New roadmap signals Africa’s pathway for sustainable and resilient agriculture

FAO hosts high-level event marking 10 years of the Initiative for the Adaptation of African Agriculture

From left, Kaveh Zahedi, FAO Assistant Director-General and Director of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment (OCB), Seyni Nafo, Secretary General of the AAA Initiative, Çomoğlu Ülgen, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Italy, Bernard Kini Comoé, Minister Delegate for Food Crop Production of Côte d'Ivoire, Godfrey Magwenzi, FAO Deputy Director-General, Ghita el Ghorfi, Director General of the AAA Initiative, Youssef Balla, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Italy and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Organisations in Rome, and Rattan Lal, Distinguished Professor of Soil Science, The Ohio State University, 2020 World Food Prize laureate, and AAA Scientific Committee member stand for a group photo holding the book “The State of African Agricultural adaption, 2016-2026 Assessment and Roadmap to 2036” during the High-Level Event Celebrating 10 Years of the AAA Initiative; FAO headquarters (King Faisal Room).

Rome - Agrifood systems and the people behind them are already under enormous strain in a world made hotter, drier and less predictable by climate change. A resilient agrifood system now is the strongest line of defense against escalating climate shocks, especially in Africa.

In the national climate and adaptation plans submitted to the United Nations, African governments have already set out what it will take to adapt their continent’s farming to a changing climate. The challenge is to connect those instruments with policies and finance, so they work as one system, according to the first continent-wide assessment of African agricultural adaptation.