REPORT: Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA)

Collaborating for adaptation : findings and outcomes of a research initiative across Africa and Asia

International Development Research Centre. 2020.  Ottawa, Canada. 46 pages 

A new report presents findings in the five key areas where the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) contributed new knowledge and evidence.

The key areas are identifying the hotspot effects of 1.5°C global warming; strengthening adaptation; addressing gender and social inequality through inclusive adaptation; understanding migration in the context of adaptation; and strengthening resilience through private sector adaptation. 

The report elaborates on each key area and provides links to related information. Its conclusions also outline implications for the climate change research community at large.

Using an innovative three-step methodology called Value Chain Analysis for Resilience in Drylands (VCARID), CARIAA research aimed to identify climate risk, adaptation options, and opportunities for private sector development in key economic sectors in five countries . Based on inputs from national stakeholders, analysis focused on the value chains related to cotton in Burkina Faso and Pakistan, and livestock in Kenya, Senegal, and Tajikistan.

Research on the beef sector in Kenya, which highlighted climate risks to livestock production (Abuya, 2019), had a significant influence on policymaking at the county and national levels (Said et al., 2018). At a local level, this included reinforcing the sustainability of wildlife and livestock grazing lands by integrating land use planning, drought mitigation, and land tenure reforms within county development plans in Kajiado, Laikipia, Makueni, and Narok. 

CARIAA research on the climate impacts of selected value chains in semi-arid countries suggests that:

• With the right support, climate-sensitive sectors can continue to play a vital economic role. 
• Actors in the formal private sector see few incentives to adapt, leaving producers to bear most of the climate risk. 
• Regulation and public investment are needed to incentivize sustainable forms of private sector adaptation. 
• Providing early warning and other climate information services, financial services, and targeted investments could significantly increase adaptive capacity. 

Background:

Between 2012 and 2019, IDRC and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development funded CARIAA to help build resilience for people who live in high-risk climate hotspots across Africa and Asia. Under a collaborative consortia model, CARIAA sought to inform climate change adaptation policy and practice through concerted research efforts.

Read Collaborating for Adaptation: Findings and Outcomes of a Research Initiative Across Africa and Asia http://hdl.handle.net/10625/58971