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Adaptation to Climate Change in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACCESA)

The African continent is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Already home to the highest proportion of people living in extreme poverty, many of whom rely on climate-sensitive economic activities such as rain-fed subsistence agriculture, the continent is struggling to cope with the burdens that come with disease, conflict and mismanagement of natural resources. These factors, combined with limited human, economic and infrastructural capacity, leave the continent vulnerable to climate variability and change.

Recognizing the high vulnerability of African countries to the impacts of climate change, the project "Integrating Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change into Sustainable Development Policy Planning and Implementation in Eastern and Southern Africa" (ACCESA) was initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme with the support of the Global Environment Facility. The project is providing support for community-level actions that enhance resilience to climate change in the short- and long-term. It is also supporting the development of strategic approaches for integrating adaptation to climate change into policy- and decision-making at the national and sub-national level. Execution of this project is being led by the African Centre for Technology Studies and the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Project Overview

• Project Goal: To reduce the vulnerability of communities in Eastern and Southern Africa to the impacts of climate change, thereby improving their well-being and protecting their livelihoods.

• Objective: To promote the mainstreaming or integration of vulnerability and adaptation to climate change into sustainable development plans and planning processes through pilot projects undertaken in Kenya, Mozambique and Rwanda.

• Planned Outcomes:

  • generation of capacity in each pilot project country to implement adaptation measures in the field that will reduce their vulnerability to climate change;

  • increased capacity in each country to generate and use information about climate change to effect change in relevant development policies; and

  • increased knowledge of the linkages between development planning and climate change, including the policy process and methodologies.

• Partners: Global Environment Facility; United Nations Environment Programme; the Governments of the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Madagascar; African Centre for Technology Studies; International Institute for Sustainable Development; Centre for Science and Technology Innovations; Arid Lands Resource Management Programme; Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit; AMBERO-IP; and the Centre for Innovations and Technology Transfer, Kigali Institute for Science and Technology.

Pilot Projects

As part of the ACCESA project, pilot projects are being undertaken in Kenya, Mozambique and Rwanda to identify effective strategies for reducing the vulnerability of communities to climate change and promote support for these strategies into national policies and planning.

• Kenya: Increase Community Resilience to Drought in Makueni District
  Working with the people of Sakai sub-location, the pilot project is promoting actions that reduce the vulnerability of farming communities to current and future drought conditions. The pilot project aims to increase household food security, reduce poverty through improved livelihoods and facilitate the integration of adaptation to climate change into policies related to disaster management and the sustainable development of arid and semi-arid lands. Implementation of this project is being led by the Centre for Science and Technology Innovations in partnership with the Arid Lands Resource Management Project.

• Mozambique: Community-based Fire Management in Central Mozambique
  Bush fires have become an issue of increasing concern in Mozambique, and their frequency could rise as the frequency and intensity of drought in southern Africa increases due to climate change. AMBERO-IP and Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) are responding to this situation by providing training in fire prevention and management at the community level; helping provincial governments develop and implement policies and processes for monitoring and responding to fire threats and occurrences; and encouraging policy coherence at the national level around fire management.

• Rwanda: Reducing the Vulnerability of Rwanda's Energy Sector to the Impacts of Climate Change
  Hydropower plays a critical role in meeting Rwanda's electricity needs. Generation of this energy, though, is being compromised by degradation of local watersheds and poor maintenance and operation of hydropower facilities. Climate change is expected to exacerbate this situation. Working in the Northern Province, the team is helping local communities to improve their agricultural practices and access to energy; building capacity to integrate climate change considerations into the management and operation of the two hydropower facilities; and promoting changes in national energy, land, agriculture and environment policies that will reduce vulnerability to climate change over the long-term. The Centre for Innovations in Technology Transfer at the Kigali Institute for Science and Technology is leading implementation of these activities.

Regional Level Activities

To support the cross-pollination of ideas, capacity building and knowledge sharing, regional activities involving the three pilot project implementation teams, observer countries (Tanzania and Madagascar), national governments, regional adaptation practitioners and international donors are being undertaken.

• Regional Team Meeting, Nairobi, Kenya - February 2007
  Members of the project management and pilot project implementation teams came together in February 2007 to share experiences to date, discuss plans for the future, address current concern, and identify opportunities for collaboration.

  • Regional Team Meeting Proceedings (PDF - 285 kb)

• Workshop on Integrating Vulnerability and Adaptation into Sustainable Development Planning in Southern and Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya - September 2004
  To solicit interest in and support development of the ACCESA project, UNEP hosted a three day workshop in September 2004. The objectives of this workshop were to explore current understanding of and experience with integrating vulnerability to climate change into sustainable development planning, and to launch the development of potential pilot projects that would further explore these issues.

A second regional meeting is planned for October 2008. This event will bring pilot project team members together with policy-makers to present the outcomes of the field projects and promote strategies for up-scaling lessons learned at the regional level.

Funding

Financial support for this project is being provided by:

• the Global Environment Facility's Strategic Priority on Adaptation;
• Government of the Netherlands; and
• Government of Norway.

As well, in-kind support is being provided by the governments of Germany and Kenya, and by the project's executing agencies and pilot project implementation teams.

For further information about this project, please contact:

• Liza Leclerc, Adaptation Task Manager, UNEP
• Andrew Adwera, Research Fellow, ACTS
• Jo-Ellen Parry, Program Manager, Climate Change and Energy, IISD
• Anne Hammill, Project Manager, Climate Change and Energy, IISD

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