UNU-INRA Director Moderates IDRC Webinar 

News
  • March 25, 2022     Accra

    UNU-INRA Director, Fatima Denton, moderated a webinar held by the International Development Research Center (IDRC). The webinar, “Climate Emergency in West Africa: Impacts and Insights,” provided a conversation on issues that the recent IPCC report raises, and what the implications are for the African Continent on the 15th of March, 2022.

    Led by Dr Denton, the conversation was inspired by the insights that came from scientists Edmund Totin and Christopher Trisos. Edmund Totin explained the effects of climate change on the continent. When speaking on climate change’s effects on agriculture, Edmund Totin said “the yields have gone down close to 60 percent for Maize due to climate change.” He also took note of how evident the changes in climate are, saying that “Two thirds of African’s believe the agricultural productivity has gone down due to climate change.”  Christopher Trisos explained how the lack of support for African Scientists makes documenting the Climate Crisis that much tougher, “Major areas for enabling climate research funding. About 1% of climate funding has gone to African institutions,” he said.

    The issue of documenting the Climate Crisis struck Zenabou Segda particularly because she noticed that it meant the Gender aspects would not be properly reflected, noting that “with respect to re-enforcement capabilities we don’t see women there. Women are on the land, but they do not own the land.” Senyi Nafo took note of the fact that the climate adaptation discussion in the report was something that had been argued by the African Group of Negotiators had argued for, stating that “It was the African Group of the Negotiators that said that we have to make efforts in Adaptation in NDCs.” While Adelina Mensah argues the best place to begin is with collaboration: “I think where people are able to come together and share ideas that would be a great step.”