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"Make science make sense to all" urges CORAF's Dr Tenkouano at Climate Week NYC
On 22 September 2022, AICCRA - together with Columbia Climate School and the World Bank - hosted a Climate Week NYC event titled "In a global food crisis, Africa's opportunity for a climate-smart future". Dr Abdou Tenkouano, Executive Director of CORAF (West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development), gave the following keynote address.
"Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, colleagues of the climate smart community. Warm greetings to you all gathered here today at The Forum, at Columbia University, here in Manhattan, and also to all who join us online from around the world.
Seven minutes: that is the time I have to deliver my message. Time is not on my side, and I need to accelerate.
Seven years: that is essentially the time left to 2030 when the World would have eradicated hunger, poverty, and made Earth once more a beautiful and peaceful place to be. Time is not on our side, and we need to Accelerate Action Against Climate Change.
If Greta Thunberg had been here, it is likely that she would have told me, "Shut up Sir! This is no time for talking, it is time for action." I promise, I will shut up soon, but let me tell you what action is being done, by a program called “Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA)”, in Africa, where I come from.
So what can I tell you, in the time I have left, to make us do the most, of the time we have left to 2030?
Firstly, that I am privileged to be here, in this building, that I am told, was conceived as a space for the community to engage the world-leading research done by Columbia University. So what better platform could I dream of, to make this argument on the urgency for accelerated action?
In its fourteenth year, Climate Week NYC is the biggest event of its kind in the world – providing a festival of ideas for the biggest challenge that we have ever faced. And what better theme than the one that brings us together today to look at “Africa’s opportunity for a climate-smart future in a global food crisis”?
It is said that a crisis is a terrible opportunity to waste. We see not just one crisis, but an unprecedented convergence of multiple disruptors – but where are the opportunities?
The queen of all opportunities is in coming together as true partners to harness the power of connecting hands, hearts, brains, and finances across the globe to make sure our collective impact is felt on ground, notably in Africa, where I come from. I know that the collective intelligence and passion for action that is assembled here and online will be a rocket-lifting accelerator for climate action.
Secondly, that Africa can deliver a climate-smart, resilient, and prosperous future for its people, especially the youth, and this is a global responsibility.
We may face setbacks due to local and global conflicts, covid and climate change, but the people of Africa have the aspiration and drive to transform the continent’s agriculture and food systems – do they have the choice?
The Sahel region of West Africa for example is prone to drought but also to floods, which means that what we need to do is to capture water when it comes plentifully and use it when there is not enough of it coming from the sky – we can do this, thanks to climate-smart practices promoted and rolled out by AICCRA.
Africa’s climate has warmed more than the global average. Sea-level rises along African coastlines have also been faster than the global mean.
Continental water bodies are drying up — especially Lake Chad. This has had significant adverse impacts on the agricultural sector, ecosystems, biodiversity, and broader development of the region.
According to estimates, at least 828 million people globally – 123 million people in sub-Saharan Africa – are unable to meet their minimum food consumption needs right now.
This means that 1 in 7 hungry people in the world is an African, and that 1 in 10 Africans is hungry. If we succeed in reversing the trends in Africa, where I come from, we will have learnt on how to do the same for the rest of the world.
Thirdly, that I am proud and honored to serve CORAF, an association of national agricultural research systems from 23 countries in West and Central Africa.
And I am here today to argue that – despite challenges – African institutions are establishing compelling agendas for action, claiming greater ownership and priority for investments that deliver a climate-smart future – an example is the Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan of the African Union.
Support from institutions like the World Bank and global research partnerships like CGIAR have, can and must continue to play a critical role in meeting the challenges that Africa faces.
Science and research have delivered ground-breaking innovations in agriculture in the past.
But to face the challenges ahead we must make science make sense to all by better connecting global science with the agendas of African institutions and changemakers, including young African agricultural entrepreneurs – and AICCRA is positioned as a model for ground-breaking partnerships that ‘connect-the-dots’ in linking science, policy and action.
And that is how we turn crises into opportunities for a climate-smart future in Africa. In concluding, my remarks have largely been on the adaptation part (which has its own dose of mitigation), but the world has awakened to the need of accelerating mitigation, deliberately, consistently, massively.
Is it then possible to dream that, when we collectively succeed in so doing, we could reverse climate change?
Let us therefore maintain course on “Accelerating the Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research in Africa”, where I come from. I had seven minutes; you - we - have seven years.
And with that, I pass the baton to my esteemed colleague Ana Maria. Thank you to Columbia University Climate School, the World Bank and AICCRA for hosting today’s event.
Thank you to all."