Climate Smart Agriculture

Tina Joemat-Petterson

• The ministers in Africa worked hard to agree on getting Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) on to the agenda of COP17.
• There is a need for collective ideas for tackling the problem of climate change in Africa and in the world at large.
• Africa must invest in information technology to facilitate CSA. CSA will help improve food security and build a more climate-resilient agricultural sector.
• Farmers are the most important people in this agenda; they should understand CSA and embrace it.
• Policies favouring CSA should be in place and there is a need for building a common understanding among the stakeholders.
• CSA should be targeted atthe ones who suffer most.

Kofi Annan

• Africa is badly affected by climate change but has huge potential to mitigate and adapt.
• Other current problems (e.g. political instability and financial crisis), must not be an excuse for not acting upon climate change.
• At the moment, Africa does not grow enough food to support its population; some food is imported.
• Africa is currently far from getting the results out of the efforts given there is still a need for commitment, patience and determination.
• What was agreed upon in Copenhagen and Cancun must be taken seriously by Africa and implementation should start.
• Developed countries should by 2020, make available USD100 billion for helping CSA in Africa. Climate resilient agricultural policies should be in place by that time.
• The potential is huge in Africa for growing food not only for the people, but also for export. However, this needs funds and an integrated approach (the involvement of scientists, economists, politicians, environmentalists etc.).
• Small farmers are at the core of this programme - they are the ones affected most.
• Leadership, resources and expertise are crucial in CSA.

Meles Zenawi

• 70 percent of Africans are small scale farmers (outside South Africa).
• Since the majority of Africans depend on agriculture, it is clear that fighting poverty should be through agriculture.
• If you need equitable growth, agriculture is the answer as it involves communities at the lower levels of the economic hierarchy.
• Climate change threatens agriculture and causes food insecurity.
• A collaborative effort is needed to fight these problems.  Water and soil are important in agricultural productivity; CSA must pay special attention to these resources.
• Since soil gets degraded, rehabilitation and reforestation are the approaches that need to be adopted to improve soil and water, thus improving the state of agriculture.
• Climate Resilient Agriculture should not be seen as different from CSA.