adminLloyd Gumbo recently in Lilongwe, Malawi
Climate change is a threat to national security in the Sadc region and as such the bloc should come up with measures to mitigate its effects, Malawi’s top official has said.
Officially opening a media sensitisation workshop on communicating climate smart agriculture entrepreneurship in Lilongwe last week, Malawi’s permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, Mr Luckie Sikwese, said the media had a major role to play in communicating the region’s efforts to respond to challenges imposed by this phenomenon. The two-day workshop attended by journalists from Sadc countries was organised by the Sadc secretariat and its development partners — the Department for International Development, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Union.
“Climate change is now emerging as a key development issue for Africa and we, therefore, cannot afford to relegate it on our development agenda,” said Mr Sikwese.
“Climate change as a new phenomenon has generated a lot of interest from various stakeholders, mainly because it is a source of threat to many communities. This threat ranges from irregular rainfall patterns, scarcity of natural resources, fight over access to resources, internal displacement to forced migration.
All these threats more often than not may culminate into a threat on human health.” Mr Sikwese said Africa’s vulnerability was deepening due to the effect of climate change as reported by the World Bank in 2009.
He said as such, the region was expected to come up with a development agenda that included financing strategies, mechanisms and business models that promoted sustainable development. Mr Sikwese said it was important for the region to embrace the media in its efforts to reduce the effects of climate change.
Online Reporter