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.