The risks and impacts associated with long-term
climate change poses significant...
The risks and impacts associated with long-term
climate change poses significant challenges to the people and economy of Sudan.
Already burdened with recurrent droughts, food insecurity, water problems,
malaria outbreaks and high poverty levels, Sudan's development efforts have
struggled even with current climatic change and variability. Moreover,
predicted climate change shows an amplification and increase in the frequency
of many of the climate related hazards affecting the country and especially the
livelihoods of more than 60% of the population that is dependent on
traditional, rain-fed agriculture and pastoral practices. Climate change is
therefore threatening to reverse progress towards development through
negatively impacting lives and livelihoods, either directly or as a compounding
factor towards existing vulnerabilities.
One of Sudan’s most vulnerable region that is
severely impacted by climate change induced hazards (droughts and floods) is
the White Nile State especially the western region of the state. As indicated
in Sudan’s National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA-2007) and National
Adaptation Plan (NAP-2016), small holder rainfed farmers and pastoralists in
the White Nile State are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to
inappropriate and unsustainable agricultural practices, insufficient water and
land management and lack of alternative non-agricultural and non-pastoral
income generating activities. Most notably, increasing temperatures, decreasing
trends of annual precipitation as well as increased variability, are causing a
gradual shift of arid ecological zones from north to south. As a result,
climate change impacts in White Nile State have already been manifested in
declining crop and animal productivity, loss of grazing resources and rangeland
valuable species, land degradation, increased frequency of human, animal and
crop diseases, loss of livelihoods and human migration in search for jobs and
alternative livelihoods.
In response to this, the project “Enhancing the
resilience of communities living in climate change vulnerable areas of Sudan
using Ecosystem-Based approaches to Adaptation (EbA)” (also known as Sudan ecosystem-based
adaptation project) was developed with the overall aim of increasing the resilience of livelihoods and integrated
productive agricultural systems in the White Nile State through ecosystem-based
adaptation approaches. This will be achieved through mainstreaming of ecosystem-based
adaptation approaches at both national, state and local (community) levels by
strengthening government awareness and capacity for implementation of ecosystem-based
adaptation at all levels. The project will build the climate resilience of
ecosystems and local communities in the White Nile State by improving their
access to ecosystem services, such as agriculture, food and water. It will also
support communities to manage agro-ecological systems in a sustainable manner
while at the same time increasing rangeland productivity. Climate-resilient
ecosystems will therefore be expected to increase the adaptive capacity of
local communities by providing an important buffer against extreme weather
events. Simultaneously, the project will also facilitate the upscaling of such
benefits to the national level by mainstreaming ecosystem-based adaptation and
climate change adaptation into policies. Furthermore, cost-benefit analyses of
ecosystem-based adaptation interventions will be conducted and successful
cost-effective ecosystem-based adaptation measures will be codified and
disseminated across sectors. The project is expected to achieve the following
outcomes:
Outcome 1: Improved and strengthened technical capacity
of local, state and national institutions to plan, implement and
upscale ecosystem-based adaptation.
Outcome 2: Reduced vulnerability of local communities
to climate change impacts in the White Nile State.
Outcome 3: Strengthened information base and knowledge
on ecosystem-based adaptation and
its cost-effectiveness are readily available for various uses.
Implementation of the Sudan ecosystem-based adaptation
project will therefore support restoration and conservation of ecological
structure and functioning in order to ensure sustainable supply of biodiversity
and ecosystem services as part of an overall adaptation strategy to help human
and natural systems in White Nile State to adapt to the adverse effects of
climate change. In turn, this will result to multiple environmental, social,
economic, and cultural co-benefits for local communities and therefore enhance
their resilience to climate change impacts, protection of their livelihoods,
poverty alleviation and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions among other
benefits.
The Sudan ecosystem-based adaptation project is
in the 2nd year of implementation and is financed by Global
Environment Facility (GEF)/Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) through UN
Environment (UNEP) with the Higher Council for Environment and Natural
Resources (HCENR) as the executing partner.