Human activities continue to exploit and deplete natural resources at a rate much faster than nature can replenish itself. As the climate crisis takes centre stage, it is clear that the nature crisis must also be addressed simultaneously to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a carbon neutral reality for future generations. Mitigation efforts of decarbonising energy sources alone will not be enough to achieve this without adjacent adaptation investments to protect and maintain environmental resources, according to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Adaptation Gap Report 2022.

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services warns that biodiversity is declining faster now than at any time in human history. Amidst the changing climate, the rapidly depleting rates of carbon sinks such as wetlands, forests, and peatlands will increase the impact of climate change globally. Therefore, biodiversity and climate change are inextricably linked and must be addressed together. The need for climate action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss is urgent, as recent trends of extreme weather events paint a clear picture of the catastrophic consequences ahead, especially for climate sensitive regions like Africa. The heavy toll of environmental injustice for Africa, despite contributing the least to global greenhouse gas emissions, places millions of people at risk of facing extreme environmental exposures, disrupting livelihoods and increasing adverse health outcomes. The record-breaking extreme weather events in 2022, mostly in the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), are mere examples of what is to come, with greater predicted frequency and magnitude of heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, and floods that can evidently led to a public health and economic disaster.

Agriculture is among the sectors most vulnerable to the climate crisis. In agro-ecological hotspots like Africa, growing demographic pressures and alarming exposures to extreme weather events is affecting food security in rural communities who are largely dependent on agriculture for livelihood. The largest portion of food insecure people reside in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the food and sustenance of almost half a billion small holder farmers are at risk due to the impacts of climate change (1). The 2022 emergency of food insecurity in the Horn of Africa is a humanitarian catastrophe which revealed the fragile fault lines of climate dependency that can threaten starvation for almost 22 million people due to extreme drought and crop failure.

Population growth and climate change are intrinsically linked in accelerating environmental degradation and increasing food insecurity, especially in agro-ecological areas where small scale farmers are least prepared for adaptation and mitigation efforts. Answers to these multi-sectoral problems require solutions that target the key drives of land degradation, biodiversity loss and create alternative opportunities for communities to protect and maintain the environment while leading healthier lives. Nature-based solutions or ecosystem-based adaptation practices serve as a promising strategy to use natural ecosystems to buffer harsh climate impacts through innovative practices of sustainable use and maintenance of these natural resources. The UNEP report on “The Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation” highlights the exponential dual benefits for people and the environment, as habitat specific nature based solutions can save both lives and livelihoods while maintaining nature in forms of disaster risk reduction, building resilient cities, improving water management and contributing to long-term food security.

Population, Health, & Environment Project in Rukiga, Uganda

The “Healthy wetlands for the cranes and people of Rukiga, Uganda” project is based in Southwest Uganda, near the Rushebeya Wetlands, is implemented by the Margaret Pyke Trust, the International Crane Foundation/Endangered Wildlife Trust, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Rugarama Hospital. The partners provide communities with improved family planning services and promotion of sustainable livelihoods, while ensuring long term conservation of wetlands and grey crowned crane habitat through simultaneous integrated programming activities.

The Rukiga district, part of Kigezi sub regional area, has remarkable wetland biodiversity and is home to Uganda’s national bird, the Grey Crowned Crane. The project works with communities who are living in extremely remote regions near/in Rushebeya wetlands with limited access to physical and social infrastructure. The villages are heavily reliant on the wetlands and other natural resources for their food and water security, livelihoods, and natural flood prevention mechanisms that are being depleted due to human activities.

The integrated community-responsive solutions enable community members to address interlinked challenges of food security holistically in relation to demographic, environmental, and other livelihood pressures. The preliminary qualitative findings from the project provided a roadmap for ecosystem-based adaptation and informed the design of integrated interventions to food cultivation, alternative livelihood, conservation practices, and access to voluntary family planning services.

Community members identified factors of climate variability, soil degradation due to extreme weather and limited arable land in the region as major climatic and environmental factors related to food insecurity. Extreme events such as excess heat and heavy rain fall were unpredictable, increasing floods and landslides due to the hilly landscape of the region, affecting harvests and human property.

“When it rains heavily, beans and other gardens get destroyed. Even at times, it rains so heavily and also destroys houses.” (Farmer, Female, 48yrs)

Harmful farming practices and population growth were also identified as anthropogenic factors related to food insecurity by community members in the region. Poor agricultural practices included overcultivation, monocropping, burning of wetlands and hills, lack of seed diversity, and a lack of training in sustainable farming – all of which were recognised as processes driving land degradation, thereby affecting crop yields.

“In the early days, there used to be some grass that covered the ground. But now, hills have been made naked. People destroyed trees and even take away the grass to mulch their banana plantations. So, when it rains, it finds bare ground and causes terrible erosion.” (Farmer, Male, 65yrs)

Moreover, community members recognised the intrinsic link with high fertility and limited natural resources. In absence of high-quality family planning services, women in Rukiga faced an increased burden of extended family and livelihood challenges in environmentally dependent communities.

“The number of people increased. And this increase also caused problems because the number of people increases yet the amount of land does not increase.” (Farmer, Female)

The four pillars of food security — food availability, food utilisation, food access, and food stability — are impacted by these interlinked challenges that drive food insecurity in the Rukiga region, bringing attention towards more integrated nature positive action in climate adaptation interventions that protect both environments and people’s health.

Scope of “Loss & Damage” Fund

The Adaptation Gap Report 2022 by UNEP estimates the rising climate adaptation costs in developing countries that might reach five to 10 times greater than current public adaptation spending, with dire need of climate finance if carbon emission targets are not met by 2050. The breakthrough agreement of a Loss and Damage Fund has been the highlight of the United Nations Climate Conference (COP 27) to provide finance for countries to withstand the negative consequences of climate change due to rising sea levels, prolonged heatwaves and effects, desertification, the acidification of the sea, species extinction and crop failures.

As the details of the fund are set to be finalised in the next year’s COP 28 conference, there is an urgent need for global attention and strong advocacy to include ecosystem-based adaptation and integrated programming, which embeds health service provision, in the financing agenda. The on-going UN biodiversity conference, COP 15, is taking place through 7-19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada where governments have the opportunity to operationalise the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and agree on measurable goals that drive action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss through 2030. It is imperative to push for global agreement on action against nature loss to strengthen climate action by creating funding channels for interventions that parallelly address climate change and biodiversity degradation. In consequence, a long-term financing framework is essential for multi-sectoral projects that recognise the interconnections between climatic and anthropogenic determinants to address interlinked development challenges that affect sexual reproductive health and wider health outcomes in our present climate uncertain world.

1. Vermeulen S, Grainger-Jones E, Yao X. Climate change, food security and small-scale producers. :9.