This week the NEPAD Sustainable Land & Water Management (SLWM) team through the TerrAfrica project together with the World Bank brought to light the concept of “bringing together the current knowledge about fire in the grasslands and savannas of Africa” at the 3rd Africa Drylands week in Windhoek, Namibia.  The team also launched a short documentary-film titled “Africa, the Fire Continent” and will launch the full report on August 31.

The Third Africa Drylands Week and Drought Conference seeks to come up with an overarching strategic framework for Africa that will enhance resilience to the impact of drought events. 

Approximately 43 per cent of land area and 45 per cent of the population in Africa fall within the drylands. Despite their high potential for agriculture and various development programs, African drylands are prone to several challenges such as land degradation, desertification and frequent and recurrent droughts as well as insecurity.

It is expected that both the Third Africa Drylands Week and Drought Conference will strengthen partnerships and cooperation to support the development of new and / or improvement of existing national policies and strategies on drought management. This is in addition to building more drought resilient societies based on the sustainable use and management of natural resources.

With this in mind, the outcomes of the conference will be brought to the attention of the African Union (AU) for the collective African heads of states and governments’ endorsements in January 2017.   

The event is jointly organized by the government of Namibia, the African Union, NEPAD Agency, the World Bank, the European Union and various UN agencies. NEPAD representation will be sharing on NEPAD’s work on Drylands, including the Climate Change, Biodiversity and Land Degradation (LDBA) flagship in addition to hosting an exhibition of its SLWM program products.

Source: NEPAD