"The situation is alarming and not only in relation to climate change," ILRI's Mario Herrero told reporters at a news conference on the second day of a crucial United Nations climate conference in Kenya.

"It is also alarming because of population density and the degradation of natural resources," he said.

Of all the continents in the world, Africa emits the lowest amount of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. But it stands to sustain the most damage from climate change and ILRI said the seven identified countries would be badly hurt.

The study, "Mapping Climate Vulnerability and Poverty in Africa," said small farmers who rely upon erratic rainfall for crops in Chad and Niger in west Africa's Sahel desert region, as well as the African Great Lakes states of Rwanda and Burundi will suffer most.

The study found they were "most vulnerable" to global warming based on a matrix that looked at infant mortality, land degradation, renewable water supply, crop suitability, governance, disease prevelance and public health.

It also found that eastern Africa's arid and semi-arid lands, including large swathes of Ethiopia and Eritrea occupied mainly by livestock-dependant nomadic pastoralists, are "highly vulnerable."

The study did not offer solutions to the problem, citing a scarcity of historical climate data for the regions that complicates analysis of possible measures, short of halting global warming itself.

"The lack of available data on climate and weather limits the capacity of professionals in Africa to apprise the situation," Herrero said, adding that the study intended to highlight the countries most in need of assistance.

But the group warned that the current international response has not gone far enough to ameliorate the plight of Africa's poorest people.

The report was released as some 6,000 delegates from 189 countries attended the 12th session of the UN Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC), at which helping Africa adapt to global warming is a key issue.

Related Links
International Livestock Research Institute
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