Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi addresses the 7th Summit of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) heads of state and government in Gaborone, Botswana, on June 30, 2022. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)
With rising temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns perpetuated by unreliable and below-average rainfall, the productivity of the agricultural sector is posing a serious threat to food security, said Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi.
GABORONE, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- With rising temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns perpetuated by unreliable and below-average rainfall, the productivity of the agricultural sector is posing a serious threat to food security, said Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi Wednesday.
Masisi made this observation when deliberating a statement on the occasion of the ongoing high-level segment of the 7th National Adaptation Plans (NAP) Expo in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, noting the impacts of climate change on other sectors such as rangelands, water, health and biodiversity.
Masisi called for experts attending the ongoing expo to analyze the drivers responsible for the lack of traction in relation to adaptation, as well as the required response measures that need to be catalyzed in order to enhance the resilience of the economic sectors.
Climate change almost paralyzed the country's key economic sectors and the impacts were mainly felt within the agriculture and water sectors, according to Masisi.
Botswana and all other African countries need to ensure that contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases through mitigation actions is not a choice, but socioeconomically imperative, Masisi said.
Botswana is highly susceptible to drought, which compromises access to drinking water, said Professor Patrick Munodawafa, an independent meteorologist based in Gaborone, adding that the government should devise serious measures to save the ozone layer.