Kingdom of Eswatini: Selected Issues
IMF Staff Country Reports, September 30, 2024
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- Published: September 30, 2024
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400289620.002
Major climate vulnerabilities and observed impacts
- Eswatini is highly susceptible to climate shocks and is impacted by frequent droughts, erratic rainfall, variability in temperature, and water scarcity.
- Climate change is affecting Eswatini in several ways, increasing the frequency of extreme weather phenomena that undermine livelihoods and economic stability.
Agriculture and food security
- Over 70 percent of the population depend on agriculture.
- Increased frequency of extreme weather phenomena necessitates adaptation to create a climate-smart agricultural sector with a long-run objective of ensuring food security and generating exportable surpluses.
- Priority actions implied by the analysis:
- Transform agricultural practices toward climate-smart approaches.
- Prioritize investments that enhance resilience of staple production and enable surplus generation for export.
Energy and mitigation
- Focusing on sustainable energy is pertinent to reduce reliance on carbon-intensive energy production that exacerbates climate stress.
- Implicit priorities:
- Support a transition to sustainable energy sources to lower carbon intensity and reduce climate vulnerability.
Climate finance, insurance, and fiscal resilience
- Eswatini should seek access to green financing and insurance mechanisms to protect against the financial impacts of climate change.
- Insurance plays a crucial role as a safety net against unpredictable disaster impacts by spreading financial risk, stabilizing economies, and supporting recovery efforts.
- Recommended financial strategies:
- Mobilize green financing to fund adaptation and sustainable-energy investments.
- Develop or access insurance and risk-pooling instruments to mitigate fiscal and household exposure to natural disasters.
Cross-cutting implications for policy and institutions
- Policies should integrate climate adaptation across sectors, prioritizing agriculture and energy.
- Strengthening institutional capacity to design, access, and manage green finance and insurance instruments is essential.
- Social protection and labor-market policies should account for heightened climate risk to livelihoods and unemployment vulnerabilities.
Kingdom of Eswatini: Selected Issues — IMF Staff Country Reports 2024, Issue 305.
Content in this bundle
- Kingdom of Eswatini: Selected Issues; IMF Country Report No. 24/305; September 10, 2024