As African leaders prepare to present an ambitious proposal to industrialized countries for coping with climate change in the part of the world that is most vulnerable to its impacts, a new study points to where and how some of this money should be spent. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Agricultural Systems, the study projects that climate change will have highly variable impacts on East Africa’s vital maize and bean harvests over the next two to four decades, presenting growers and livestock keepers with both threats and opportunities, reports 科学日报.
Previous estimates by the study’s authors projected moderate declines in the production of staple foods by 2050 for the region as a whole but also suggested that the overall picture disguises large differences within and between countries. The new findings provide a more detailed picture than before of variable climate change impacts in East Africa, assessing them according to broadly defined agricultural areas.
At the Seventh World Forum on Sustainable Development, held recently in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, African leaders announced a plan to ask the industrialized world to pay developing countries US$67 billion a year as part of the continent’s common negotiating position for December’s climate talks in Copenhagen.
CGIAR 研究人员认为，东非国家和农村家庭能够多快、多成功地利用这些措施将取决于对农业的积极新投资。根据国际粮食政策研究所 (IFPRI) 最近的一项研究，每年将需要大约 $70 亿美元，主要投资于农村道路、更好的水资源管理和增加农业研究，以避免气候变化对全球儿童营养的可怕影响.
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