By Chris Armitage (World Vision) and Evan Girvetz (CCAFS)

One year since its launch, the Alliance makes progress towards improving the lives of 6 million farming households under climate change.

One year since the launch of the Alliance

This time last year, the Africa Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Alliance was launched at a side event during UN Climate Week 2014. Since then, the Alliance transitioned from developing and refining its continental structure, systems and frameworks, to facilitating multi-sectoral in-country engagement and collaboration, and supporting the development of national CSA plans and scaling-up proposals. The resulting country-level partnerships that have formed for CSA implementation reflect the core purpose of the Alliance and the significant progress being made towards its overarching goal of 6 million smallholder farm households practicing CSA by 2021.

In-country partnerships across Africa

The Alliance has so far mobilized in-country partnerships in 8 countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.  In each of these countries, the Alliance is working collaboratively to support the respective Governments to develop and implement CSA programs within their National Agriculture Investment Plans (NAIPs). To develop these in-country partnerships, regional bodies such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) have facilitated meetings between country focal points from each of the Alliance steering committee organisations and the respective National Governments. Discussions are underway with the Governments in additional countries, and the Alliance plans to expand its activities over the coming months.    

At the continental level, the Alliance has facilitated pan-African action towards CSA in a number of ways. For example, in February this year, the Zambian Ministry of Agriculture and the Alliance jointly held a 5-day national inception workshop, which was attended by representatives and focal points from the government, regional political institutions, multilateral and UN agencies, international and local NGOs, technical and research organisations, farmers and farmers’ organisations, and the private sector. The workshop allowed a broad collaborative approach to mapping and prioritisation, the formation of a National CSA Steering Committee, and the development of an activity plan. In the ensuing months, the foundation of a country-level CSA scaling-up proposal has been developed.  

Presentation by Martin Bwalya of CAADP at the Zambian Inception Workshop, February 2015 in Lusaka, Zambia.
Photo: Chris Armitage (World Vision)

In April, the Malawian Ministry of Agriculture and the Alliance jointly held a 2-day National Inception Workshop – which coincided with the Beating Famine Conference, a joint initiative between the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), World Vision and the Alliance which had over 600 participants exploring sustainable food security through land regeneration in a changing climate.  The Inception Workshop involved key members of a National Steering Committee, including the Ministry of Agriculture as Chair and World Vision Malawi as Facilitator. Participants also developed broad recommendations for the steering committee regarding institutional participation, focus and prioritisation, and critical processes and activities.

Aligning with complementary efforts Across Africa

The Africa CSA Alliance contributes to Vision 25×25: 25 million households using CSA practices by 2025 

The Africa CSA Alliance grows out of, and is thus intended to contribute to, the commitment of African governments made at the 23rd African Union Summit (Malabo) to have at least 25 million households utilizing CSA practices by 2025 (Vision 25×25). In this effort, the Africa CSA Alliance is not alone. There are a number of high-level complementary CSA frameworks developing throughout Africa which offer opportunities for collaboration and sharing information, learnings and approaches to meet this objective.

The African Union-NEPAD held the first Pan-Africa CSA Alliance forum in May 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where it launched a high-level Africa CSA Alliance. This is a continental-level platform to support achieving Vision 25×25, is fully aligned with the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) framework and seeks to facilitate the coordination and alignment of all appropriate national, regional and continental CSA initiatives.

In West Africa, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) launched two important initiatives in at the High Level Forum of Climate Smart Agriculture Stakeholders in West Africa in June 2015. First, an Intervention Framework for the Development of CSA under the West Africa Regional Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP/CAADP) implementation process. Second, was the West Africa CSA Alliance (WACSAA) which aims to apply the Intervention Framework through the coordination of complementary CSA implementation initiatives.

In eastern and southern Africa, the COMESA Climate-Smart Agriculture Partnership has been actively working with the governments of Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, and Uganda respectively to develop Country CSA Programs. The Programs were co-designed by two Ministries (Environment and Agriculture) in each country as frameworks for scaling-up CSA. They were developed to synergize national agriculture investment plans (NAIPs) and agricultural sector programs with the national climate change strategies and action plans, as well as to explore policy options, innovative approaches and opportunities to enhance integration of CSA in national development plans, agricultural policies and NAIPs. The Alliance is now working with key stakeholders from these COMESA-led CSA initiatives to develop an integrated approach to grassroots program design and implementation.

Financing CSA in Africa

Financing is an important area of development. There is now a need to operationalize CSA financing mechanisms that promote the mainstreaming of CSA in agricultural policy and practice. As lead sponsor for the Alliance, NEPAD is proposing a financing mechanism with consultations from PricewaterhouseCoopers around:

1. Design of investment frameworks for CSA in Africa, based on existing planning and policy processes.
2. Design of a funding mechanism for the Alliance: summary of the business case for the Alliance; and proposed design of a results-based funding mechanism for civil society along with the monitoring        system for this mechanism.
3. Development of a private sector engagement and financing strategy incorporating a review of the current landscape of initiatives and programmes within Africa. This strategy engages the private sector in CSA technology and provides a proposal for how the financing mechanism should be designed to attract private finance.

Next steps

The progress achieved since the public launch, including the partnerships developed with 8 African countries, demonstrates the strong interest among stakeholders to make a uniquely African approach to CSA a reality for millions of small-holder farmers. The Alliance is building partnerships and programs for implementation within national-level planning processes in which African governments are key partners. Concept notes and financing opportunities are being developed to fit national processes and priorities. Linking together the financial opportunities with on-the-ground programming is a major focus moving forward, as is the transparent monitoring and evaluation of program progress and effectiveness. Ultimately, this work will succeed if the needs and priorities of small-holder farmers are realized, and their food security and livelihoods are improved.

About the Africa CSA Alliance

The Alliance is a collaborative multi-sectoral implementation partnership formed between NEPAD, international NGOs (Care, Oxfam, World Vision, CRS, and Concern Worldwide), African regional institutions (COMESA, ECOWAS, and PAFO) and technical partners (CGIAR-CCAFS,FANRPAN, FAO, and FARA).

Evan Girvetz is a senior scientist with The International Center for Tropical Agriculture and an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington. 

Chris Armitage is Business Development Advisor, Food Security & Climate Change at World Vision Australia, and the World Vision Partnership co-lead on Climate Smart Agriculture.

By Chris Armitage, Steering Committee member, World Vision Australia

The UN Climate week in New York, from 22^nd September to 26^th September 2014, provided the perfect platform for showcasing the Africa CSA Alliance and the significant milestones reached in its development – and, as it turned out, for gauging the interest and endorsement of global stakeholders.

On Monday 22^nd September, the Africa CSA Alliance held an extremely successful event in Manhattan East. It was well attended, with the conference hall filled to capacity, and attendees were clearly engaged and enthusiastic to participate in discussion. Notable participants included the Minister of Agriculture from Zambia and the Minister for 3N (Food Security & Agriculture) from Niger, the Director General of NORAD, senior representatives from the World Bank and IFAD, and representatives from African civil society and the private sector.

The event started with keynote addresses from Dr Ibrahim Mayaki (CEO of NEPAD), Her Excellency Rhoda Tumussime (Commissioner of the Africa Union) and John Kufuor (Ex-President of Ghana and UNSG Special Envoy on Climate Change). These were followed by two plenary panels, moderated by NEPAD’s Esterine Fatabong and Martin Bwalya, which discussed:

• the unique partnership embodied in the Africa CSA Alliance, and the alignment of iNGOs, African governments and grass-roots civil society to effectively deliver national, regional and continental development agenda;

• an African perspective and definition of Climate-Smart Agriculture; and

• the challenges and practical modalities for scaling-up the adoption and practice of CSA to reach the Alliance’s ambitious targets of 6 million smallholder farm households by 2021.

Inspiring addresses were given by panellists including the CEOs of World Vision Australia, Concern Worldwide, FANRPAN and SACAU, the Director General of CARE International, the Nigerian Minister for 3N, and Director of IFAD.

The event was extremely interactive, drawing out rich dialogue between panellists and many of those attending. Towards the end of the event, Marc Sadler from the World Bank summarised the initiative in his address from the floor with these words:

“Here we are today with the solutions for our planet…and so this Alliance, the African Alliance, is the global example today of collective action on the ground, coming from the grass-roots. It is these types of initiatives that will deliver the solutions of the future.”

Dr Ibrahim Mayaki and Tim Costello

The following morning, Tuesday 23^rd, I accompanied Tim Costello to the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit for the Policy Dialogues session on agriculture, which had a marked emphasis on Climate-Smart Agriculture. The session was moderated jointly by John Kufuor and Mary Robinson (both UN Special Envoys on Climate Change), and included addresses from developed and developing country Ministers of Agriculture, multilateral donors, iNGOs (notably Tim Costello and Carolyn Woo, CEO’s of WVA and CRS), and leaders of industry. Many of the speakers talked enthusiastically about the Africa CSA Alliance, and in her closing summary, Mary Robinson began by saying:

“From what we’ve heard today, there’s clearly global support for the Africa CSA Alliance. They’ve got the balance right.”

– an enormously encouraging statement, given the calibre and diversity of stakeholders and global decision-makers present.

Next, on Wednesday afternoon, we had the inaugural meeting of the Global Alliance on Climate-Smart Agriculture. This event had an impressive and diverse line-up of speakers, and included rousing statements which highlighted challenges, opportunities and affirmed broad commitments to action. At various points, the Africa CSA Alliance was singled out as being the most appropriate vehicle to support grassroots implementation of CSA in Africa. The event was followed by a reception hosted by John Kerry, US Secretary of State, and Sharon Dijksma, Dutch Minister for Agriculture, both of whom spoke earnestly about the gravity of the challenges facing the planet, the disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable and food insecure populations, and the commitment of their respective governments to make a difference.

While the UN Climate Week in New York provided a fantastic platform to showcase the developing Africa CSA Alliance, and engage with the UN, governments, multilateral agencies, and other relevant stakeholders to explore opportunities for new partnerships – increasing support or otherwise enhancing the work of the Alliance – the revelation for me was in hearing the resounding endorsement and support that already exists. We heard from the African Union and several African nations of the ownership they have in the Africa CSA Alliance – the sense that this Alliance is a significant part of Africa’s own solution to address food insecurity and the impacts of climate change, and we heard from the UN and multilateral agencies of their support for the efforts of the Alliance, and the game-changing nature of the collaboration between African governments, iNGOs, the scientific community and civil society – an initiative “that will deliver the solutions of the future”.

In the words of Sharon Dijksma:

“What will we tell our children when they grow up and ask what we did in 2014, when we had a chance to make a difference?”

by Martin Bwalya, Head of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) in the NEPAD Agency

The AU-NEPAD-iNGO Alliance for Scaling-Up Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) in Africa (‘Africa CSA Alliance’) is continuing to make progress towards its goal of empowering 6 million farm households in Africa by 2021. Following its official launch on 25 June 2014 at the African Heads of State Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, the Africa CSA Alliance has been engaged in a critical design and consultative phase.

The Africa CSA Alliance is developing a platform upon which to promote and support the uptake and practice of CSA practices among smallholder farmers. The tangible results of the ACSAA will simultaneously contribute to the AU-NEPAD ‘Vision 25:25’ – a broader goal aiming to support 25 million farm households by 2025.

Climate change along current trends will greatly increase the number of people who are hungry and malnourished and will disproportionately affect the world’s poorest rural communities. Across Africa, the increasing impacts of climate change threaten the productivity and reliability of agriculture and undermine the efforts to progress development across the continent. With 80% of Africa’s population working as small-scale producers, climate change poses a massive threat to local food production and family livelihoods and wellbeing – resulting in widespread malnutrition, chronic hunger, and persisting poverty – and exacerbating challenges relating to health, education and economic development.

Recognising that the enormity of the problem requires the combined efforts of all major stakeholders and decision-makers, key international and African leaders across government, multilateral, private and non-profit sectors are working together to support the innovative Africa CSA Alliance. The founding members of the Alliance alongside the AU-NEPAD include major iNGO partners: CARE International, Catholic Relief Services, Concern Worldwide, Oxfam and World Vision; and research and technical partners: the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) – Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Research Program (CCAFS), the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), and the Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa (FARA).

With the knowledge that food and nutrition insecurity, poverty, marginalization and climate change are closely linked, the ACSAA is committed to generating sustainable benefits through a farmer-led and inclusive approach that will strengthen the capacity of local systems and resources in agriculture, whilst also supporting the efforts of National governments. To achieve this shared vision, the ACSAA will provide a platform through which bilateral and multilateral agencies and the private sector can engage with, and invest in, massive-scale programs which support the scaling-up of CSA.

With a focus on action, and tangible results, The ACSAA has begun in-country dialogues with governments and other key stakeholders in the first three countries developing scaling-up programs: Ethiopia, Niger and Zambia. It is the ACSAA’s intention to support the scaling-up and practice of CSA across the African continent, beginning with the regions of greatest need and opportunity for impact.

Key representatives of the ACSAA will be participating in the UN Climate Week in New York. At 10am Monday 22 September, the eve of the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Summit , the Africa CSA Alliance will hold a side event at the Hilton Hotel, with special guests President John Kufuor, Dr. Ibrahim A. Mayaki and Her Excellency Rhoda Peace Tumusiime. This presents a significant opportunity to interact and share Africa’s efforts, initiatives and strategies to scale-up CSA, and is open to parties interested in learning more about the ACSAA. We hope to see you there.