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Overall picture 1. Spurred by its Agenda 2063, Africa aims to establish a prosperous region characterized by sustainable inclusive growth, peace and good governance. The region’s growth path shall be led by increased agricultural productivity, industrialization, investment in infrastructure development and renewable energy, conservation of biodiversity, sustainable and fair and equitable use of its genetic resources, clean air and water, and better adaptive capacity to climate change.
2. Africa faces a great challenge of sustaining rapid economic growth as its population is expected to double to approximately 2.5 billion by 2050, while safeguarding the life-support system provided by its rich natural capital, which underpins the realization of its long term vision. It is therefore imperative that such growth must consider the region’s relatively weak environmental governance and a paucity of accurate and up-to-date environmental and socio-economic data for evidence-based decision-making.
Key findings
3. The GEO-6 Africa Regional Assessment affirms the importance of both Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 as defined by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Both contain common elements for a development trajectory that will provide Africa with a healthy living environment while ensuring good health and quality of life for her people. The two are also critical to preserving and valuing Africa’s natural capital for the benefit of its citizens and their livelihoods. In order to realize these visions, Africa’s public institutions are called upon to build flexible and adaptive governance structures.
4. Indoor air pollution is a major problem across Africa, responsible for an estimated 600 000 deaths per annum. Due to their reliance on the use of biomass sources of energy for cooking, lighting and heating, 90 per cent of the region’s population is exposed to this harm. Africa is called upon to invest in quick win solutions such as better ventilated housing and clean cook stoves, while also adopting medium to long-term measures to provide clean forms of energy such as electricity.
5. Growth in urbanization, industrialization, motorization and the emission of mineral dust from deserts have increased outdoor pollution in Africa. The transboundary transport, dispersion and eventual deposition of pollutants also contribute to raise outdoor pollution levels in the region. Especially for urban areas, the observed trend in levels of outdoor pollution requires the implementation of transport solutions that include setting standards for the condition of road vehicles and investing in sustainable mass transport systems
6. Off-grid electricity supply in remote rural areas and greater uptake of renewable forms of energy such as solar, hydropower and wind provide a promising and realistic basket of possibilities for meeting Africa’s energy needs. With only 10 per cent of the region’s hydropower potential exploited, there is considerable scope to use this source of energy in Africa for the generation of electricity, subject to careful consideration of the environmental consequences of proposed schemes.
7. Despite recent improvement, about 40 per cent of Africa’s population still does not have access to potable water, and 70 per cent lack adequate sanitation facilities. As a result, water-borne diarrheal infections are responsible for almost 8 per cent of annual deaths in the region. This calls for an urgent need to invest in low-cost technologies for the management of wastewater, as well as the delivery of safe drinking water.
8. Groundwater represents a significant under-exploited water resource, but as an initial priority there is a need to substantially improve the information base regarding this resource. With 63 shared river basins, Africa is strongly urged to engage in effective integrated water resources management for the better protection of catchments and increased intra-basin cooperation for equitable use of limited water resources.
9. Many of Africa’s fisheries, both inland and marine, face overexploitation from illegal, under-reported and unregulated fishing. Aquaculture holds great promise for exploiting this potentially sustainable source of protein, but it is a necessary pre-requisite to take biodiversity and other environmental implications into account when promoting this industry.
10. Regarded as Africa’s most valued asset, land is a critical resource for all aspects of life and development. However it faces new challenges from changing use practices, including urbanization, mining, deforestation, agricultural expansion and infrastructure development. Sustainable land management practices are needed to reconcile the diverse uses of this resource.
11. The region has six of the world’s top ten countries experiencing rapid urbanization, and as a consequence faces far reaching changes in settlement patterns in the years ahead. The movement of an estimated 450 million people from rural to urban areas by 2050 will place enormous strains on urban institutions, infrastructure, and financial and other resources, while also exacting huge demands on land for settlement. Combatting this challenge will require good spatial planning at all levels of government to ensure that cities have the capacity to cope with growing populations. Making rural areas more attractive to the youth through investment in rural development is another important intervention.
12. Africa has 60 per cent of the world’s unconverted arable land, indicating a great potential for investment in food production on a massive scale, which if realized could enable the region not only meet its own food needs, but also export globally. Unlocking this potential represents an important challenge, particularly bearing in mind other competing land uses, including for pasture and cultural values. Currently, land productivity remains low in the region; a result of mineral poor soils and land degradation caused by inappropriate farming practices, deforestation, mining activities, and desertification. Africa is therefore called upon to embrace the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme and its associated technologies for irrigation and fertilizer use, whilst nurturing the continent’s agro-biodiversity and agro-ecological knowledge, to result in higher yields per unit area.
13. A further issue of concern is poorly defined land tenure arrangements. Securing land tenure for both women and men will ensure Africa’s land capital is both valued and protected. Africa is therefore urged to develop best practice guidance regarding tenure arrangements and processes, and institute appropriate legislative and administrative reforms to ensure that meaningful progress is made towards achieving a land market built on a range of secure tenure options and increased land productivity.
14. Africa’s rich biodiversity has been a basis for ecosystems services including food, clean water and air. However, this critically important natural capital faces significant threats from illegal trade in wildlife, mono-cropping, air and water pollution, forest loss, climate change, and increased prevalence of invasive alien species. The link between biodiversity and human health and wellbeing is increasingly better understood, but further research is required, especially with regard to zoonoses.
15. The weak valuation of biodiversity as an asset for economic development contributes to weak conservation efforts and undermines its importance to agriculture, for example in protecting pollinators and maintaining diversity to adapt to climate change. It is recommended that Member States actively include a system of factoring biodiversity and ecosystem services into national accounting systems. Africa should also ensure that the African Union strategy on illegal trade in wildlife is translated into action, fully implemented and regularly monitored.
16. Africa faces both enormous challenges in relation to environmental management, and equally huge opportunities for ‘doing things better’. The goal to build an integrated, prosperous and peaceful region that is resilient to future shocks can only be reached with the understanding that clean and healthy air, water, land and biodiversity are necessary to support this transformation. All efforts must thus be taken to ensure the protection and integrity of these resources that are critical life-support systems for sustained human wellbeing.
17. Whilst the inherent uncertainty and diversity in potential futures makes it tenuous for a set of prescriptive policies to be established, policy decisions should aim to minimize environmental and developmental trade-offs, and maximize Africa’s ability to safeguard its natural capital effectively. Emphasis should be placed on improving protection of the environment, addressing critical data gaps, and developing the human and technical capacities required for a sustainable future.
18. The assessment concludes that low-carbon, climate-resilient choices in infrastructure, energy and food production coupled with effective and sustainable natural resource governance are key to protecting the continent’s ecological assets that underpin a healthy society.
