Science, technology, innovation and capacity building for addressing climate change

Abstract

There is general agreement that Africa’s geographical location and low adaptive capacity make it very vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The continent has a relatively warm climate, poor soils and high variability in rainfalls and floods. These variations, which are likely to increase with climate change, have a major impact on key sectors such as agriculture, and on levels of poverty and disease. Science, therefore, has an indispensable role to play in efforts to understand and manage the full implicationsof climate change.