Posted on October, 18, 2023 at 10:29 pm
Addis Ababa ,October 18/2023(ENA) Works to enhance access to climate smart agricultural technologies and climate information services for small holder farmers in Africa is underway, Director of AICCRA said.
AICCRA is a project that helps deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture.
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) on Tuesday hosted a public forum on a national strategy to boost climate smart-agriculture in Ethiopia.
CGIAR is also a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security.
Climate-smart agriculture is an integrated approach to managing landscapes—cropland, livestock, forests and fisheries that address the interlinked challenges of food security and climate change.
While briefing the media, AICCRA Director Ana Maria Loboguerrero said the main objective of the project is to enhance their access to climate smart agricultural technologies and climate information services in Africa.
“We are focusing in six countries, Ethiopia, Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Zambia and Kenya. But also through the work we are doing at regional level in West Africa and Eastern Southern Africa. We are reaching beyond the six,” she said.
“Through AICCRA program we have been able to reach so far over two million small holder farmers in Africa. By the end of the year, finishing this first three years cycle of the implementation of the project, we can confidently said that we are going to reach five million farmers in Africa that are accessing climate smart agricultural technologies and climate information services,” she said.
AICCRA Country Coordinator for Ethiopia Dawit Solomon on his part said in Ethiopia, AICCRA projects forge ground-breaking partnerships to deploy the knowledge, innovation, and technology needed for effective climate information services and climate smart agriculture in Ethiopia.
“The biggest value for Ethiopia is partnership. It is our ability to work together with different institutions. Currently, by bringing together the centers in CGIAR and bringing the initiatives and technologies in international research for development, Ethiopia will create unity with government organizations, private, NGOs, international organizations and link the technologies developed by them to the projects being done in Ethiopia.”
With better access to technology and advisory services linked to information about effective response measures, farmers can better anticipate climate-related events to take preventative action that helps their communities safeguard livelihoods and the environment.
The forum was organized to explore how science can address the critical challenge that climate change poses to Ethiopian agriculture and food systems, in particular science and innovation led by CGIAR, the world’s largest research partnership for food security.
To date, AICCRA Ethiopia has benefited more than 420,000 smallholder farmers and extension agents in accessing climate information services and validated climate-smart innovations and technologies through a robust partnership of CGIAR centers with ministries, national agriculture research systems, the private sector and international development partners, it was learned.
Source: ENA