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Agriculture has been in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations since 2009. Progress has been ongoing since 2011 when at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) held in Durban, South Africa, the COP requested the Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) to consider issues related to agriculture. At SBSTA40, the Parties agreed on four topical issues for consideration through in-session workshops. The four topics, which the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support (AGNES) assisted the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) to prepare submissions on, were:

• Development of early warning systems and contingency plans in relation to extreme weather events and their effects, such as desertification, drought, floods, landslides, storm surge, soil erosion, and saline water intrusion;
• Assessment of risk and vulnerability of agricultural systems to different climate change scenarios at regional, national, and local levels, including but not limited to pests and diseases;
• Identification of adaptation measures, taking into account the diversity of the agricultural systems, indigenous knowledge systems and the differences in scale as well as possible co-benefits, and sharing experiences in research and development and on the ground activities, including socio-economic, environmental and gender aspects; and
• Identification and assessment of agricultural practices and technologies to enhance productivity in a sustainable manner, food security and resilience, considering the differences in agro-ecological zones and farming systems, such as different grassland and cropland practices and systems.

After six years of negotiations and workshops, the Parties finally adopted a historic decision on agriculture—the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture—at the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP23) held in November 2017 in Bonn, Germany. The importance of the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture decision is that it establishes joint work on agriculture between SBSTA and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI, thus linking science and implementation. It is instructive to note that the final draft decision that was finally adopted was prepared by the AGN. AGNES also supports gender and climate change in the negotiations and one of its members facilitated the adoption of the Gender Action Plan (GAP) at COP23.

Regarding gender, it is now recognized that climate change is not gender neutral: there are differences in the ways in which men and women contribute to the phenomenon (in terms of emissions of greenhouse gases), experience the impacts, and have the capacity to adapt. These differences arise not out of biological differences, but out of the social constructions of roles and responsibilities. Identifying gender-responsive mechanisms to implement the Paris Agreement, in terms of adaptation and mitigation initiatives, is an important step to stop reinforcing existing inequalities. Ensuring that implementation of such initiatives is gender-responsive also offers opportunities to change gender relations through women’s empowerment and contribute to greater equality.

Over the years, the African Working Group on Gender and Climate Change (AWGGCC) has played a critical role in the UNFCCC process leading to the adoption of the Lima Work Programme on Gender and Climate Change and the GAP adopted at COP23 in 2017.

The objectives of the workshop are threefold:

1. Deepen the understanding of the implications of the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture adopted at COP23 and the GAP.
2. Prepare an AGN submission with a common position on the issues set out in the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture and the GAP.
3. Develop a common approach to be taken by AGN in its engagement within G77 and with other partners during the upcoming SBSTA/SBI 48 on the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture and the GAP (May 2018).

Participants for the workshop will include:

• AGN agriculture negotiators from the five sub-regions of Africa; and
• AGNES and AWGGCC members from the five sub-regions of Africa.

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