AICCRA at COP29 | Scaling climate adaptation in African agriculture

AICCRA is informing debates and engaging global partners to drive climate action at COP29, focusing on: locally-led climate adaptation; climate finance and markets for small-scale farmers; long-term, low-emission and climate-resilient development strategies; and multi-stakeholder platforms for climate-smart agriculture.

AICCRA's priorities at COP29

For COP29, we're focusing on the connected roles of adaptation, finance and inclusion for building resilience.

Strengthening the climate resilience of Africa's smallholder farmers is central to AICCRA's mission. Through our partnerships across Africa, millions of farmers are accessing and using proven CGIAR innovations for climate information services (CIS) and climate-smart agriculture (CSA).

 

Finance and markets for farmers

Adaptation and climate finance are directly linked. Creative financing solutions—for example, private sector investments into climate-smart agriculture—can help close the finance gap between goals and impact, and address the connected challenges of food security and adaptation. Impact tracking tools will help to measure the impact of these efforts so we can identify ongoing progress and gaps, and evaluate if our efforts are heading in the right direction.

Read about: 

  • Climate-smart accelerators for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Zambia 
  • Gender-smart SME accelerators in Senegal
  • Hackathons reducing post-harvest losses in Kenya and Senegal 

 

Tracking climate adaptation 

Adaptation strategies are crucial to building resilience against the impact of climate change, especially for vulnerable communities like smallholder farmers. National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) help governments set the goals and objectives necessary for progressing climate action. Revised NDCs are expected to be submitted by countries just months after COP29 which will set even higher ambitions for national climate action. But many countries also need financial and technical assistance, as well as policy frameworks, to implement these strategies at the pace needed to meet the climate challenge.

To do this effectively, we need the active inclusion of stakeholders, so AICCRA's approach centers farmers - both men and women - in these efforts. Locally-led adaptation and resilience building work should be foundational to the development of adaptation strategies. By identifying and building on successful efforts already underway, we can support and scale 'best bet' solutions.

Dive in:

 

Locally led adaptation and inclusive action 

All stakeholders, including smallholder farmers and others who form part of Africa's food systems, must be involved in planning climate action. AICCRA partnerships put smallholder farmers - both men, women and youth - central to their efforts. Moreover, locally-led resilience building work should be foundational to the development of national adaptation strategies. 

By identifying and building on successful local adaptation efforts already underway, we can support and scale climate-smart, 'best-bet' solutions for agriculture, providing the best returns for climate finance and other investments. 

Explore: 

COP29 - Enhance ambition and enable action

COP29, being dubbed the 'Finance COP', will take place from November 11 to 22 in 2024 at Baku Stadium in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan.

COP, which stands for Conference of Parties, is the series of formal United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) meetings where world leaders and governments come together to assess progress on global efforts to advance the Paris Agreement and the Convention, also limit global warming to 1.5°C as informed by the latest science, and to negotiate the best ways to collectively address climate change.

This COP aims to bring countries together behind a new global climate finance goal, and to measure progress of national climate action plans as revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are expected to be submitted in the coming months.

Find out more

Our events

This section will be updated on an ongoing basis as details are finalized.

 

 

Leveraging Science to Finance Solutions for Sustainable Food Systems 

Thursday 14 November | 9:00-10:30 (GMT+4) | Food and Agriculture Pavilion (F9, Zone E)

The current climate financing falls short of enabling net-zero, nature-positive transitions. This event explores science-based solutions to unlock capital for farmers, boosting resilience, food security, and equity, while addressing both adaptation and mitigation in sustainable livestock development. The session highlights barriers faced by women in agriculture, creating a platform for their empowerment in the food system transformation.

AICCRA's Laura Cramer and Ena Derenoncourt will be speaking.

Learn more and watch the livestream

 

 

 

Accelerating climate-smart agriculture investment through public-private partnerships in Ethiopia 

Saturday 16 November | 10:00-11:30 (GMT+4) | Ethiopia Pavilion (F23, Zone E)

This event will provide overview of the bankable Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plans (CSAIP) for Ethiopia. Further, it will utilize this platform to explore how public and private sector stakeholders can collaborate to bring both technical and financial resources together for implementing this CSA investment plan.

Learn more

 

 

Modeling tools for climate-smart agricultural planning

Monday 18 November | 11:30-12:30 (GMT+4) | Senegal Pavilion 

We invite all interested participants to join and discover how tools like iSAT are transforming African agricultural systems and advancing climate adaptation.panel is a unique opportunity to explore tangible solutions for smart and sustainable agriculture while learning from field-level experiences.

The Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (ISRA) is organizing a special panel to explore how modeling tools for climate-smart agricultural planning and adaptation. The discussion will spotlight the iSAT (Intelligent Systems Advisory Tool) — an innovative tool deployed by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Senegal under the AICCRA project.

 

 

 

Farmers at the forefront: showcasing best practice farmer-led climate adaptation

Tuesday 19 November | Report 

Earlier this year, the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF) and AICCRA called for submissions on farmer-led best practice case studies that demonstrate innovative local activities and methods to enhance agricultural adaptation and ultimately promote resilience.

On Food, Agriculture and Water Day, we will publish a compendium of ten case studies that shine a spotlight on some of the best practice farmer-led approaches to adaptation. These initiatives, which range from climate-smart farming techniques, integrated and sustainable natural resource management, cooperative models and value chain capacity building, are tailored to unique national and regional challenges and highlight the value of local knowledgeand innovation. The purpose of this report is to promote knowledge exchange, inform policy-making, and attract financial support to scale up these successful strategies.

Explore the report here

 

 

 

Investing in climate-smart agriculture for adaptation and planning for long-term low emissions development

Wednesday 20 November | 15:00-16:30 (GMT+4) | Food and Agriculture Pavilion (F9, Zone E)

Representatives from Ethiopia and Kenya will share the national Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plans (CSAIPs) designed to align climate adaptation in agriculture with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Panelists will discuss how the approach of these countries can be replicated across Africa.

In addition, the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support (AGNES) will showcase the Technical Guide for the Development of Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS) intended to support African countries by providing practical description of the various steps needed to develop holistic and economy-wide LT-LEDS. 

Learn more and watch the livestream

 

 

Le Plan d’Investissement d’une Agriculture Intelligente face au Climat du Sénégal (The Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan for Senegal)

Wednesday 20 November | 14:00-15:00 (GMT+4) | Sénégal Pavilion

The Ministry in charge of Agriculture and Livestock, through the National Platform for Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCASA Platform) will host a panel event to to share the Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan (CSAIP) - developed through AICCRA's work with partners in Senegal - with the different stakeholders (states, technical and financial partners, experts, civil society etc.) in order to explore an effective mechanism for resource mobilization and implementation. 

More details to come.

 

 

Strengthening gender-responsive climate policy and action through vulnerability hotspot mapping guiding investment decision-making in Africa

Thursday 21 November | 10:00-11:00 (GMT+4) | IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) Pavilion (D9)

This event aims to raise awareness about the gender dimensions of climate change impacts on vulnerable communities engaging in food systems in Africa. We will share key outcomes of the gender and climate change vulnerability hotspot mapping exercise carried out between 2021-2023 in partnership with various organisations including the Africa Group of Negotiators Expert Support (AGNES), Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA), and the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform in Kenya, Zambia, Uganda and Botswana among others.

The mapping identified geographical locations where women are most at risk to climate change impacts, thus providing guidance in decision-making, especially regarding which sectors should adaptation investments be more concentrated and what actions should be taken to address such inequalities in food systems at local scale.

More details to come.

 

 


AICCRA researchers will be in Baku for COP29. For media enquiries, expert comment or more information about AICCRA's engagements in Baku, contact Amy Harris (Global Comms) at a.harris@cgiar.org

Partner highlight: AGNES

African climate negotiators prepare for COP29 to make case for scaling of climate innovations

Ahead of COP29, the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support (AGNES) called for a meeting designed to craft and solidify Africa’s common position, particularly focusing on critical areas like the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), climate finance, and gender considerations. Harmonizing and strengthening the capacity of African negotiators to prioritize adaptation strategies will enable African countries to go COP29 with a unified voice. This is vital to get the breakthroughs needed to secure finance for scaling validated solutions to reach millions of Africa’s smallholder farmers. 

Leveraging CGIAR research, researchers from AICCRA showcased various tools and approaches to scaling climate innovations that drive resilience of communities against current and future climate shocks. 

Read more

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AICCRA at previous COPs

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