GCRF-AFRICAP Agricultural and food system resilience: Increasing capacity and advising policy

24 March 2022. The Global Challenges Research Fund programme, “Agricultural and Food System Resilience: Increasing Capacity and Advising Policy” (GCRF-AFRICAP) was codesigned, co-owned and jointly run between institutions in the Global North and Global South. GCRF-AFRICAP aimed to build capacity in prospective, systems-level, decision making for resilient agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa to meet the complex challenges of climate change, the need for equitable economic growth, and the need to feed growing populations nutritiously and sustainably.

Over 200 experts from the GCRF (Global Challenges Research Fund) -Agricultural and Food System Resilience: Increasing Capacity and Advising Policy (AFRICAP) project spent four years working with governments, civil society and the private sector in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia to build an evidence base for making sub-Saharan agriculture more productive, sustainable and resilient.

This is the final report:  

GCRF-AFRICAP (2022) Agricultural and food system resilience: Increasing capacity and advising policy  A Global Challenges Research Fund programme to help agriculture and food production in sub-Saharan Africa become more productive, sustainable and resilient to climate change. # 30 p.

The authors engaged with a significant range of decision makers in the four focal countries (Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia) in the African Union and in Europe, both to scope out the questions to address, and to consider the implications of the programme’s findings.

“The climate crisis is accelerating. Wildfires, floods, droughts and diseases are becomingmore common and more severe in our region – causing crop failures, economic shocks and loss of livelihoods. But there is hope. With the right policies in place, governments can both boost nutrition security and protect their citizens from the impacts of climate change,” Dr Tshilidzi Madzivhandila, Chief Executive Officer, Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN).

“This research gives governments some of the information and evidence they need to get ahead of climate impacts by implementing reforms that enhance resilience, boost nutritional outcomes, and enhance livelihoods. By providing training and support for vulnerable farmers, investing in new agricultural methods, diversifying crop production and importing nutrient-dense foods to supplement domestic production, they can build food systems that are fit for the future we know is coming.” Professor Tim Benton, Director of Chatham House’s Environment and Society Programme