The East African Regional Heads of State agreed upon investing in modern technology which is aimed at climate-smart agriculture to dull the impact of climate change, and improving the availability of food for their citizens.
The Heads of States allied on increasing investment in climate-smart agriculture and renewable energy. They established on the importance of establishing a platform to share experiences on environmental sustainability, disaster management, and cross-border management of natural resources.
The EAC High-Level Forum on Climate Change and Food Security was held on Thursday in Ngurdoto Lodge in Arusha Tanzania, the Heads of State, among them, Evariste Ndayishimiye, the Chairperson of the Summit and President of Burundi, was flanked by Samia Hassan Suluhu, (Tanzania), William Ruto (Kenya), and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame was represented by Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente, and Uganda was represented by Rebecca Kadaga, the Minister of East Africa Affairs (EAC) represented President Yoweri Museveni.
During the Climate Change and Food Security summit, the heads of state agreed on the need to improve rainwater harvesting to increase the availability of water for irrigation as well as reduce post-harvest losses of food through the adoption of modern technologies that will ensure better storage and distribution of agricultural products.
And to have the summit objectives achieved, they uttered the need to increase forest cover while protecting the existing one that will broaden the region and Africa’s prospects in carbon trading.
Speaking at the Forum, Ndayishimiye the East African Community current chairman and the President of Burundi, lighted on that although Burundi has nine months of rain annually, it is taking measures to become climate resilient. Then, he called for joint efforts in mobilization of resources to enhance environmental sustainability.
“We as a country are investing in agroforestry to protect its land against soil erosion. We also embarked on afforestation Programme five years ago to ensure that its landscape was covered by forests,” President Ndayishimiye revealed.
Samia Suluhu the President of Tanzania emphasized that the private sector has a crucial role to play in the climate-smart initiative and the post-harvest agro-processing for value addition.
“Tanzania was investing in climate-smart technologies through the ‘Build Better Tomorrow’, an initiative that is aimed at increasing the involvement of youth and women in agriculture to boost agricultural production and reduce poverty while conserving the environment,” Suluhu said.
She also stated that Tanzania has dedicated 25% of its national land to forests, saying this would serve as a carbon sink.
William Ruto the president of Kenya revealed that his country has prioritized the conservation of its water towers that are being fenced to guard against encroachment and destruction and also hired 1,000 new forest rangers to ensure that there is adequate human capital to protect the national forest cover.
“We are also making use of the National Youth Service by converting them into a green army to ensure that we don’t just plant but grow trees. It is easier to plant than grow trees,” said President Ruto. President Ruto said that the country had purchased 100 driers to be distributed across the country, to manage post-harvest losses,
According to Premier Ngirente, his government was investing in viable infrastructure including feeder roads and affordable financing at single-digit interest rates to promote investment in agriculture.
He said Rwanda was investing in storage facilities to manage the 40% post-harvest losses in Africa.
“Rwanda had established the Ireme Fund to increase investment in climate-smart agriculture and climate change mitigation. We also invested in seed capital of 100 million Rwanda francs, a further 300 million Euros had been mobilized for the fund, the goal being to encourage the private sector to invest more in agriculture,” Ngirente explained.
First Deputy Premier Kadaga, said that Uganda was evicting people from its wetlands due to excessive use that has left devastating impacts on the environment. She added that the people were relocated and to undertake more environment-friendly activities.
Kadaga called for optimal use of the Congo and Nile rivers’ basins to increase the continent’s food production potential and ensure good food storage facilities since Africa has a fluctuating climate.
Giving the keynote address at the forum, Desalgn, said that Africa must priorities adaptation in its food systems to ensure resilience.
Peter Mathuki remarked on the importance of EAC having a common position as it goes to COP 28 saying that there was need for complementarity as opposed to competition among Partner States.
