Overview:
This is the executive summary of the Durban+10 Synthesis Report on the United Nations Conference of Parties (CoP)
deliberations and decisions adopted at the Summits held over the period 2011-2021 (CoP17 in Durban, South Africa from
28 November – 11 December 2011, and CoP26 held in Glasgow, Scotland over the period 31 October – 13 November 2021.
The report reviews and analyses CoP deliberations and decisions and assesses related policy actions by African countries
and the international community. It points to somewhat weak and inadequate commitment to agriculture and sustainable
food systems as a global community and the need to address this imbalance in future CoP Summits stating with CoP27 at
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on 6-18 November 2022. As host country for CoP27, Egypt has indicated the need for prominence for
agriculture and food systems issues.
Summary of the Issues:
The deliberations at the CoP Summits over the past decade from CoP17 – to CoP26 have provided only tangentially for
issues on agriculture and food systems. Climate activists and observers have been pungent and harshly critical that the
CoP Summits have so far failed to raise to prominence the role of agriculture sector in meeting Paris Climate Change
Agreement despite the fact that the sector is the second leading contributor to climate change after energy. In the same
vein, CoP decisions have not made significant dent on the strength of policy responses to agriculture issues. Nonetheless,
it must be recognized that CoP17 brought agriculture into negotiations and launched the Green Climate Fund (GCF), CoP21
(Paris Climate Conference, 30 November-11 December 2015) launched the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that
have featured adaptation and mitigation measures on Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU), CoP22 (Marrakech,
Kingdom of Morocco, 7-18 November 2016) brought about Adaptation of African Agriculture (AAA), while CoP23 (Bonn,
Germany, 6-17 November 2017) was a pathbreaking summit. It launched the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA)
under Fiji presidency and mandated the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Subsidiary
Body on Technical and Scientific Advice (SBSTA) to deliberate on the KJWA roadmap and present a report to CoP26. And at
CoP26 (Glasgow, Scotland, 31 October – 13 November 2021) a number of organizations in the agriculture and food systems
value chains made commitments to halt deforestation in their supply chains.
These are important developments from the CoP Summits that have influenced policy decisions and collective actions
on agriculture and sustainable food systems and security on the continent and globally. All African countries today have
updated NDCs with robust agriculture measures, a growing number are implementing climate smart or resilient agriculture
policies, strategies and programmes. Green growth and recovery strategies and plans are in place, and the African Union
Assembly has adopted the African Union Green Recovery Action Plan (AU GRAP) 2021-2027 and the AU has also launched
the African Union Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan 2022-2032. Major international
development partners including the UN, G7, World Bank, EU/EC, USAID are at the forefront of initiatives to assist to respond
to climate change induced agriculture and sustainable food systems challenges on the African continent. Some of these
interventions are not necessarily linked to CoP decisions, but more to a wider global call for decisive actions on agriculture
and sustainable food systems.
Based on the survey conducted among stakeholders on issues relating to the COPs and agriculture a number of findings
emerged. Level of awareness of COP decisions on agriculture and food systems is good, but knowledge of influence of
specific COP is weak, which points to inadequate composition of country teams and the need for pre-and post-COP briefings
and information sharing at the level of countries. COP meetings have influenced CSA capacity building and strengthening
programmes as well as policy. They have not however had impact in influencing the development of gender-sensitive CSA
framework, policy and support systems, among others. Effectiveness of COPs on agriculture and sustainable food systems
is rated fair and thus not very impactful over the past decade.
The survey findings also pointed to key issues that national stakeholders felt should be tabled by negotiators at COP27.
Prominent among these are access to climate finance, capacity building and strengthening, private sector engagement,
access to technologies as well as support and incentive systems, effective early warning systems for farmers and gender-
responsive CSA frameworks.
VI
As regards improvements that national stakeholders would like to see in COP decisions on agriculture and sustainable food
systems in order to meet climate change goals and targets, the survey brought up some findings. Prominent among these
are the need for support for negotiation capacity building for developing countries, the desirability for UNFCCC subsidiary
bodies (SBSTA and SBI) to prioritize issues in agriculture within their present mandates and more effective support to
developing countries, enhanced assistance to mitigate GHG emissions in the livestock sector while enhancing carbon sinks
and promoting additional tools for assessing and monitoring effectiveness of adaptation interventions, participatory green
technologies development and collaborative research.
As regards what do not seem to have worked very well with COPs on issues of agriculture and sustainable food systems
over the decade, national stakeholders expressed views, which ranged from inadequate sustained engagement all through
the year from one COP to the other, absence of continental stocktaking prior to the next COP, inadequate promotion of
locally-tested technologies, a need to ensure better composition of country teams to include senior technocrats, especially
at Director level as currently a number of them have never participated in COPs and a need for them to have adequate
first-hand information of COP processes, procedures and outcomes.
As concerns what has worked very well for countries’ participation in the COPs, respondents to the survey were of the
view that a number of these needed to be maintained and further enhanced. Among these is the fact that all countries
are invited to the COPs, a feature that is seen as worth preserving. Also is the practice of holding preparatory meetings by
various regions. Efforts by the COPs to mobilize climate finance for developing countries and assist in developing context
specific solutions that are country-driven are seen as key strong points of the COPs.
Conclusion:
Based on the foregoing, in conclusion, this report expresses the view that it is fair to say that there has been considerably
enhanced policy responses to the needs of agriculture sector since the NDCs were launched. This, however, does not
mean commensurate flow of resources to agriculture and food systems. Neither have they been the direct impetus for
the adoption of CSA in countries. In fact, the agricultural financing gap in many African countries surpasses government
budgets and funding currently available from the international development community. Climate finance flows from
multilateral development banks to the agriculture sector in Africa increased from US$433 million in 2015 to US$2 billion in
2018 and then declined to over US$1 billion in 20201
.
COP meetings have influenced CSA capacity building and strengthening programmes as well as policy. They have not
however had impact in influencing the development of gender-sensitive CSA framework, policy, financing and support
systems, among others. Effectiveness of COPs on agriculture and sustainable food systems is rated fair and thus not very
impactful over the past decade.
On the whole there is a generally felt need for the CoP summits to do more on agriculture and food systems. It is about
putting sustainable agriculture and food systems in the core agenda for negotiations, plenary decisions and financing of
responses to challenges reflected in continuing climate change induced losses and damage to Africa’s agriculture and
food systems. On this, attention will be on CoP27 at which the onus will be on Africa to demonstrate leadership in putting
agriculture and food systems on the agenda and ensuring a robust decision on programmes and financing, as well as
appropriate institutional arrangement for future negotiations as the mandate of UNFCCC subsidiary bodies (SBSTA and
SBI) on the KJWA comes to an end.
1. Recommendations:
Based on the foregoing, this synthesis report recommends the following:
If CoP17 brought agriculture into negotiations, CoP22 launched the Adaptation of African Agriculture (AAA) and CoP23
the KJWA and mandated the SBSTA and SBI to consider agriculture, Africa must go to CoP27 with a clear-headed
1 Brookings, The criticality of climate finance for Africa; Holger A. Kray, ChakibJenane, Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez, and Jamal Saghir , The urgency and benefits of climate adaptation for Africa’s agriculture and food
security, Thursday, March 24, 2022
VII
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. position and a solid footprint on climate resilient agriculture and sustainable food systems. This should go far beyond
traditional position paper to concrete programmes and financing requirements for climate resilient transition in the
sector. Africa must put forward its requirements for just transition in the agriculture sector.
Africa should push for the establishment of a dedicated UNFCCC Subsidiary Body on Developing Countries and
Agriculture and Food Systems. The current two SBs are overstretched and their mandate on KJWA has come to an end.
Nothing concrete has been delivered on the KJWA programme.
There is a need for improved composition of country teams attending the COPs. Provision should be made for
participation of senior technocrats, especially at the level of Directors of key sectoral ministries and agencies.
Country level pre-and post-COP meeting briefings should be encouraged to share information and knowledge of
outcomes and follow-ups.
There is need for the development of CSA policies, strategies, financing and support systems to be gender sensitive.
The COPs over the decade have had little to no impact on gender-responsiveness of CSA practices.
Subsequent COPs and national policy responses should focus on climate finance, capacity building and strengthening,
private sector engagement, access to green technologies, gender-responsive CSA support and incentives systems and
collaborative research.