.. As she reflects on COP28
BY KWANELE PRINCE TSABEDZE
MBABANE – “Being a part of COP28 was such an insightful experience, getting to discuss with world leaders and influencers in the climate change space to accelerate efforts to combat the climate crisis.”
These were the words of the Woman Farmer Foundation’s (WWF) founding Director, Sonia Paiva, when reflecting on the 28th annual Conference of the Parties, a Global Conference of Climate Change held in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Paiva recently returned from representing Southern Africa as one of the influential social enterprise leaders dealing with climate change solutions.
“I attended COP28 through the international Trade Centre where I was a keynote speaker in a session titled Climate Transition for SIDS, LLDCs and LDCs-role of trade and small businesses, under the theme Making Trade Policy work for people and the planet,” said Paiva.
“My talk recognised that Climate change has continued to be both the 21st century’s biggest global threat and opportunity at the same time. To combat this, I put forth that for effective, sustainable climate change solutions, we need to utilise localised pathways. This was the core of the message that I delivered at COP28, calling for leaders globally to leverage indigenous knowledge in policy development,” added Paiva.
Paiva’s encouraged stakeholders to prioritise Indigenizing trade policy, resource mobilisation for smart trade facilitation, smart solutions to address climate change, and enhancing socio-economic inclusivity. She noted that the least developed, landlocked, and small island countries may have contributed little to this crisis, but they are the ones on the frontlines, having to deal with its deadly consequences, and this is a dynamic Eswatini should be aware of.
Paiva also noted that The Woman Farmer Foundation predominantly works with rural women and youth agripreneurs, making addressing the climate crisis an integral part of their work.
“You cannot divorce agriculture from climate change,” she said.
“We believe in the inclusion of women and youth in climate action, engaging rural communities, skills development and the provision of mentorship and coaching. A major component of our work involves capacity building where we incorporate modules on climate smart agriculture to empower women and youth agriprenuers in their decision-making skills, allowing them to increase their productivity and improve their livelihoods,” she added.
The most prominent program concerning climate change within the foundation is the Innovative Climate Smart Youth Tunnel Production Training Program which is a 3-month training program on protective farming to prepare youths to become climate resilient and adaptive agripreneurs. “There is still a lot more work that needs to be done to ensure that we mitigate the effects of climate change. We all have our role to play. For Woman Farmer Foundation, ours is predominantly through capacity building efforts, ensuring women and youth are equipped with adequate and relevant knowledge and skills. I look forward to bringing the knowledge I gained through COP back home and contextualising it so it works for our agripreneurs and communities,” concluded Paiva on her reflections from COP28.
