The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) says 65 per cent of Africa’s arable land is degraded, costing the continent $68 billion annually in lost productivity.
Dr Hanan Morsy, the Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said this in a statement posted on the Commission’s website.
Morsy spoke at the I0th Special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment.
She said the event’s theme, ‘Raising Africa’s Ambition to Address land degradation, desertification, and drought’, was not just timely but also vital.
“The stakes are high. Climate change is costing African economies up to 15 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually.
“Governments are diverting up to nine per cent of their budgets to cope with extreme weather.
“It is also grappling with debt distress, facing difficult trade-offs between climate action and meeting critical development needs, such as health and education.”
“Deforestation rates are twice the global average, further undermining our agricultural output and ecosystem services. We must act now.
“Programmes like reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+) which seek to reduce emissions from deforestation are crucial, but we need more.
“Carbon markets must be fair, with prices that reflect the true value of our efforts.
“Currently, African carbon credits are undervalued, often less than 10 dollars per tonne, compared to 120 dollars in more mature markets,” she added.
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