Impacts of and Adaptation to Climate Variability and Climate Change in the East African Community: A Focus on the Agricultural Sector
World Agroforestry Centre
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Abstract: This paper is the third in a series of reports that are aimed at discussing the vulnerability of African countries to climatic hazards, the meaning of climate change for these countries and the existing efforts in terms of policy and research to tackle the climate problem. The first two reports focused on the west-African Sahel and southern Africa, respectively. This one deals with East Africa, and more specifically the East African Community (EAC) that regroups Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The focus is on agriculture simply because this sector is the mainstay of the majority of African economies. Agriculture is the base for food security, the biggest employment provider, a major contributor to the GDP, and an important source of foreign exchange earnings. At the same time, agriculture is one the most vulnerable sectors to climate variability and climate change, especially under rainfed conditions.