AFOLU based climate change
Strengthening adaptation policies and mitigation interventions relevant to African forestry and people in Anglophone Africa
Project involved an AGDF partner
Climate change is one of the greatest global challenges of the contemporary times. Its prominence in global discourse arises from the impact it has on nearly all sectors of the economy. Records show increase across Africa of climate related environmental problems in Agriculture and Forestry sectors as floods, drought, crop failure, loss of biodiversity and decline in forest ecosystem services among others.
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report identifies agriculture, forestry and other land uses (AFOLU) as contributing 30% of the total anthropogenic GHG emissions (FAO, 2010). Agriculture and forestry also have the potential to mitigate, respectively, between 5.5 – 6 GtCO2e/yr. and 5.4 GtCO2e/Yr. (FAO, 2010). Forest ecosystems thus serve the dual roles of fuelling global warming as GHG sources when degraded or converted to other uses through deforestation, and becoming sinks for carbon during regrowth or expansion. This puts to context the role of forests in climate change mitigation through programmes like REDD+, sustainable forest management and conservation/enhancement of carbon stocks. Despite considerable understanding of the role of forests in climate change mitigation via carbon sequestration policies and programmes, far little, however, is said to be known on their roles in climate change adaptation.
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