International Climate Change Conference Opens in Niger

An international conference on climate change in West Africa commenced on Tuesday in the capital, Niamey, Anadolu Agency reported yesterday.

The three-day event addresses the escalating climate disasters impacting nearly 28 million people in the Sahel region, including severe floods and food insecurity.

Chad’s Minister of Agricultural Production and Industrialization, Keda Ballah, chaired the opening session, emphasizing the alarming rise in extreme climate events. “There is an increase in devastating floods and worsening food and nutritional insecurity affecting nearly 28 million Sahelians and West Africans,” Ballah stated.

Experts from the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) are participating to discuss climate events and disaster risks. Ballah highlighted existing adaptation strategies but noted significant gaps in their implementation, including inadequate integration of resilience issues into public policy and weak technological adaptation capacities. Established in 1973, CILSS focuses on food security and sustainable natural resource management across its 13 member states.