The effects of climate change have begun on the African continent, further contributing to the hardships of the world's poorest populations.
Parts of Uganda's capital are routinely in darkness, sometimes for more than 24 hours, as droughts cause wide-scale power outages.
"Right now I'm having my supper and I can't even see what's in my plate," Ibrahim Kirimuttu, a Ugandan barber, told Â鶹´«Ã½ as he ate by candle light.
The hydroelectric dam is crippled by a lack of water. Uganda is one of the continent's most water-wealthy countries.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates the annual loss resulting from electricity outages in Uganda is one per cent of the annual Gross Domestic Product, which means international investors interested in doing business in the country have begun to look elsewhere.
Droughts and other calamitous climate fluctuations are increasing across the continent, an area of the world already known for its erratic climate.
As average temperatures rise, episodes of famine have tripled over the past 20 years.
Rain water is reduced and vegetation is beginning to disappear, bringing new and dangerous extremes.
Kenya has become a full 3.5 degrees Celsius hotter in the past 20 years alone.
The nomadic Turkana in northern Kenya have herded cattle since the beginning of time, according to their legends. Now, some Turkana have turned to farming due to frequent drought cycles that have devastated their grazing lands. With the help of aid agencies, they are learning to grow drought-resistant crops.
Arid or semi-arid areas in northern, western, eastern and parts of southern Africa are becoming drier, while equatorial Africa is getting wetter.
By 2020, between 75 and 250 million people in Africa are projected to be exposed to an increase of water stress due to climate change, according to a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released Friday.
It is predicted some African nations will have to dedicate five to 10 per cent of their GDP on adapting to climate change.
Global warming-driven climate change is mainly caused by greenhouse gases that have disproportionately come from the industrialized, fossil fuel-burning West. For example, Canada and the United States both emit about five times the world per capita average of such gases.
"Unfortunately for us, the West pollutes and Africa suffers," Dorothy Kaggwa, a spokesperson from Environmental Alert, told Â鶹´«Ã½.
However, focusing on climate change in Africa is only looking at part of the problem.
Governments pander to industry in order to increase development.
"The natural resources are made for development, if we're going to make the lives of our people more comfortable," said Maria Mutagamba, the Ugandan Minister of Environment.
Officials say so long as millions of Africans are unemployed, without money for health care or education, environmental preservation will not be a priority.
Droughts in Ethiopia are partly due to deforestation and clear cutting in order to obtain charcoal for cooking.
In Kenya, only three per cent of the original forests remain. In Uganda, 7,000 hectares of one of the country's last old-growth forests are being cut down to make room for sugar plantations.
With a report from CTV's Murray Oliver
