Working Paper: Accelerating adaptation action in Africa – Insights from African experts

The paper intendes to help frame discussions on ‘Accelerating adaptation action in Africa’ for the Climate Adaptation Summit, which took place online on 25 – 26 January 2021. CDKN interviewed leading African scientists and climate change adaptation practitioners, in late 2020, to identify the key actions African countries must take to rise to the adaptation challenge. CDKN also commissioned a series of articles by adaptation African experts on ‘Accelerating adaptation action in Africa’ and undertook a related literature scan. Statements from these leading scientists and practitioners are presented throughout the paper.

The paper concludes that, as elsewhere around the globe, bringing adaptation to scale in Africa does not mean straightforward replication of adaptation solutions from one locality to another. Given the immense diversity in geo-physical, ecological, social and cultural settings across Africa, adaptation solutions must, naturally, be locally-appropriate and locally-owned if they are to succeed. Working with indigenous knowledge is important. It capitalises on knowledge that people have developed to cope with existing climate variability. It helps build solutions that have legitimacy in local contexts. However, some indigenous knowledge techniques on their own will not be sufficient, where significant shifts in climate have already occurred, or will occur. Local wisdom must be integrated with scientific understanding of climate change, including scientific projections of future climate change, to inform development decisions with long time horizons, e.g. of five or more years. Implementing more widespread and ambitious adaptation in Africa will require more such partnerships, to integrate these different forms of knowledge and advance understanding and action.