African must support climate adaptation, urges Malumo
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By Derrick Sinjela published on Monday 11th July 2011
AFRICAN Governments should prioritize issues of climate change at both the local and international level Action Aid international Africa (AIA) Policy and Campaigns Manager Henry Malumo has advised.
Malumo said Africa was devastated by the issues of climate change thus necessitating continental Governments to allocate more funds the national annual budget meant to foster sustainable agriculture policies and crop activities.
He bemoaned the lack of demonstration by previous regimes but urged the Patriotic Front (PF) Government and Agricultural Minister, Emmanuel Chenda to break the noted failure to curb lackadaisical climate change interventions.
“Our Governments have always failed to effectively deal with issues of climate change which adversely affect a lot of socio-economic and agricultural activities but our prayer is that President Michael Chilufya Sata will break this jinx,” an optimistic Malumo observed.
Meanwhile, Malumo challenged the African Union (AU) to come out clearly on implications of the Green Climate Fund.
“As Africans we must continue pushing for the Green Climate Fund if we are to improve our continents food security and livelihood,” advised Malumo.
Malumo pointed out that the African Green Climate Fund should fund poor countries as this category of nations was worst hit by climate change.
“We should remain clear and must advocate for adaptation rather than mitigation because mitigation is secondary to adaptation. The Zambian Government must in this vein urge other countries in the African Union to champion adaptation as mitigation is not a sustainable alternative to coping with negative climate changes,” Malumo noted.
Johannesburg-based Henry Malumo leads ActionAid’s advocacy work in Africa. He specialises in food and agriculture, governance and climate change. Malumo has first-hand experience working with African farmers and communities in over 20 countries and can talk about ActionAid’s innovative food projects and work with regional bodies including the African Union, COMESA and ECOWAS.
With past experience as Country Co-ordinator of the Zambia UN Millennium Campaign, Manager of GCAP Zambia and Essential Services Manager Zambia at Oxfam GB, Malumo is committed to helping people act against poverty, working with communities to hold their governments to account.
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