MEDIA ADVISORY

AU-FAO High-Level Side Event on Climate Finance for Agriculture and Food Security

INVITATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA

What:                  A High-Level Side Event on Climate Finance for Agriculture and Food Security: Implementation of the Nairobi Declaration and Outcomes of the UNFCCC COP28, organized on the margins of the 37th Session of the Assembly of the AU Heads of State and Government

When:              Friday 16 February 2024 at 18h30 East Africa Time

Where:               Skylight Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Who:                    Heads of State and Government and high-level government officials from Africa and Brazil

• Ministers in charge of environment, agriculture and food security
• Prominent representatives from the African Union Commission (AUC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), other UN agencies, non-government and civil society organizations,
• Regional Economic Communities, AU Member States, farmers organizations, Indigenous peoples, and academia.

Organizers: The event is organized by the African Union Commission and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Uganda.

Media opportunities:

Dignitaries will deliver statements on the issue of Climate Finance for Agriculture and Food Security and propose a call of action. Media personnel are invited to attend the event.

Communications focal points in Addis Ababa:

AUC:   Peace Lydia Mutuwa MutuwaP@africa-union.org

FAO:    Tezeta Hailemeskel, FAO Eastern Africa Communication Tezeta.Hailemeskel@fao.org

Abebe D. Banjaw, FAO Eastern Africa Communication Abebe.Banjaw@fao.org

Context:

The Africa Climate Summit (ACS) held in Nairobi, Kenya, in September 2023 proposed a new financing architecture, including debt restructuring and relief and the development of a new Global Climate Finance Charter. As an outcome, the African Leaders Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action was adopted and became the basis for Africa’s common position on investment to promote the sustainable use of Africa’s natural assets and climate action. Similarly, the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) concluded with several wins for Africa, including a loss and damage fund, adaptation, and climate finance. For climate finance, in particular, the COP28 Presidency supported the inception meeting of the Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST) Partnership, hosted by FAO.

Low global ambitions and lack of decisions on means of implementation leave African countries that are most vulnerable to climate change at unprecedented risk. Africa is projected to need between USD 290 billion to USD 440 billion from 2020 to 2030 to address loss and damage, underscoring a substantial disparity between promised commitments and the practical funding requirements. Despite sub-Saharan Africa being the largest recipient of climate-related development finance in the region in 2021, a recent FAO report shows that the current share of climate-related development finance is inadequate to support the necessary agrifood system transformation. Overall, contributions to agrifood systems plummeted to US$19 billion in 2021, marking a 12 percent decrease from 2020.

With this in perspective, African leaders and relevant stakeholders will deliberate and make a call for action on key financial avenues, as well as policy, innovation and knowledge interventions that would enhance climate resilience and adaptation in agrifood systems in Africa.

Agrifood system transformation in Africa, which takes into consideration climate change, and is aimed at adapting to it, is anchored in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) as reinforced in the Malabo Commitments. The Malabo Commitments, however, have an end period of 2025, merely two years away. The African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment has agreed on a road map for the post-Malabo process. The side event will therefore serve as an opportunity to launch the structures for elaborating the post-Malabo framework.

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 For further information, please contact:

1. Prof. Afeikhena Theo Jerome – Special Advisor to the Commissioner, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, African Union Commission Email: jeromea@africa-union.org

2. Dr. Janet Edeme – Head of Rural Development Division and Ag. Head of Agriculture and Food Security, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, African Union Commission Email: EdemeJ@africa-union.org

For media inquiries, please contact:

1. Molalet Tsedeke, AUC (ICD) Communication Email: molalett@africa-union.org
2. Peace Lydia Mutuwa: AUC (DABRE) Communication - MutuwaP@africa-union.org
3. Tezeta Hailemeskel: FAO Eastern Africa Communication -  Tezeta.Hailemeskel@fao.org
4. Abebe D. Banjaw: FAO Eastern Africa Communication - Abebe.Banjaw@fao.org
5. Zoie Jones,FAO Regional Office for Africa, Communication Officer - Zoie.Jones@fao.org

Information and Communication Directorate, African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org
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