Climate change presents a significant threat to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region as it is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of climatic events. Predicted higher temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and an overall decrease in rainfall will have serious consequences for the region. The recent occurrence of weather-related phenomena such as Tropical Cyclones Desmond, Enawo, Idai and Kenneth between January and April 2019 caused an unprecedented amount of damage in the Union of Comoros, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Climate resilience is key and must be built around participatory climate risk assessments, best available science, proven technologies, and cross-sectoral collaboration. Greater action is required to strengthen or build institutional capacity for risk monitoring and early warning systems; emergency preparedness and response; vulnerability reduction measures; shock-responsive and long-term social protection; and planning and implementing resilience building measures. This call to action is published with a view to highlight concerns about the impact of climate change on agriculture in the Southern Africa region given the central role played by agriculture in the economies of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Member States and livelihoods of people especially women small-scale farmers whose main source of livelihood is from rain-fed agriculture.
