Africa – Up in smoke?

The second report from the Working Group on Climate Change and Development Small-scale farming provides most of the food produced in Africa, as well as employment for 70 per cent of working people. These simple facts, coupled with farming being overwhelmingly dependent on direct rainfall, mean that Africa is exceptionally vulnerable to the uncertainties and weather extremes of global warming. A vulnerable agricultural system is not the only problem. The continent is more exposed to the impacts of climate change than many other regions in the world. Its high sensitivity to climate is exacerbated by other factors such as widespread poverty, recurrent droughts and floods, an immediate daily dependence on natural resources and biodiversity, a heavy disease burden, and the numerous conflicts that have engulfed the continent.