Institutional Mapping for Climate Change Adaptation in Eastern Africa
Abstract
The Eastern African region, including the Horn of Africa, is highly vulnerable to climate change and
several of its major sectors that significantly contribute to the sub-region’s economies will be
severely affected. First, areas already facing water scarcity may get drier and thereby cause associated
disputes and conflicts. Secondly, in East Africa, 80% of the population is involved in agriculture,
which contributes to 40% of the sub-region’s GDP.1 Climate change will significantly impact the
agricultural sector in ways that will ultimately cause reduced yields of subsistence crops, cash crops
and dairy. Thirdly, the eastern African highlands are vulnerable to a range of climate-sensitive
diseases including malaria, dengue fever, meningitis and rift valley fever—whose increased incidence
and spread is driven by climate variability.2
Fourthly, a long coastline with diverse ecosystems characterizes the eastern African region including
the Horn of Africa. The gradual disintegration of coral reefs due to climate change will have
significant impact on seafood supplies, region’s tourism, water quality and safety of coastal
communities. Finally, the region’s rich biodiversity and terrestrial ecosystems are vulnerable to
climate change since changes in mean temperature are predicted to shift ecosystem boundaries with
resultant human/wildlife conflicts. It could similarly increase the range of some vectors and
infectious diseases.3
A number of constraints to reducing the vulnerability of socioeconomic systems to climate change
exist, key among these being the disconnect between national adaptation efforts and research. Useful
local knowledge as well as modern research potential has not been effectively tapped to inform the
national policy-making processes. There is an increasing recognition within the climate change
research community that the climate system is likely to undergo further changes, regardless of the
implementation of abatement policies under the Kyoto Protocol or other regimes. Similarly,
numerous gaps still exist in our understanding of the nature of Africa’s vulnerability to climate
change and the existing opportunities for adaptation. In many of these countries, there is a need for
improved scientific and technical capacity to conduct the integrated, multi-disciplinary regional
investigations necessary to fill these gaps.
Climate change country focal points, regional agencies, and international agencies have all been
engaged in the search for viable responses. On their part, Canada’s International Development
Research Centre (IDRC) and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development
(DFID) launched the Climate Change Adaptation in Adaptation (CCAA) programme in 2006, which
aims to establish a self-sustained African body of expertise on adaptation that responds to the needs
defined by African communities, decision makers and organizations. The CCAA programme sees
capacity development as an ongoing process that should continue beyond the life of the projects it
funds.