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Interview with Dr. Nalishebo Meebelo

Exclusive interview with Dr. Nalishebo Meebelo, Africa Lead for USAID’s Comprehensive Action for Climate Change Initiative (CACCI). She is also an advisory board member for Africa’s Green Economy Summit 2025.

Please can we start with some background about yourself and your career thus far.

My name is Nalishebo Meebelo. I’ve been involved in international development for a while now. I am currently the Africa Lead for USAID’s Comprehensive Action for Climate Change Initiative, which is also called CACCI. I’ve been in this role for the last 12 months. So, since January, 2024.

I’m excited to be clocking a year now in this role. Before this, I was the Executive Director at the Secretariat of a network of agricultural policy research centres based in Africa, called the Africa Network of Agricultural Policy Research Institutes (ANAPRI).

By the time I left this role, the network had increased to 16 centres in 15 African countries. Before this, I coordinated the implementation of African Union frameworks in the continent for almost two decades. These were focused mostly on the food system.

I also worked for COMESA, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Secretariat and the African Union Commission spearheading implementation of the AU frameworks in these institutions. I am also currently adjunct to a university in Western Australia called Murdoch University. So happy to have a foot in the academics.

Tell us more about the activities of USAID’s Comprehensive Action for Climate Change Initiative (CACCI) and your role there?

USAID’s Comprehensive Action for Climate Change Initiative, CACCI, is a leader with associate (LWA) cooperative agreement designed for USAID country missions, in partnership with country governments, to provide a range of services that meet partner governments’ specific needs on their journey towards meeting the Paris Agreement commitments.

CACCI contributes to USAID’s climate strategy primarily by helping countries implement their nationally determined contributions and their national adaptation plans while also ensuring inclusion (very important), and local ownership of solutions and their benefits.

So, basically the objectives of CACCI include providing timely support to policy processes, building the capacity of key policy institutions, and improving engagement, stakeholder engagement and communication on implementation of the NDCs and NAPs.

CACCI also supports gender equality and social inclusion—this is very important for the conversation around greening economies—as well as participation of the private sector in addressing impacts of climate change and strengthening adaptation, while seeking nature-based solutions.

This is something that CACCI also looks at. CACCI also seeks to address methane emissions in the countries where we operate, as well as food loss and food waste, among others.

Where in Africa are you active?

Let me begin by saying that CACCI also operates beyond Africa, that is, in Latin America and the Caribbean and also Asia and the Pacific regions. So, in Africa, CACCI is visible initially at continent level, working with the African Union Commission.

Currently we are collaborating with the African Union Commission to develop a continental digital monitoring and reporting as well as learning dashboard, also called the MRLD, to track implementation of the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan 2022–2032. CACCI also provides technical assistance to the AU Commission.

At country level, we have supported African countries such as Zambia, Ghana, Senegal, and Rwanda. And we continue to have conversations with these countries on potential future support. CACCI has undertaken some work in Nigeria as well through collaboration with our partner, the Boston Consultative Group.

Currently, we are undertaking support activities in Burkina Faso, partnering with the NDC Partnership, and also supporting the government of South Africa in their efforts to update their LT LEDs and their NDC.

In your view, are there certain countries that are doing the right things and are leading the way in changing their economies to be greener?

I would say yes, some countries are trying to put in place measures towards greening their economies to some extent. This is seen in some of the policy instruments that they have recently developed. In Zambia, for instance, I believe that the country has a Green Economy and a Climate Change Bill, which was passed by parliament last month.

And this signals the seriousness of that country in dealing with issues around climate change and the green economy.

However, it’s very essential to note that transition to 100% green economy is not easy. We are aware that sectors have competing interests. This presents a challenge in achieving environmental sustainability or indeed attaining complete net zero where greenhouse emissions are concerned.

So, countries that have invested heavily in green growth, and I’m talking now globally, include the Nordic countries, Sweden, Denmark, Norway. We see green growth in the UK, Iceland, France and Germany.

So in short, the European Union countries seem to be doing pretty well. In Africa, Rwanda is one of the countries that is trying its best, especially in its net zero tolerance to plastic and establishment of the Rwanda Green Fund, which seeks to mobilise green investments into the country.

Generally, Africa is also committed to a green transition, but the continent, as we all know, is faced with challenges due to lack of access to green technologies and more especially financing. And we all know that COP29 spoke about the importance of financing, including the whole agenda of the carbon markets mechanism.

Another challenge in Africa is noted in the area of  access to clean energy, which is a foundation for industrial development, something that Africa really needs to address. Issues such as waste management, green transportation, etc. also play a key role in transitioning to green economies. And so, these are areas that Africa really should be looking at strengthening, and these at the moment still remain a challenge for the continent.

How important is regional cooperation regarding implementing climate change initiatives? Are policies and regulations major challenges in your view? What are the opportunities?

Regional cooperation in implementing climate change initiatives is very critical. We all know that climate change impacts and other environmental problems do not respect borders, as they tend to be transboundary in their nature. So therefore bilateral, regional, continental and global cooperation is very important if climate change mitigation and adaptation is to be achieved successfully.

So, policies and regulations are not necessarily the main challenge for countries such as those in Africa, but also just generally globally around the world, because it has already been recognised that challenges of climate change are there. And so countries have incrementally developed robust policies and regulations. Therefore, policies and regulations are not necessarily the problem.

The issue rests in implementation of those policies and regulations. And this has been adversely affected by the fact that there is inadequate financing to implement those policies and regulations, inadequate human resources capacity, weak enforcement institutions to enforce the regulations, fragmentation and lack of a whole societal approach to fighting climate change, which I think is an important issue, ensuring that the whole society is involved in fighting climate change.

Then of course, we have inadequate mainstreaming of climate change into the education curriculums. Further in the context of regional cooperation, there are enormous opportunities for a better approach to addressing climate change. So it is not always that there are no opportunities, opportunities exist in the regional integration context. We know that countries have developed their nationally determined contributions, their national adaptation plans, and these are crucial to helping countries in their quest for transitioning to green economies and sustaining growth and development.

Coming out of the recent COP29 in Baku, which resulted in a new financial pledge of $300 billion per year by developed countries to fight climate change, regional economic communities are beginning to position themselves in terms of how they will support countries to tap into that financing to address climate change at national level and regional levels. And then regional economic communities are also looking to support the mainstreaming of climate change into all development strategies and plans and including of course as mentioned earlier education curriculums.

The recent El Nino effect in sub-Saharan Africa as a region is being seen as an opportunity to transition to the green economy. Because I said we need to look at some of these effects of climate changes, as opportunities to transition to the green economy.

There is also increased multilateral support for regional initiatives that are cross boundary in nature. And I’ll just give an example in Southern Africa and Eastern Africa, I believe that COMESA, in collaboration with the World Bank, have the ASCENT energy programme that is envisaged to be about $15 billion with enormous potential for access to climate finance.

In addition on the African continent, we have the Africa Union’s Green Recovery Action Plan (GRAP), which is an opportunity to accelerate green transition of African countries and African economies. And then of course the AU Climate Change Strategy, which I talked about earlier on, which is an opportunity to strategically create a paradigm shift in Africa’s approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

As I mentioned earlier, CACCI is currently supporting the African Union Commission to develop a digital monitoring, reporting and learning dashboard. This tool that CACCI is supporting will enable countries to track progress that is being made in implementation of the AU climate strategy.

This will also enable peer to peer learning by countries in the African continent and also support decision-making. So at the regional level, the regional economic communities will play a key role in facilitating collection of data and spearheading analytics in their member states to inform this digital dashboard, which will be a one-stop shop for information on how countries are moving towards achieving the strategy of the AU.

Then of course, finally, within the context of regional integration, the African Continental Free Trade Area is also an opportunity to transition to green trade in the continent and this will be a major contribution to green economies. So, important to see how the AfCFTA can support greening our economies.

You have a strong background in the agri sector, how vulnerable is the agri sector to climate change?
We all know that Africa depends heavily on rain-fed agriculture, and it is noted that the agriculture sector is the most vulnerable sector to climate change. But I also see the agriculture sector playing a role as a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

We are told that in sub-Saharan Africa, 60%–70% of food is produced by rural smallholder farmers who in the recent past, of course, have had to grapple with the the effects of climate change through events such as droughts, floods, etc. And this has resulted in regional food insecurity for the sub-Saharan African region.

So, we really should be thinking about shifting agriculture and the food systems in Africa through the following: We need to develop robust climate sensitive agriculture policies that adequately respond to the climate crisis. We need to increase investment in the agriculture sector to make it more resilient. And I know that frameworks such as the Malabo Declaration require or encourage countries to increase investment to the sector.

Importantly also increasing resources to agriculture research and development. This will be important. We need to also invest in capacity building of rural farmers on climate smart agriculture technologies and practices.

We need to invest in improving farmer extension services, especially on climate smart agriculture and climate resilient food seed varieties. And then I think another point is that we need to invest in improved access to weather and climate information and robust early warning systems among others.

So definitely, the agricultural sector is vulnerable to the effects of climate change, but equally we need to address the issue relating to the fact that agriculture does also contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

Are there any agri success stories you can share?
Yes, I’ll give one example, which is seen in the outcomes of practices that are related to the use of climate-smart agriculture in Eastern Uganda, where rural farming communities have been able to transform their lives and improve their livelihoods through several areas.

The use of climate change practices have enabled these farmers to improve their livelihoods by realising improved yields and bumper harvests. This has provided enough for domestic consumption and enough to sell to markets. And with this, farmers have access to finance, which has helped them to send their children to school and to build better homes in eastern Uganda.

Through climate-smart technologies, farmers have also increased their yields, and because of this, farmers have been able to organise themselves into farmer cooperatives.

With this, they are able to dialogue more effectively as stakeholders in the food system, because they are more organised as farmer cooperatives, and this has also helped them to have access to markets, not only in Uganda, but even across borders. And so this is really an interesting success story to share.

You were part of Women in Green Economy at AGES in February 2024. How was the experience?
Yes, I attended the last AGES in February 2024, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it was a great success, and it also presented opportunity for growth. And I’m happy that USAID’s CACCI project was able to also contribute and participate in some of the side events that were taking place at AGES 2024.

I was particularly pleased that women and youth were a focus of participation in AGES 2024, because this helped to position these two stakeholder groups, women and youth, as being crucial players in the green economy space. And it is my hope that we will continue to advance this agenda of placing women and youth in these conversations, because they do play a key role across the African continent as contributors to addressing issues around the effects of climate change.

You are also a member of the advisory board for the 2025 edition. How do you think AGES can have an actual impact?
AGES is already being seen to be the go-to conference for Africa’s green economy conversations. And I also see it as a platform for promoting concrete action. We need to act. These conversations around greening our economies really are a call to action. We need to act, and I see the AGES summit as being that platform that can actually help to advance action.

I think it will be essential for the AGES summit, first and foremost, to ensure that it aligns its agenda to that of the African Union. That way, AGES will continue to be seen as the go-to conference or event for discussions around the African green economy.

I think AGES should also begin to identify some low-hanging, early-action activities that can quickly help to achieve the objectives of the AU’s framework, also in addition to aligning with the global agenda. So, identifying some of the low-hanging early-action activities that can help achieve some of the African and global agendas that are out there.

African countries need continued awareness raising, and so I see the AGES platform as a platform that can enable this. African countries need skills and technology transfer. So AGES would be a platform that would advance conversations around this issue and begin to identify potential low-hanging fruit and action that can be done in this space.

Innovative solutions, of course, are an important element of the AGES summit as well as the private sector and their role and participation in ensuring that we achieve green economies. But the participation of the private sector can only be effective when we have an enabling policy and regulatory environment.

So the role of our national country policymakers is very important for the AGES summit; so making sure that we have high level participation in the AGES summit to ensure that when we discuss the enabling policy and regulatory environment, we are actually speaking to very high level officials in these countries. And it is this environment that will allow all players to contribute effectively to achieving a green economy on the continent.

Anything you would like to add?
I would like to use this opportunity to thank AGES for identifying me as a potential advisory board member. I have enjoyed making contributions from CACCI into the AGES summit, and I look forward to a successful event this year. What excites me about this summit is that from 2024 to 2025, we have seen a huge leap. So I welcome participants to the AGES summit, and urge them to please make use of this gathering to ensure that we implement our NDCs and NAPs and achieve a green economy for Africa. Thank you.

www.linkedin.com/in/dr-nalishebo-meebelo/?originalSubdomain=au

www.abtglobal.com/projects/usaid-comprehensive-action-for-climate-change-initiative-cacci

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VUKA Group

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