Addis Ababa — The fourth edition of the Climate Change and Development Conference (CCDA-IV) will convene in Marrakesh, Morocco from 8-10 October 2014 on the theme: "Africa Can Feed Africa Now: Translating Climate Knowledge into Action".

"The selection of the theme is in recognition of 2014 as the year of agriculture and as such, the conference will focus on climate knowledge opportunities that can transform agricultural production systems to feed Africa sustainably," says Ms. Fatima Denton, Director, Special Initiatives Division of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

"We intend to continue on a trend that commenced during the third CCDA and focus on the impacts of climate change on vulnerable groups," she says and stresses the importance of integrating civil society groups in the CCDA series.

"The strong participation of civil society is a critical part of this series. They bring on board the realities, opportunities and challenges faced at the grass-roots level so that policy makers and researchers in attendance can begin to design interventions," she adds.

The targeted vulnerable groups include farmers, women, the youth and pastoralists.

The CCDA series is a policy influencing space organized each year under the auspices of the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme. ClimDev-Africa is a consortium of three leading pan-African institutions i.e. the African Union Commission (AUC), the ECA and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The overall objective of the conference is to provide a platform for deliberating on how Africa can utilize climate knowledge to transform agricultural production systems in order to sustainably feed itself and improve the socio-economic wellbeing of its people.

Note to editors:

A selection of journalists will be invited to attend and cover the CCDA on the basis of existing coverage and understanding of climate change and development issues.

CCDA is a unique space where stakeholders come together to discuss the interrelationships between climate change and development, with Africa as the main focus. ClimDev-Africa partners, as well as other stakeholders, share their programmes' achievements as well as challenges they face on key climate change issues and seek new knowledge on ways to better cope with them in the interest of Africa's development. Further, it builds a consensus amongst policy makers, academicians, researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders on best approaches of integrating climate change opportunities in policies, strategies, planning and practices in Africa.