African farmers may lose 70 % of livelihoods by 2030, says EU

European Union, EU, has estimated that 70 per cent of population of Africa could be vulnerable to droughts and other climatic risks that would affect livelihoods of farmers and herdsmen in the continent by 2030.

Representative of EU Delegation, Pietro Nardi gave this at Regional Steering Committee Meeting of Great Green Wall for Sahara and Sahel Initiative, GGWSSI, in Abuja yesterday.

He said climate change and its impacts on land degradation is a common challenge, “we are committed to spend 20 % of our budget for 2014- 2020 on climate relate action and double expenditure on biodiversity.”
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Nardi also disclosed, over 14 Billion Euro from the budget would be spent in developing countries, all is to ensure that Africa continent continues to speak with one voice at all levels on climate change negotiations.

“This communication is guided by common international frameworks such as 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals; its Addis Abba Action Agenda on financing Paris Agreement on climate change,” he added.

According to him, 10 years ago, EU and Africa have built a strong and more political partnership based on shared values and interest, enshrined in Joint Africa-EU Strategy, JAES, that comes to end this year.

He explained further that Action Against Desertification, AD, has contributed to the implementation of GGWSSI, a flagship programme of African Union, AU to restore degraded land to support sustainable livelihoods in the continent.

Earlier, Director General of National Agency for Great Green Wall,NAGGW, Goni Ahmed said climate change has aggravated the problems of land degradation, drought and desertification in Nigeria.

Ahmed observed, this has brought extreme poverty upon the people in the affected areas, and rendering the population vulnerable to all kinds of conflicts such as herdsmen/ farmers’ clashes, and migration.
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