The private sector, agriculture and climate change. Connecting the dots

At the same time, agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is very vulnerable to climate change. Agriculture was a priority under the commitments made by sub-Saharan countries to the Paris Agreement.

The widely held view is that the public sector alone can’t meet the cost of the continent’s commitments. Already there’s a mismatch between the investment needs for adaptation and the finance available. As a result, there is increasing interest in bringing in capacity and resources from the private sector to achieve countries’ climate change commitments.

Against this background, our recent research examined the role of private-sector players in helping agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa adapt to a changing climate. This work is part of wider research that looked at ways to give the private sector incentives to help countries in the region achieve their Paris Agreement goals.