hi, please translate it into Chinese. Figure 2.9. Sub-Saharan Africa and the World: Agricultural Dependence and Poverty, 2018 or Latest
Population below poverty line (percent of total)
Rest of the world
Sub-Saharan Africa
Agriculture (percent of GDP)
Source: World Bank World Development Indicators Database.
Note: The poverty line is measured as the poverty head count at US$1.90 a day in terms of 2011 purchasing power parity.

ADAPTATION STRATEGIES

Containing the adverse humanitarian, social, and economic costs of climate change and its role in amplifying pandemics will depend on both adaptation and mitigation strategies (Box 2.1).  Their inclusion in the Sustainable Development Goals highlights their criticality. Sub-Saharan Africa can step up mitigation and its contribution to a green economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic through carbon taxes, phasing out energy subsidies, transitioning to green energy sources, reforestation which promotes carbon capture (October 2019 Fiscal Monitor, Chapter 1; IMF 2019b; Nyiwul 2019), and financial regulations that limit investment in polluting capital. However, adaptation strategies play a greater role for sub-Saharan Africa from several perspectives. First, rapid implementation of adaptation strategies (which will also spur economic development) will generate more jobs in support of economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, sub-Saharan African economies are particularly dependent on climate-sensitive sectors. Third, the region has limited influence on climate compared with advanced and large emerging market economies emitting the bulk of greenhouse gases. How to approach adaptation is the subject of mounting policy debates across the region, especially with youth pressing policymakers for more immediate action. This section outlines some key considerations and policy recommendations.

Awareness of the positive synergies across adaptation, the macroeconomy, and development outcomes—creating a virtuous cycle that boosts inclusive growth—will help governments develop comprehensive adaptation strategies. For example, the ability of improved seeds to reduce the weather-sensitivity of crops can benefit agricultural productivity even without climate change. Similarly, strong institutions support economic efficiency and governance, including the enforcement of regulations targeting weather resilience. Access to finance for households and small and medium enterprises helps grow their livelihoods and build resilience to economic shocks, whether climate change–induced or otherwise. Land reforms and effective social protection incentivize ownership among rural households to protect their land and assets against climate change (Kosec and Mo 2017). Good macroeconomic and structural policies—promoting economic diversification, creating fiscal space, building fiscal and reserves buffers, and pursuing exchange rate flexibility—limit the impact of climate shocks and help the economy recover faster. In turn, a quicker rebound frees resources to invest in other development areas.

Regional cooperation will be a key element of adaptation. Climate change transcends international borders. Consider, for example, the drying of Lake Chad and the Volta Basin, jeopardizing the production of food and hydroelectricity across several countries, including Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria (for Lake Chad) and Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Togo (for the Volta Basin). Active sharing of technologies, knowledge, and effective institutional practices, especially through regional initiatives, can make strides in accelerating adaptation (African Union 2014; EAC 2011; Lesolle 2012; Sembiring 2018). Developing regional agricultural markets could lower food prices and help ensure food security.

Resilience and coping mechanisms are the pillars of adaptation. Improving resilience reduces exposure and vulnerability to climate change while coping mechanisms help buffer the impact from them. Accelerating the development of these pillars will be critical to safeguarding food security and shaping broad-based adaptability. To this end, the next subsections assess the potential impact of key policies. Implementing these policies will require strong coordination within the government (particularly across the Ministries of Finance, Agriculture, Education, Environment, and Health, and those ministries and agencies responsible for specific types of infrastructure) and with development partners. This begins by developing comprehensive adaptation strategies, assessing whether governments’ multiyear expenditure frameworks (from programs supporting improved seeds or social protection to building irrigation infrastructure) already account for key adaptation policies, and reviewing project selection and prioritization criteria to ensure implementation of the most impactful combination of resiliencebuilding projects. Financing challenges (in relation to access to finance for households and businesses and, more broadly, on public financing of adaptation; discussed in the section on financing adaptation) and informational asymmetries will need to be addressed.