Abstract

Since the early 1960s, the countries of the Sahel in West Africa have been adapting to climate variability by developing their own coping strategies. These include drought-resistant crops, adapted cropping patterns, water harvesting, village irrigation schemes and migration. Yet indigenous knowledge and adaptive capacity remains poorly understood by planners. The knowledge generated by communities could be valorized, enhanced and reinforced by science through a process called co-generation of knowledge.

This project has a knowledge sharing, a capacity building and a policy component. Under the knowledge component, researchers will endeavor to understand community perception of adaptation practices and coping strategies; craft strategies to help IDRC partners engage with communities; and identify knowledge gaps where research-generated solutions could complement existing approaches to adaptation. The capacity building component will provide communities with the opportunity to formulate their needs and demands with respect to adaptation. It will allow both researchers and communities to identify their weaknesses and strengths in the area of climate change adaptation. And, it will bank local knowledge related to the management of environmental resources in anticipation of scaling up such practices to the national and regional level.

The policy component aims to inform policymakers and researchers about the social capital and resilience of local communities, and how this can be drawn upon in the design and formulation of adaptation policies. The project is also expected to identify potential community-based adaptation projects as part of the newly approved Challenge Fund.

Recipient Institution(s)