CHAPTER ONE
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
INTRODUCTION
The debate as to whether economic growth is in and of itself sufficient for sustainable development still remain among policymakers and researchers (Ncube, 2015). This debate is driven by the fact that economic growth across the continent is not accompanied by improvement in the living conditions of its people despite records of economic growth. The call by civil societies for the inclusion of the poor in the growing process as well as benefits from its outcome is ever increasing. Economic growth is described as a disguise for the gap that exists between the poor and rich. Thus, positive economic outcomes are good on many fronts, nevertheless, such outcomes have rather served to create insecurities through widening disparities between the poor and rich. Such disparities have led to the distrust of government by citizens and civil societies who are calling for the need for growth that is broader and ensures societal progress (Stiglitz, Sen, & Fitoussi, 2009)
Largely, the economic growth of countries on the African continent is understood to be characterized by disparities and inequalities which are attributable to the lack of structural transformation and sectoral diversification. Faced with the task of ensuring inclusiveness in the growth process, governments and policymakers have responded by ensuring that growth is inclusive, spelling broader economic growth that benefits all. Inclusive growth refers to how fast growth is occurring as well as the form of such growth. It is a concept that embraces equity and equality. Inclusive growth highlight social welfare needs that cover non-income dimensions. It therefore, focuses on gender, ethnic and the geographical rather than economic outcomes alone (Ranieri & Almeida Ramos, 2013).
On another front, documentation indicates that climate change affects the economic growth of Africa (Abidoyea and Odusola, 2015; Odusola and Abidoye, 2015; Lanzafame, 2014; Dell et al., 2010; Fankhauser & Tol, 2005; Ouattara & Strob, 2008). This is because Africa’s economy is largely driven by primary manufacturing sectors which are linked to the climate.
As a result, economic loses created by climate change risk poses challenges to socio- economic development in developing and emerging economies, resulting from the high level of dependency of the poor on agriculture and forestry which are climate sensitive. It increases poverty and has the potential to repress inclusive growth, which is fundamental to sustainable development and growth across developing regions. The World Bank (2016) documents that 26 million people are forced into poverty each year resulting from climate change risk and this could reach 100 million people by 2030 with South Asian and Africa being hit the hardest. Africa emits less greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) (UNDP, 2006), yet it suffers more from the effects of climate change. Insufficient adaptation and a low adaptive capacity multiplies this effect. This could spell trouble for Africa’s efforts towards inclusive growth making it a daunting task since such efforts channeled towards inclusive development and growth could be reversed by such threat.
This makes the climate change situation in Africa serious and costly, affecting developmental efforts and strategies, particularly the wellbeing of its poor. Africa accounts for an insignificant amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and yet suffers extreme damaging effects than any other region (World Bank, 2015; Coumou et al., 2016; AfDB, 2011; Barr et al., 2010; IPCC, 2007), due to its high level vulnerability (Hallegatte, 2015; Gupta, 2014). The need to tackle this challenge for Africa becomes more pressing for the international community as climate change stands in the way of sustainable growth and its related issues like poverty and environmental sustainability (UN, 2015; Brown et al., 2010). This has garnered commitments and response from countries across the globe culminating in
adaptation and mitigation efforts to contain this fallout. For developing countries, particularly Africa, adaptation efforts have taken centre stage in policy strategies suggesting its importance compared to mitigation efforts because of its vulnerability (Barr, Fanhauser & Hamilton, 2010).
The negative effect of climate change on the continent is not far out in the future and is already taking place. As such, the continent’s response is not the immediate reduction of greenhouse gas emission (CIGI, 2009) but buidling resilience and adaptive capacity. Therefore, whereas the response in other regions would be to consider mitigation strategies, for Africa, the way forward would be to emphasize adaptation strategies and build adaptive capacity (Collier, Conway & Venables, 2008) that sustains growth. Adaptation strategies to confront these fallout is, without doubt, the way forward if it is to experience shared economic growth. How effective these strategies are depend on the level of adaptive capacity (Smit & Olga, 2009), therefore, if the ability to adapt is low or non-existent vulnerability levels will increase.
In Africa’s quest to pursue inclusive growth, it becomes paramount that any progress chalked is not eroded. Consequently, it becomes important to enhance adaptive capacity (Ensor, Hoddy & Ratner, 2015). Smit and Pilisofova (2003) remark that activities that augment adaptive capacity can be pursued together with sustainable development goals that promote the living condition of the poor. In fact, Robinson and Herbert (2001) by analysing climate change and sustainable development together, have argued that an analysis of both come with essential benefits.
