The 4th International Conference on Climate Change and Development (CCDA-IV) will be held from 8 to 10 October in Marrakech, under the theme: “Africa can now ensure its food self-sufficiency: from knowledge to action”, announced the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

The conference “will focus on the opportunities offered by climate knowledge to transform agricultural production systems so that Africa can ensure its food self-sufficiency in a sustainable manner,” according to an ECA statement which highlights the impacts of climate change on vulnerable groups such as farmers, women, youth, and pastoralists.

For Ms. Fatima Denton, Director of the Special Initiatives Division of the ECA, the strong participation of civil society is an essential element in this debate to expose the realities, opportunities, and challenges encountered on the ground “so that the policymakers and researchers present can begin to design interventions.”

The conference, initiated notably by the ECA and the African Development Bank (AfDB), aims to provide a platform to debate how Africa can make use of climate knowledge to transform agricultural production systems in order to ensure its food self-sufficiency and improve the socio-economic well-being of its inhabitants in a sustainable way.

The policymakers, academics, researchers, and practitioners who will participate in the conference will share knowledge on the best approaches to integrate climate change opportunities into policies, strategies, planning, and practices in Africa.