NAIROBI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The shift to regenerative agriculture should be accelerated in Africa to help communities cope with hunger, water stress and disease exacerbated by climate change and biodiversity loss, campaigners said on Wednesday at a forum held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.
Tennyson Williams, regional director for Africa at World Animal Protection (WAP), an international animal welfare lobby, said farming systems that revitalize soil health and enhance habitat conservation could guarantee long-term food security and improve human health on the continent.
"Adoption of sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices holds the key to climate resilience, food security and better health outcomes for African smallholder farmers who produce 70 percent of the food that we consume," Williams said.
Kenya hosted the day-long regional workshop on the nexus between climate change and food systems transformation, which was convened by the WAP and the University of Nairobi and attended by senior policymakers, green campaigners and scholars.
The drive to transform food systems to improve Africa's response to the climate crisis has gained momentum, backed by political goodwill as well as policy and legal instruments, Williams said.
He added that sustained financing, capacity building and awareness raising are key to helping African smallholder farmers scale up regenerative agriculture to curb greenhouse gas emissions linked to deforestation.
Daniel Olago, director of the University of Nairobi's Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation, said policy reforms combined with research and knowledge dissemination are key to promoting the adoption of regenerative farming that is key to addressing Africa's hunger crisis, fueled by recurrent drought and loss of soil health.
According to Olago, promoting regenerative agriculture that values harmony with nature will help meet the adaptation needs of Africa's subsistence farmers, who have borne the brunt of climate change.
Michael Okumu, deputy director in charge of climate change at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, said Kenya has domiciled food systems transformation within the national climate change strategy in a bid to curb the emission of planet-warming gases, conserve habitats and boost the resilience of local communities. ■
