While investments in Africa are on the rise, in areas such as real estate, hospitality and construction, climate-related funds for the continent are virtually non-existent, reports an article in the Huffington Post.

Professor Sir Gordon Conway writes that a temperature increase above 2˚C is predicted to result in losses to Africa’s agriculture sector of up to 7 per cent of GDP by 2100. Agriculture accounts for 65 per cent of Africa’s labor force and 32 per cent of gross domestic product.

He highlights how very little investment is currently going into climate change adaptation; between 2003 and 2010, Africa received just US$2.3 billion of climate financing despite estimates that the annual estimated cost of adaptation to climate change across the continent is as much as $50 billion.

Lower yields and higher prices brought about by climate change threaten to create major food shortages, greater rates of hunger and child malnutrition, and could lead to significant migration.

“Climate change will undeniably limit growth and may jeopardize progress to date,” says Conway, calling for investment in tools and technologies that smallholder farmers in Africa need in order to cope with a warming world.

The Farms of Change report by the Montpellier Panel suggested a number of investments that would have the most impact and be the most cost effective in climate adaptation, including the following.

• Micro-insurance, such as to provide seeds, fertilizer and extension services.
• Adaptation programs that also help to reduce agriculture’s contribution to climate change, such as agroforestry, no-till farming, use of organic fertilizers and improved grazing. “Agroforestry systems can capture carbon in the range of two to four tonnes per hectare per year,” says Conway.
• Scaling up through providing funds to local governments or directly to farmers.
• Structuring carbon markets and carbon credit program to reward smallholders for reducing emissions.

The article concludes by emphasizing how leaders attending the Paris climate talks and investors can help to avert impending crises in Africa through leveraging the potential of the continents vast agriculture sector and its millions of smallholder farmers.

Read the full story: Why African Agriculture Should Be a Hot Topic for Investment