Zambia introduces programme to integrate agriculture into national adaptation planning

26-28 July 2016, Siavonga, Zambia – Over thirty representatives from different Zambian institutions as well as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) gathered from 26 to 28 July to launch the “Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plan (NAP-Ag)” Programme in Zambia.

The three-day event is designed to enhance the understanding of the agriculture sector’s role in the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process and strengthen collaboration.

Organized by the UNDP and FAO Country offices, the event included a NAP orientation training which helps key stakeholders to familiarize themselves with the NAP process as well as key methods and tools that could be used in the design and implementation of adaptation measures for the agricultural sectors. The organizers also facilitated the review of Zambia’s current NAP work plan. 

“Through this kind of collaboration and active participation, the NAP process in Zambia will be able to successfully mainstream climate change adaptation and build synergies across sectors.” Says Morton Mwanza, representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, “This project is important to strengthen the NAP process in the country and successfully mainstream climate change adaptation and build synergies across sectors.”

Representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture at national and provincial level, Ministry of Environment, Forestry, Planning, Gender as well as national academic, research institutions and NGOs in Zambia, international financial and technical partners such as the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) participated in the event.  Training sessions were facilitated by a team of trainers provided by the NAP-Ag global project team and by M. Paul Desanker, Manager of National Adaptation Plans and Policy at the UNFCCC.

Zambia is one of the 8 countries that are partnering with UNDP and FAO in the NAP-Ag programme. This initiative, funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) brings together ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Planning and Finance and other key national stakeholders in Nepal, Kenya, the Philippines, Thailand, Uganda, Uruguay, Vietnam and Zambia to strengthen agricultural sectors priorities into NAPs. In doing so, the programme aims to safeguard livelihoods, raise agricultural production and boost food security. In all target countries, agricultural sectors, including forestry and fisheries, have been identified as the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and therefore being critical to ensuring food security and reducing poverty.

Zambia prepared a National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) in 2007 and through its development, the country identified 39 urgent adaptation needs and 10 priority areas, including several related to agriculture and food security. The NAP process will build on that work and guide the adaptation interventions in the country for the mid- to long term. The agriculture sectors are expected to feature prominently in the country’s NAP as agriculture contributes 9.6 percent of Zambia’s GDP and employs almost two thirds of the labor force.

The National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process was initiated in 2010 to address medium and long term adaptation needs for all developing countries under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The objectives of the NAPs are to reduce vulnerability to the impact of climate change by building adaptive capacity and resilience and to facilitate the integration of climate change adaptation into fiscal, regulatory and development policies, programs and activities. 

For more Information please contact:
Misael Kokwe, NAP Project Coordinator, Misael.Kokwe@fao.org