Ouagadougou, 15 December 2013. AFRICAN UNION SAFGRAD, in collaboration with the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) convened a two days meeting, 12-13 December 2013, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to review the draft reports of a study on “Climate Change and Africa Agricultural Inputs for Improved Production with special Emphasis to Drought Tolerant Varieties”. The bilingual (French and English) study covered two vulnerable semi-arid regions of the continent namely the Sahel and the Horn of Africa.
The meeting was attended by various experts and stakeholders from National and International organisations of the two regions. Chaired by the Director General of Vegetal Productions, Burkina Faso, representing H.E. Minister of Agriculture and Food Security of Burkina Faso, in presence of AU SAFGRAD Coordinator and a Representative of GIZ. The Workshop first paid tribute to late Nelson Mandela by observing a minute of Silence at the opening. Was also shown a ten minutes video summarizing the rich activities held in Burkina Faso during the long year celebration of the OAU/AU 50th anniversary.
Taking the floor at the opening, Dr Ahmed ELMEKASS, AU SAFGRAD Coordinator, has underlined “The Decision of the AU 2009 Summit, on climate change, is eloquent testimony of the importance that Africa’s political leadership attaches to this matter and not just as an environmental issue, but as one that is affecting other aspects of our lives including direct effect on agriculture productivity”. He also explained that, for the importance of the climate change issues and the key role of the Agricultural research in the adaptation and mitigations of the climate change, AU-SAFGRAD office agreed with GIZ to develop a document on the Climate Change and Agriculture Inputs Use in Africa, particularly in the Sahel zone and East of Africa region as well.
After two days discussion the experts deeply reviewed the document and made relevant recommendations by focusing on themes such as the Increased use of drought tolerant varieties, the promotion of crop diversification, the Implementing integrated drought management methods and the Implementation of comprehensive policies for climate change and agriculture inputs in Sahel and East Africa.
AU/SAFGRAD is one of the specialized technical offices within the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA) of the African Union Commission. Its vision falls within the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development (CAADP) framework. AU/SAFGRAD has been designated as the institutional focal point of UNCCD for coordinating the Thematic Program Network for the Promotion of Sustainable Agricultural Farming Systems to Combat Desertification in Africa (TPN6) activities. For more details, Please check Press Release on December 2013 Workshop
