The shift from animal to plant-based proteins in a rapidly urbanizing African continent should inform future efforts to arrest the climate crisis blighting communities and ecosystems, campaigners said Tuesday.

Speaking at a virtual forum organized by World Animal Protection, an international animal welfare lobby, in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, the campaigners stressed that limiting the consumption of eggs, beef and pork will strengthen Africa's resilience to climatic shocks.

Tennyson Williams, regional director for Africa at World Animal Protection, said that intensive livestock production to meet the rising demand for proteins is fueling the triple ecological crisis of climate change, habitat loss, and pollution in Africa.

"Over-reliance on animal proteins has proved untenable in the light of climate change, deforestation, and spread of superbugs hence the need for African countries to explore alternatives that are friendly to nature," said Williams.

Senior policymakers, campaigners, and researchers attending the two-day Africa Protein Summit, convened by World Animal Protection, will discuss dietary habits that can be adopted to boost climate resilience in the continent.

Williams said the inaugural Africa Protein Summit will endorse strategic action plans whose implementation will ensure food systems in the continent can sustain planetary and human health.

Rising consumption of animal proteins such as eggs, milk, pork, chicken and beef in Africa's growing metropolises is behind a spike in the emission of greenhouse gases including methane, said Victor Yamo, the Farming Campaigns Manager at World Animal Protection.

Yamo believed mass production of animal proteins is undermining the resilience of Africa's vital ecosystems like fresh water sources, forests, and wildlife sanctuaries besides fueling the spread of drug-resistant pathogens.

According to Yamo, per capita meat consumption in Africa is likely to rise from the current 14 kg to 26 kg annually and might accelerate deforestation, water contamination and anti-microbial resistance.

He called for a shift to organic farming practices, and speedy implementation of policies that strengthen the nexus between animal welfare and planetary health to realize a climate-resilient future for Africa.