3 May 2010: The 26th Regional Conference for Africa of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is being held in Luanda, Angola, from 3-7 May 2010, discussed a paper on “Climate change implications for food security and natural resources management in Africa.”

The paper notes that climate change will disproportionately affect poor African countries and subsistence farmers. It includes sections on: climate projections; African vulnerability; impacts of climate change on Africa; and adaptation and mitigation options with a focus on capacity and strategy. It highlights the need for promotion of traditional foods and agricultural knowledge to aid in climate change adaptation. It also calls for increasing capacity for FAO’s Sustainable Land Management initiative in Africa and notes the possible benefits from engagement with carbon markets.
In addition to climate change, the meeting is focusing on the effects of high food prices on African food security and the challenges and opportunities for biofuel production. [FAO Press Release][Meeting Documentation]