Mr. Feargal O'Connell:

I am CEO of Self Help Africa, which is an agricultural development organisation focused on poverty alleviation with an expertise in climate-smart agriculture and private sector development.

Just as in Ireland in the early stages of the State, so many countries in Africa are reliant on agriculture and so many families across the continent are reliant on small farm holdings as well.

To give a sense of the scale, smallholder farmers account for 80% of the food produced in Africa, contribute 25% of GDP, and represent 40% of Africa’s labour force. There is huge potential within the agriculture sector in Africa with 60% of the uncultivated arable land on the planet is located on the continent. There is an incredibly young population. However, there is a huge risk this potential will not be realised. That is because of the ongoing climate emergency.

Since joining Self Help Africa I have been lucky enough to visit our programmes in west Africa, southern Africa and east Africa. I have spoken with farmers, small agribusiness owners, researchers and our own staff and partners across a number of countries and the messages I have received has been the same. The climate emergency is here. It is not an abstract distant possibility. It is here, it is right now and it is wreaking havoc.

The significant gains that have been made in improving Africa’s farm systems and productivity, in developing markets and adding value to farm production – some of it funded by support from Irish Aid - are now at risk. The climate emergency is having a disproportionate impact, particularly on women. The climate emergency is a gender issue. Some 60% of smallholder farmers are women and they produce 70% of the food. In a region where 95% of agriculture is reliant on rains - quite specific seasonal rainfall - changes to weather patterns and climate-related events threaten the health, peace and prosperity of hundreds of millions of people in Africa.

A report published by the World Meteorological Organization last year stated that “Given Africa’s high exposure, fragility, and low adaptive capacity, the effects of climate change [were being] felt more severely" right now.

I will focus on two particular countries - Zambia and Malawi in southern Africa - that have been at the forefront of this climate emergency.

Over the past five years, they have had to endure almost total crop failure because of drought and extreme flooding resulting from tropical cyclones that made landfall and claimed lives, caused devastation to farmlands, destroyed homes and triggered outbreaks of cholera.

While the picture is bleak, we have many solutions. We know that climate-smart agriculture works. We know how to increase access to markets for smallholder farmers. We know that investing in disaster mitigation systems now saves money in future. My colleagues, Ms Balfe and Ms Ní Chéilleachair, will expand on these solutions and the financing needed for them. We should also examine the regulatory environment surrounding how the private sector might engage fully with funding mechanisms in terms of carbon financing and carbon markets as well as the roles that research and development and technology transfer can play so that the development gains Ireland has invested in and the great potential of Africa, its agriculture and its people can be realised in the years to come.