The impacts of climate change on food security and health in Southern Africa
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The impacts of climate change on food security
and health in Southern Africa
H L Wlokas
Energy Research Centre, University of Cape Town, and the Free University, Berlin
Abstract privilege to prevent rain, cold or droughts from dis-
Climate change will have a great impact on turbing their daily life.
Southern Africa according to the IPCC. Two closely The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
related topics, food security and health will be Change (IPCC) called Africa ‘one of the most vul-
affected by the changes in many ways. Difficulties in nerable continents to climate variability and change
transporting food through carbon regulations in air- because of multiple stresses and low adaptive
freight, changing conditions for growing food crops capacity’ (IPCC WGII 2007: 10). Similarly, Peter
and negative impacts on fishery might occur and Lukey, Chief Director of the South African
will very possible lead to an increase in malnutrition Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
in the region. Changes of the climate will also have (DEAT), states that ‘Africa has become the worst-off
an effect on the way illnesses are transmitted and victim of worldwide climate change’ (Engineering
cause a number of extreme weather events which News Online 2008). Africa seems to be in such a
can have an extremely damaging consequence on poor position because the majority of the popula-
human living. Two main efforts are being work on tion on the continent are dependent on the weath-
in terms of dealing with these concerns. At the inter- er for activities such as agriculture or fishing. The
national, regional and national levels, adaptation degree of dependence is too great for the available
and mitigation action is being planned and imple- capacity to deal with consequences of changing cli-
mented. Activities at each level are discussed and I mate, thus causing the IPCC and the DEAT Director
argue this in this paper that currently the most effi- to be alarmed.
cient way of dealing with the existing and future With a change in the climate, agricultural pro-
burdens of climate change impacts are activities at a duction, prices and infrastructure will change, limit-
national level, and enhanced effort has to be made ing the amount and quality of food produced.
to improve regional and international collaboration Again linked to the situation around nutrition in a
in addressing these issues. family, a country or the world is the state of health.
With inappropriate or too little food health condi-
Keywords: climate change, food security, health, tions of people are getting worse. Supplementary
Southern Africa climate changes like increasing temperature, floods
or droughts are threatening human physical and
psychological circumstances. And the link is also the
other way around: ‘Poor people are likely to have
less access to healthy, nutritious food, which results
1. Introduction in a poor health status and lower labour productiv-
Human beings are dependent on the environment ity. These two factors then contribute to perpetuat-
they live in. Even though it seems that humans in ing the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition’
this century, all over the world, are more connected (FAO 2005).
to technology than to the natural environments that The two approaches currently adopted by the
surround them, this picture fails when it comes to international community to deal with issues around
climate change. Through discussion around climate the impacts of climate change are adaptation and
change and its impacts, the quality of life of poor mitigation strategies. How adapting to changing sit-
people is increasingly taken into consideration. uations or mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, or
Poor people have always been very dependent on even a combination of both strategies, at national,
weather and environmental conditions; only the regional and an international level may be relevant
wealthy minority of the world population has the to food security and human health, which will be
12 Journal of Energy in Southern Africa • Vol 19 No 4 • November 2008shown in this paper. Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland and
I argue that currently the most efficient ways of South Africa.
dealing with existing and future burdens of climate
change impacts are activities at the national level, 3. Impact of climate change on food
and that enhanced effort has to be made to security and health in Southern Africa
improve regional and international collaboration in Two of the most important issues impacted on by
addressing these issues. climate change described above in Southern Africa
I provide a general introduction to climate are food security and human health. Both have a
change impacts on Sub-Saharan Africa, followed direct and essential impact on human existence.
by a discussion around the consequences of these Food security concerns the available amount of
changes on food security and health in Southern food for a certain purpose. This could be to feed a
Africa. Adaptation and mitigation, the two current family or an individual, or to feed a nation, or even
strategies adopted to deal with the present and the amount of food needed to feed the whole world
future situation, are introduced in section four. population. Additional to the simple quantity of
Following the idea that these strategies are possible required food, food security also includes concerns
to develop and implement at various levels; nation- issues like the transport of food to people and stor-
al, regional and international actions are examined. age issues. The quality of food is emphasized in the
Currently, implemented projects and policies are term food safety (anonymous interview with partic-
considered in order to clarify how relevant action ipant of World Economic Forum in Cape Town on
on which level can ease the burden of the impacts SABC 2, 5. June 2008, 2pm). The divide between
of climate change on food security and health in food security and safety is not going to be followed
Southern Africa. throughout this paper, but is mentioned for reasons
of completion.
2. Climate change in Southern Africa The United Nations Organization for Food and
The IPCC report from 2007 defines Africa as ‘one Agriculture (FAO) define the four most crucial fac-
of the most vulnerable continents to climate vari- tors for a household’s food security as: ‘food avail-
ability and change because of multiple stresses and ability, access to food, stability of supply and acces-
low adaptive capacity’ (IPCC WGII 2007: 10). sibility, and the degree to which food is nutritious
Water and water related issues are expected to be and safe and can therefore be utilized’ (FAO
the most challenging threats to the continent. Water 2005:1). Food availability is expected to be heavily
stress is going to influence between 75 and 250 mil- impacted as climate change may transform ‘the
lion people’s lives by 2020 and change the condi- area suitable for agriculture, the length of growing
tions for agricultural production drastically. In com- seasons and yield potential’ (IPCC WGII 2007:10).
bination with increasing temperatures ‘the area suit- The access to food and stability of supply are close-
able for agriculture, the length of growing seasons ly linked to the conditions of the infrastructure. This
and yield potential, particularly along the margins includes roads, railways, cargo transfer and the pos-
of semi-arid and arid areas, are expected to sibility to transport food over long distances by
decrease’ (IPCC WGII 2007: 10). Unsure rainfall plane. Roads and railways might suffer under
and longer dry periods are going to put extra stress increasing weather stress and air transport might be
on farming production. Coastal areas are in danger regulated due to greenhouse gas reduction affords.
from floods and sea-level rise by 2080, and chang- The safety of food comes back to the quality of
ing conditions in the ocean are going to impact on the available food. IPCC expects ‘agricultural pro-
fisheries and the people close to the sea (IPCC duction, including access to food, in many African
WGII 2007: 10). ‘Exposure to climatic hazards and countries and regions … to be severely compro-
vulnerability to climate change varies enormously mised by climate variability and change’ (IPCC
between regions and sectors in Africa’ (Downing et WGII 2007: 10). The FOA sees the 1.1 billion
al 1997: 21). hectares of land which is already only arable under
South Africa, for instance, is going to become heavy endeavours expanded by 50-90 million
generally drier and warmer through climate change. hectares as the result of climate change (FAO
Significant impacts are expected in ‘some sectors, 2005:2). The production of ‘yields from rain-fed
particularly agriculture, water resources, biodiversi- agriculture could be reduced by up to 50% by
ty and human health’ and ‘these potential impacts 2020’ (IPCC WGII 2007:10) and it’s a consequence
will undoubtedly have detrimental effects on South spreading hunger very quickly. Main sources of
Africa’s priority issues (i.e. poverty alleviation, nutrition for people in Africa like beans, wheat,
employment, housing, access to and provision of potatoes and rice are in danger of being difficult to
services, food security, potable water, HIV/AIDS, produce in future.
etc.)’ (Lim 2004: 6). Another important factor is rivers and coastal
This paper focuses on the Southern African zones. It is still uncertain if increasing temperature
region as a whole, including Namibia, Botswana, will increase or hinder fish production, but clearly it
Journal of Energy in Southern Africa • Vol 19 No 4 • November 2008 13will change something (IPCC 2001: 10). Many (Patz et al 2005:311), there is no strong discourse
countries in Africa are food-insecure and a large obvious in the literature at the moment. The same
portion of the population rely on subsistence farm- applies to HIV and AIDS. The effect of climate
ing where ‘farmers both consume their product and change on this virus is little studied and assump-
sell it in local markets’ (Brown & Funk 2008: 580). tions are very vague. Brown and Funk (2008: 581)
As a result ‘large-scale hunger can ensue, even see the virus to be likely to ‘become more severe
when there is sufficient food in the market that has and widespread with warming temperatures’, but
been imported from elsewhere’ as these farmers there is also no evidence in the literature about this
cannot earn enough from their own crop sales to matter.
buy the imported food (Brown & Funk 2008: 580). A positive influence is generally understandable
Current protests about the increasing food prices all in very cold regions, where the number of people
over the world give an idea what this could mean who die through cold waves might become less.
for people and political stability of the effected Alternately, in warm regions like Africa even more
countries. Brown and Funk (2008:581) see by now people will die due to heat stress (McMichael et al.
‘up to half of all malnutrition … driven by non-food 2006: 863). All in all, these kinds of big scale events
factors’. Taking all the influencing factors of food are going to have a growing power over people’s
security into consideration the question which has lives, particularly over people who live in areas very
to be asked and answered is: ‘Where is the food, vulnerable to climate change such as coastal zones,
how is it grown and how traded?’ (anonymous places where storms are to be expected and regions
interview with participant of World Economic at risk of droughts or floods. ‘Over 96% of disaster-
Forum in Cape Town on SABC 2, 5. June 2008, related deaths in recent years have taken place in
2pm). Possible approaches to answer these ques- developing countries’ (African Development Bank
tions and act appropriately are discussed in the next et al. 2003:X). Further health concerns exist due to
sections. spread of disease as the result of migration caused
‘The relative importance of climate change for by climate change impacts (McMichael et al. 2006:
food security differs between regions’ (Gregory et 860-62, Patz et al. 2005: 311-15, IPCC WGII 2007:
al. 2005: 2139). This is also the case for the impacts 9-13).
of climate change on human health. An almost con- In conclusion it can be said that the link between
tinent-wide problem is going be the impact of food climate and health is most noticeable in cases where
insecurity on the health of people. Malnutrition is extreme weather events like heat waves, floods,
likely to increase (IPCC WGII 2007:10, Brown & storms, fires, or infectious diseases are the crucial
Funk, 2008: 580). According to the World Health factor. ‘Other important climatic risks to health,
Organization, the estimated global number of peo- from changes in regional food yields, disruption of
ple who are currently undernourished is 800 mil- fisheries, loss of livelihoods, and population dis-
lion, with close to half of these living in Africa’ (Patz placement (because of sea-level rise, water short-
et al. 2005:311). Authors like McMichael estimate ages, etc) are less easy to study than these factors
the increase of underfed people by 5-10% and their causal processes and effects are less easi-
(McMichael et al. 2006: 863). ly quantified’ (McMichael et al. 2006: 860).
Another threat is the possible increase of vector- Food security and Health are closely related
bone diseases in some areas. In regions like the east issues, as food for instance, has a direct impact on
African highlands ‘the potential incidence, seasonal human health and the physical conditions of
transmission, and geographic range of various vec- humans has a strong influence on their ability to
tor-borne diseases’ are expected to rise (McMichael work and earn money. Figure 1 shows the main
et al. 2006: 862). These diseases include Malaria, pathways by which climate change affects the
Dengue fever, Yellow fever, various types of viral health of human beings, including the conse-
Encephalitis, Schistosomiasis, Leishmaniasis, Lyme quences of food scarcity. The left side of the dia-
disease, and Onchocerciasis. Even though the IPCC gram demonstrates the concept of climate change
report speaks about uncertainty in terms of the ‘the and the middle section shows the main changes in
decrease or increase of the range and transmission the environment as the result of climate change.
potential of malaria in Africa’ (IPCC WGII 2007:9), The right side points out the effects on health, most
McMichael et al. (2006: 865) reviewed a number of of which are negative, but some have also positive
studies ‘that have modelled seasonal changes in consequences. Two types of interventions are men-
transmission [and] researchers estimate a substan- tioned in the diagram. One is mitigation, which
tial extension - such as a 16-28% increase in per- tackles climate change at the stage where it is
son-months of exposure to malaria in Africa by caused and so works at the root of the problem.
2100’. However, ‘due to varying quality of long- The second type is adaptation, which starts at a
term disease data across sites in Africa, and in part much later point and deals with the symptoms of
due to the difficulty in adequately controlling for the previous emitted amounts of greenhouse gases
demographic and biological (drug resistance) data’ (which might not have been able to prevent through
14 Journal of Energy in Southern Africa • Vol 19 No 4 • November 2008Figure 1: Schematic summary of the main pathways by which climate change
affects population health
Source: McMichael et al. (2006: 860)
mitigation or have been there before the interven- land degradation (erosion, desertification), biodi-
tion started). Other areas of focus adopted by the versity loss, natural resource management, health
international community to try to ease the burden (HIV/AIDS, malaria etc), migration, rural liveli-
of the impacts of climate change are technology hoods, poverty alleviation and coastal zone man-
transfer and research (IPCC WGII 2007:20). Ideally agement. This paper takes a closer look at food
these are combined with adaptation and mitigation security and health and discusses the possible adap-
action. To differentiate between these strategies is in tation and mitigation strategies that can be adopt-
some cases neither possible nor necessary. Most of ed.
the adaptation and mitigation programmes that are Many definitions for adaptation and mitigation
going to be discussed contain elements of technol- are available in the literature. The most common
ogy transfer and research. How adaptation and mit- and probably deeply discussed one is the definition
igation are applied and to what extent they are rel- used in the IPCC report which says that adaptation
evant for food security and health are examined in refers to changes in ‘processes, practices, or struc-
the following section. tures to moderate or offset potential damages or to
take advantage of opportunities associated with
4. Adaptation and mitigation action to changes in climate’ (IPCC WGII 2001:1). It involves
ease burdens actions to reduce the vulnerability of regions and
The current and future impacts climate change has communities to climate change (IPCC WGII
and will have on Southern Africa are creating a 2001:1). Adaptation can be spontaneous or
great need for people to change behaviour to be planned action done by governments or civil socie-
able to survive in the new conditions. Areas where ty, but ‘institutional and economic parameters
so-called adaptation is appropriate are, for exam- determine the vulnerability and adaptive capacity
ple, disaster management (floods, droughts, storms of societies’ (Hug et al. 2003:17).
etc), food security, water resource management, In the international climate change negotiations
Journal of Energy in Southern Africa • Vol 19 No 4 • November 2008 15decisions were made which were ‘initiated to devel- change mitigation’ (Nganga 2006:7) are the most
op the adaptive capacity of poor people and the effective approaches. The United Nations
poorer countries (…) to cope with the impacts of cli- Framework Convention on Climate Change creates
mate change’ (Hug et al. 2003: 18). The required the basis for future work and in the following -
capacity includes financial, human and knowledge national, regional and international programmes
resources. Research about how to adapt to what, will be stressed.
when and where has only started recently and there
are still very few people working in the field. 4.1 National strategies
Financial support is supposed to come from the so- At a national level, adaptation could take place at
called developed countries. ‘As adaptation activities different levels in society: national, sub-national (for
can be capital-intensive and the benefits highly instance, provincial), and local, depending on
localized and immediate, the real challenge will be country’s situation and sub-national circumstances
the development of secure, adequate and pre- (Niang_Diop & Bosch: 186). To start with the low-
dictable funding to meet priorities, as well as equi- est level where adaptation can happen, every indi-
table frameworks to access this funding’ (Winkler vidual is adapting to changes in the environment.
2004:362). This action might happen unconsciously, but it is
For instance, the cost of adaptation to expected from an evolutionary science perspective as part of
sea-level rise in low-lying coastal areas with large life on earth. Individual adaptation has limitations
populations is estimated to be at least 5-10% of however, once financial or energy resources sources
GDP (IPCC WGII 2007:10). Considering these are emptied. The next step is then to look at com-
numbers, it becomes clear that the costs cannot be munities at a whole. Possible actions addressing
carried by national budgets alone. Adaptation is not food stress could be a change in used crop, invest-
an issue which can be dealt with in isolation. ment in new irrigation systems, better soil conser-
Strategies like the Millennium Development Goals vation and livestock management. Safe water
and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers have to drinking technologies and new water use strategies
be able to be combined with adaptation action to could have a positive impact on the health of the
get the greatest benefits and not hinder the success community (Sharma 2002). It is also possible that
of other efforts (Hug et al. 2003:18). The IPCC whole communities move away from areas with
supports this idea strongly with the advice to high risk of extreme weather events.
‘include (…) adaptation measures in land-use plan- As the biggest potential for fast and flexible
ning and infrastructure design and include (…) adaptation is currently seen in community struc-
measures to reduce vulnerability in existing disaster tures, the South African climate change NGO
risk reduction strategies’ (IPCC WGII 2007:20). SouthSouthNorth (SSN) developed the SSN
Generally the adaptive capacity in Africa is low due Adaptation project Protocol for Community Based
to low GDP per capita, widespread poverty, Adaptation (SSNAPP). ‘This tool is designed to
inequitable land distribution, and low education assist project developers to identify, select, design,
levels (African Development Bank et al. 2003:3). In fund raise, implement and monitor and evaluate
addition, climate change impacts in Africa affect community based adaptation to climate change
many people. With a high number of people interventions in response to local climate change
depending on rain-fed agriculture and over 25% of impacts in developing countries where all levels of
the population living in coastal areas, adaptation is stakeholders are engaged at each step in the
necessary and might depend to a large extent ‘on process’ (SouthSouthNorth a:2).
the degree of civil order, political openness, and However, strategies and policies are usually the
sound economic management’ (African Develop- responsibility of governments at a national level,
ment Bank et al. 2003:3). while measures can be taken at a more local level
It is obvious that strategies like mitigation are an (individuals, enterprises, households, communities,
international task. Carbon emission regulations etc.) (Niang-Diop & Bosch: 186). Large scale strate-
have to be thought through on a global level, miti- gies and policies have to be made by governments,
gation action does not have a significant local effect due to reasons of financial capacity, human
on food security. It might improve air-quality local- resources and authority in the implementation. The
ly, but as long as in other places in the world peo- international community agreed on procedures
ple keep or even increase emissions into the atmos- which are supposed to help the countries with
phere, a positive impact on global warming will not adaptation. Firstly, there is the National
be possible. It should also be noted that ‘even the Communication (NC). All countries which ratified
most stringent mitigation efforts cannot avoid fur- the Kyoto Protocol are committed to communicate
ther impacts of climate change in the next few to the Conference of the Parties (Article 12, para-
decades, which makes adaptation essential’ (IPCC graph 5 and Article 4.3). Countries have the chance
WGII 2007:20). A combination of both strategies or to apply for financial support at the United Nations
‘adaptation options that also address climate and will also get some advice on how to write the
16 Journal of Energy in Southern Africa • Vol 19 No 4 • November 2008NC. In most of the cases the government depart- about the issues.
ment which deals with environmental issues is • Special focus is given to the most vulnera-
responsible for the report. Ideally, a country defines ble regions and populations within each
an agency that is then in charge to research the country.
present and future impacts of climate change on the • All relevant institutions within the govern-
country and defines special concerns in terms of ment as well as civil society need to be
vulnerability, adaptation and mitigation. Next to made aware of the problem and their
money, technical support can be asked for from the respective roles in dealing with it.
United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), • The focus is on building long-term national
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), adaptive capacity.
UNFCCC and also from ministries, universities, • Adaptation to climate change is effectively
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and pub- mainstreamed into national and sectoral
lic and private firms (Mwakasonda 2008). development.
The UNDP unit is responsible for the NC´s (Hug et al. 2003: 36).
developed an Adaptation Policy Framework (APF).
This APF includes a User´s Guidebook and techni- It can be said that until present the most effective
cal papers. The main incentive of creating an APF adaptation activities are done by individuals and
was ‘to assist and provide guidance to developing communities even though their work is mostly
countries in identifying, prioritizing, and shaping undocumented and not recognised as work under
potential adaptation options into a coherent strate- the term adaptation. National programmes are
gy that is consistent with their sustainable develop- starting slowly and, as shown by the South African
ment and other national priorities’ (UNDP& GEF example, still have a long way to go to make a real
2003:iv). difference. In South Africa, only a few projects have
The National Communications harbour the been implemented so far, and this was the first of
greatest potential for Non-Annex-I states to get the sub-Saharan countries to submit the NC.
international attention, funding, and capacity build- As none of the countries in Southern Africa are
ing programmes running in their countries. An Annex-I states, mitigation action in terms of fulfilling
example of adaptation action of this kind is the emission targets do not have to be taken into con-
research project developed by the Medical Research sideration. South Africa is once again in the unique
Council and the University of Kwa-Zulu-Natal. The position in Southern Africa of facing emission tar-
study looks at ‘the link between climate variables gets in the next 10-15 years. The National Climate
and the distribution of malaria and schistosomiasis’ Change Response Strategy talks about ‘the mining
(Lim 2004:13). In South Africa research into agri- and energy sectors … [as] particularly vulnerable to
culture and climate change has also been initiated climate change mitigation measures’ (RSA 2004:5).
at the Universities of Stellenbosch, Kwa-Zulu-Natal However, through the Clean Development Mechan-
and Pretoria, the South African Weather Service ism (CDM), carbon reduction activities are made
and other Institutions. In 2004 two adaptation proj- possible for Non-Annex-I countries (Kyoto, Article
ects addressing farming concerns, the CLOUD proj- 12). Emissions reduced in the developing country
ect in Limpopo and awareness workshops for the can be sold through international carbon trade cer-
Department of Agriculture, were implemented (Lim tificates to developed countries and help these
2004:12). countries to reach their targets. Even though CDM
In the paper ‘Poverty and Climate Change’, in projects are contributing in a positive way to global
which a large number of international organizations mitigation affords, they are not reducing the global
were involved in writing it, advice is given to devel- emissions and can only be as good as the emission
oping countries which are willing to work on their targets of the Annex-I states (Michaelowa et al.
national adaptation performance (African Develop- 2004, Ellis et al. 2004).
ment Bank et al. 2003). Firstly, it is advised that The link between mitigation and food security at
work on the National Adaptation Programme of a national level is based solely on the contribution
Action, which is similar to the APF process, is of greenhouse gas emissions to global climate
strengthened. In doing this countries should further change. The impacts of emissions on health are dif-
ensure that: ferent, however, as indoor and outdoor air pollution
are major contributors to respiratory health diseases
• They involve the relevant stakeholders from and local reductions of emission can have a big
the most vulnerable sectors of the economy impact on the health conditions of people (WHO
and regions of the country. 2005). A South African example is the Kuyasa CDM
• They also need to ensure that high-level project. In this project, solar-water-heaters, ceilings
policy makers are aware of the importance and fluorescent bulbs are installed in houses in the
of the issue. low-income settlement of Kuyasa in Khayelitsha.
• The general public is made more aware Through the installations, the project hopes to
Journal of Energy in Southern Africa • Vol 19 No 4 • November 2008 17cause a change in behaviour and initiate a switch Countries Fund (LDCF) and the Special Climate
over from polluting cooking methods like paraffin Change Fund (SCCF) are both designed to support
or wood to electricity (Tyler 2007). This would be concrete adaptation projects in developing coun-
expected to have a positive effect on the respirato- tries (GEF website 11 June 2008). Some examples
ry health of the dwellers and according to the theo- of endeavours around food security are the rather
ry of suppressed demand also reduce greenhouse non-concrete research project like the ‘Climate
gas emissions. Adaptation and mitigation are thus Change Adaptation and Mitigation and Food
combined in this CDM project. Security Concerns’, but there are also projects on
the ground like the ‘Reversing Land Degradation in
4.2 Regional strategies Zhomba through Integrated Catchment Manage-
National borders usually define areas where differ- ment Programme’ in Zimbabwe.
ent thinking, planning and activities take place, Another United Nations organization which is
‘however adaptation strategies, policies and meas- working on adaptation issues is the Food and
ures must also be considered at the sub-regional Agriculture Organization (FAO). They have devel-
and regional levels (e.g. when they are related to oped, among other things, the Global Agro-
shared resources, as is the case with international Ecological Zones methodology, which ‘can provide
rivers)’ (Niang-Diop & Bosch: 185). This leads the a detailed understanding of the sensitivity of agri-
Southern African Development Community (SADC) cultural crops and regional land-use systems to cli-
to get together and identify areas of priority for mate change’ (unknown author 2002:10). Analyses
environmental policies. ‘These priority areas target with this methodology have shown that ‘on aver-
environmental and developmental concerns in the age, industrialized countries stand to make substan-
region which require immediate attention and call tial gains in production potential, while developing
for both national and collective regional action’ countries are expected to lose’ (FAO 2005).
(Lim 2004:13). In reaction to these findings the The FAO will also further monitor the relation-
SADC Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources, ship between climate change and food security and
SADC Protocol on Shared Watercourse Systems can be counted as one of the big international play-
and the SADC Forest Protocol have been devel- ers in this field. There are many more international
oped. In addition to these actions within the SADC organizations working in the field of adaptation in
community, the New Economic Plan for African Southern Africa, the World Bank, International
Development (NEPAD) and the Millennium Dev- Development Research Centre, the Institute for
elopment Goals are mentioned as frameworks for Sustainable Development and Oxfam being but a
regional collaboration (Lim 2004:13). few. Oxfam, for instance, recently developed an
Border crossing issues like food security and Adaptation Financing Index, which ‘gives an indi-
health are probably most effectively addressed at cation of what fairness in adaptation requires’. The
this scale. Improved cross-border transport systems, USA, EU and Japan are identified as the three main
such as roads and railways, might enhance collabo- entities responsible for climate change and they
ration in tackling issues such as supply and accessi- should, according to the Index, be contributing
bility of food (IPCC WGII 2001: 10). SADC or 40%, 30% and 10% to the adaptation costs (Oxfam
NEPAD may also strengthen their position in inter- 2007).
national negotiations about agricultural subsidies if Oxfam also gives some recommendations on
the countries collaborate and speak with one voice. how to divide adaptation work at the different
In the African context, there is little discussion about scales. For the international sphere the requests are
mitigation activities except for CDM projects. to ‘contribute(…) to the international learning net-
Regional actions are similar to national ones in works on adaptation’ (Oxfam 2007) and to improve
that they are still in early stages. Even though the regional collaboration in shielding cross border
potential to work together on adaptation strategies, ecosystems and monitoring and forecasting of cli-
and at a later stage also on mitigation strategies, is mate change (Oxfam 2007). Similarly, crucial is the
high due to similar social-economic backgrounds role of the international players in areas like sys-
and geographically related burdens, only assump- tematic observation, technology transfer and capac-
tions can be made about the impact collective ity building. As ‘the inadequacy of systematic obser-
actions will have once actually implemented. vations network which is necessary for climate char-
acterization’ is seen as one of the main barriers ‘to
4.3 International strategies effective vulnerability and adaptation assessment in
At the international scale, the Global Environmental Africa’ (Nganga 2006:12), this is an area where
Facility (GEF) is unquestionably the main player in international cooperation can be pivotal. The two
the climate change adaptation scene. Aside from other barriers Prof. Nganga identifies in his presen-
running surveys, assessments and initial pilot proj- tation for the UNFCCC are ‘inadequate technolog-
ects, this monetary organization from the United ical capacity to implement adaptation projects’ and
Nations, manages two funds. The Least Developed technical capacity. Once again these issues are seen
18 Journal of Energy in Southern Africa • Vol 19 No 4 • November 2008as challenges for action at the international level. through basic measures like producing a National
The ‘Poverty and Climate Change’ paper delivers a Communication.
list of recommendations for further steps towards It would be great if institutions and government
collaboration in adaptation on the international departments placed more effort into adaptation
level (African Development Bank et al. 2003). In strategy research. With this work it would be possi-
addition to the issues mentioned earlier are an ble to compare and define good practice examples
improvement of the international negotiating on the national level, which in turn might help inter-
capacity amongst the developing countries and national players to place better focussed incentives
measures to ‘become more effective at sharing the to improve food security and human health in a
results of their work on adaptation amongst them- changing climate.
selves’ (Hug et al 2003: 37).
Apparently the adaptation work at the interna-
tional level is comprehensive and definitely
required. Pilot-projects showing what adaptation Bibliography
could look like, and policy advice may help gov- African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank,
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