This webinar was organised with support from the European Union.

27 May 2016

Share your feedback on the event

Speaker:

• Raffaello Cervigni, World Bank

Moderator:

• Shukri Ahmed, Deputy Strategic Programme Leader – Resilience, FAO

Drylands are at the core of Africa’s development challenge. They make up about 43 percent of the region’s land surface, account for about 75 percent of the area used for agriculture, and are home to about 50 percent of the population, including a disproportionate share of the poor. Due to complex interactions among many factors, vulnerability to climate change and other risks in drylands is growing and affecting livelihood prospects of hundreds of millions of people.

By 2030, economic growth leading to structural change will allow some of the people living in drylands to transition to non-agriculture based livelihood strategies, reducing their vulnerability. Many others will continue to rely on livestock keeping and crop farming. For the latter group, a number of good practices interventions have the potential to make a significant difference in reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience.

Within this context, what are the opportunities and challenges for enhancing resilience in this region?

The webinar analyses current and future challenges to reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience in the drylands of Sub-Saharan Africa and identifies promising interventions and strategies that can enhance the resilience of the millions of households that depend on traditional livelihood strategies, such as livestock-keeping and farming as well as putting in place safety nets.