecting the central role of ecosystem management. Effective policies should value ecosystems as productive assets and invest in ecosystem restoration to maintain the supply of wild foods and income sources.

1. Harnessing Ecosystem-based
Adaptation Approaches for Improved
Resilience in Africa: Implications for
Policy
IFPRI 2020 Resilience Conference 15-17, May 2014
Richard Munang, PhD
Africa Regional Climate Change Coordinator
Ecosystem-based Adaptation for Food Security Coordinator
Regional Office for Africa –
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

5. AFRICAN ADAPTATION GAP REPORT

6. Climate change impacts
2°C World v. 4°C World
Warming limited to below 2°C still implies major adaptation costs for Africa:
4°C warming by 2100 will hit the continent very hard
impossible

8. 2 billion in Africa
100% Increase

9. 240 Million Hungry

10. 2015

11. The Future of African Agriculture?
• Experts have warned that if the current situation
persists, Africa will be fulfilling only 13% of its food
needs by 2050
• By 2050, even a change of about 1.2 to 1.9 degrees
Celsius will have increased the number of the
continent’s undernourished by 25% to 95% (central
Africa +25%, East Africa +50%, Southern Africa
+85% and West Africa +95%)
• The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has
estimated that African countries could lose between
2% and 16% of gross domestic product due to
stunting of children as a result of malnutrition

12. Africa’s Potential
• The question is, given this scenario,
is Africa’s agricultural system ready
to respond?
• Solutions that address climate
change, productivity, ecosystem
services, water and nutrients are
available and are already in use
throughout the continent

13. Ecosystems Services

15. How can ecosystems respond to
Africa’s food system challenges?
• How do we build value-added sectors to keep more revenues at home?
• How do we integrate and support small farmers?
• What can be done to protect from price hikes, and against environmental disasters?
• How do we increase capacity and storage of water?
• Can we ensure food security?
• Effective policies for food security should value ecosystems as productive assets
• Effective policies should invest in ecosystem restoration – which will not only
stabilize the supply of wild-sourced food products from these ecosystems but will
also help vulnerable groups to buy food, by maintaining their income-earning
opportunities from the sale of natural products (e.g. non-timber forest products,
fish).
• UNEP has been working throughout Africa to demonstrate that these types of
policies can generate greater food security and build resilence by maintaining the
flow of ecosystem goods and services to agriculture

16. Mozambique

17. • Investment of $2.86USD per cubic
meter of water OR $9.53USD per
person
• Grew water supply by
82% and 25%
• Contributed to greater
– Food security
– Resilience to droughts
– Water access/sanitation
– Emerging opportunities for
vulnerable groups (women
and children)
– Emerging opportunities in
brickmaking and other
industries
Togo

18. Burkina Faso
• Increases from
80,000 to 120,000
tons (40%)
• Nearly 300,000
hectares
rehabilitated

19. How do we
build value-
added
sectors to
keep more
revenues at
home?
Burkina Faso

20. Current Strains to
implementing EBA Policies
Food
Insecurity
Ecosystem
Degradation
Food Security
Ecosystem
Rehabilitation/
Preservation
Policies that do not
promote Ecosystem
Health
Ecosystem-based
Policies
• Current food security policies continue to focus on the same three issues – agricultural
productivity, trade and macro-economic policies– all of which have an array of diverse
actors seeking often unsustainable and sometimes opposed goals while neglecting the
central role of ecosystem management.
• By understanding that degraded ecosystems are the root cause of food insecurity and
productive ecosystems are the foundation for greater agricultural productivity,
policymakers can begin to focus on sustainable, coordinated solutions

21. How can we develop policies that sustainably
contribute to food security?
Answer: By ensuring the ecosystem health and productivity is
the foundation for policy making.
 With relatively little inputs, ecosystem-based adaptation can increase yields and
profits, while climate-proofing local ecosystems and improving community well-
being. The examples illustrated attest to this.
 Developing policies which balance maximizing food production with
environmental protection is imperative to building resilience.
 Strengthening ecosystems governance and institutions at local and national
levels, including through collaborations between the public and private sectors,
civil society and local communities is key.
 Valuing longer-term services provided by ecosystems above short-term gain is
the fundamental first step towards building resilience.
 Incorporating environmental values into economic models in order to move
towards sustainable development and Investing in research to find optimal long-
term balance between production and environmental protection.

22. 1st Africa Food Security & Adaptation
Conference, August 2013

23. Experience from the EbA intervention model of addressing climate change and
enhancing food security shows that well-timed and targeted EbA interventions can have
a significant impact on, for example, addressing food security and empowering societies
to build their biophysical and social resilience to climate change and variability and also
benefiting the environment.

24. Africa Can feed Africa
 Communities across Africa are already building resilience to climate change by
stimulating their existing ecosystems.
 What is needed is to bring these isolated success stories to scale, to make them the
rule rather than the exception.
 This is the only way that Africa will be able to achieve the envisaged food secured
society and build its biophysical resilence in which its population does not experience
the fear of want.
Believe it!

25. More information on Ecosystem-based Adaptation methods for
building Resil is available at www.AAKNet.org
Believe it!