NAIROBI, May 28 (NNN-KBC) — Earlier this week, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta landed the role of global champion for the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme (AAAP), a programme ran by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB).
This comes after Kenya hosted the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Day late last year at the University of Nairobi where a report on the state and trends in adaptation in Africa 2021 was also launched.
GCA regional director Prof. Anthony Nyong noted that the launch would include a series of action-forcing events towards a sustainable momentum for accelerating adaptation action in the African continent.
Speaking during a bilateral meeting held at State House Nairobi, Global Centre on Adaptation Chief Executive Dr. Patrick Verkooijen congratulated President Kenyatta on his new role exuding confidence for a climate resilient continent in the coming days.
Kenyatta is expected to mobilise the global community to honour their numerous commitments of addressing climate change.
AAAP aims to ensure that the global clan adheres to its commitment of banding together climate finance to about 25 billion dollars over a period of five years to speed up the climate adaptation action across Africa.
The funds will go a long way in building a climate-resilient continent and addressing the food crisis by introducing Climate-Smart Digital Technologies, consequently increasing productivity.
The programme has furthermore championed African youths’ skills development to equip them with the necessary expertise to prepare them for green jobs and entrepreneurial fortuities. Part of the interventions under the umbrella of the AAAP include YouthADAPT Challenge that has identified 10 climate-smart enterprises that are the forefront of addressing climate change through adaptation practices.
The 10 enterprises are being supported through mentorship and will receive funding to a tune of USD 100,000. The programme is being implemented in Africa by the sustainability consulting farm KCIC Consulting Ltd, an enterprise support organization that was identified by GCA and AfDB to spearhead the challenge in Africa.
Among the 10 climate-smart enterprises include Maima General Dealers Limited based in Zambia which produces environmentally friendly hydroponic millet fodders for smallholder farmers; Kimplanter Seedling and Nurseries Limited in Kenya which specialises on propagation of seedlings of drought-resistant crops to help farmers improve productivity; and Irri Hub Ke Limited in Kenya which majors on providing climate-smart irrigation solutions coupled with marketing and agronomical services to both small scale and large-scale farmers.
In the list there is also Soupah Farm en-Market Limited from Nigeria which deals with changing how food is grown and distributed by using smart-growing hydroponics technology that involves growing foods vertically; Simkay Green Global Ventures in Nigeria which has centered on sustainably tackling post-harvest wastage and off-season shortages mainly among tomato farmers; and Bleaglee Waste Management Limited from Cameroon, a company that provides sustainable solutions to the issues of flooding and water contamination caused by poor waste disposal.
Mumita Holdings Limited from Cameroon which deals with economically adaptable scientific and technological innovations to upgrade and enhance the agricultural ecosystem is also in the list. Others are Salubata Technological Innovations Limited from Nigeria which deals with making modular, customisable footwear from recycled plastic waste; Sustainable Builders, Zambia which focuses on strategies that deal with challenges facing smallholder agricultural supply chains to give farmers a more diverse range of production options; and Global Farms and Trading Company Limited in Ghana which majors on production of poultry products and quality grains mainly maize, rice and soya beans to smallholder farmers.
The 10 enterprises were identified after more than 2,000 applications were received from over 40 countries in Africa.
KCIC Consulting Ltd conducted a vigorous evaluation that narrowed down to 20 enterprises which went through a pitching competition where a panel of expert of judges selected the top 10 enterprises.
Through the business mentorship, training and funding received from GCA and AfDB, the enterprises are expected to scale up their operations in order to increase their scale and impact across the continent.
Africa has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions of about two to three percent, pitching in the least to global warming. Despite this, Africa is still at a higher risk when it comes to effects resulting from climate change than other continents. This has been fueled by the nominal socioeconomic growth that poses serious risks to economies across the continent.
Drought resulting from climate change in a country like Kenya, is already a considerable threat to the livelihoods of its citizens and needs immediate attention regarding the fact that many African nations have been victims of the same.
As a result, most African countries have purposed to recover from these climate change impacts by majorly focusing on setting up structures for enacting their climate action commitments. — NNN-KBC
