Coordination, Capacity Development and Knowledge Exchange Unit (CCKE)

Project timeline

Project Contact

Suzanne Carter

CCKE Lead

info@futureclimateafrica.org

The Coordination, Capacity Development and Knowledge Exchange (CCKE) unit performs several functions to increase the overall impact of the FCFA programme, including:

Coordinating activities to promote learning and knowledge exchange between research partners including workshops, conferences, webinars, and meetings.
Coordinating and compiling reporting to the donors and the annual review of the programme.
Gap filling research was commissioned as the programme progressed and new research questions emerged.
Research and travel grants were issued and managed for early career researchers from the FCFA research consortia through the FCFA Innovation and Mobility Fund.
Generating and disseminating content to communicate FCFA work and key research messages to wider audiences through the FCFA website, Twitter account, news stories, press releases, briefs, and other publications.

The CCKE has commissioned the following gap-filling studies in support of FCFA research objectives:

Scoping phase case studies and baselines to evaluate the needs of climate information users in the context of the capabilities and limitations of current science, focusing on Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi, Ghana, and Mozambique, as well as the ports and hydropower sectors.
Scoping research on the political economy of long-lived decisions in several African contexts including, the Kafue River Basin (Zambia), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), the Rufiji Basin (Tanzania), Maputo (Mozambique), Senegal, and the Lake Victoria Basin.
A literature review and economic case studies on the economics, political economy and behavioural science of accounting for long-term climate in decision making today.
An analysis of barriers, opportunities and good practice in Africa to support scientific capacity development in climate change-related disciplines.
An analysis to identify key climatic characteristics that influence tea production in Malawi and Kenya and adaptation methods to support long-term planning in tea production.
Research to better understand how climate scientists can improve the communication and visualisation of uncertain climate information for decision-makers and other non-experts.
A climate risk screening tool for Rwanda’s national environmental fund, FONERWA, for grant managers, expert reviewers, and project developers to identify areas where climate risks and risk mitigation measures need to receive more attention within proposals.

There are 99 Early Career Researchers (74 African and 36 women) that are direct recipients of FCFA capacity development initiatives delivered through the mechanism of the Mobility and Innovation Fund. The Mobility Fund has funded 112 travel grants since its inception for the purpose of attendance of workshops, conferences, secondments, and training and 12 research projects have been funded through the Innovation Fund.

A FCFA training day was held in 2017 for Early Career Researchers on communication of climate change, research impact and collaborative proposal writing skills.

The CCKE is undertaking an analysis of the completed capacity development initiatives to understand how effective FCFA has been in empowering Early Career Researchers, what are the most important skills for Early Career Researchers and what recommendations can be drawn from the FCFA programme to be used in future capacity development initiatives for multi-consortia research programmes.

FCFA recognises the importance of building the capacity of journalists to report on climate change. FCFA has funded two journalists through fellowships with Climate Home News in 2018 and funded 10 reporting grants with Climate Home news in 2019. A journalist and climate scientist training took place in Tanzania in July 2019 to help build the capacity and create a two-way dialogue between journalists and scientists on climate change.

FCFA and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) hosted the first Wikipedia Edit-a-thon on Climate Change in Africa for early to mid career researchers in August 2019. The Edit-a-thon equipped researchers with new skills in how to edit and contribute effectively to Wikipedia, and therefore increase the global exposure and impact of their research on climate change in Africa.

Karen Morris

CCKE

Role: Comms Officer Karen is a comms officer for Future Climate for Africa, where she leads on design, including printed and online materials. She also supports on database management, management of web resources and logistical assistance for webinars and conferences. Before specialising in Knowledge

Roy Bouwer

CCKE

Role: Research Officer Roy is a research officer for Future Climate for Africa. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Geography and Honours degree in Environmental Analysis and Management from the University of Pretoria. He has also obtained his Master’s degree in Climate Change and

Tiffany Chalmers

CCKE

Role: Junior Project Manager Tiffany is the Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) Junior Project Manager at SSN. Previously she worked in the Environmental Mangement Department at the City of Cape Town, facilitating and strenthening local and international partnerships for sustainable development. She holds a BA

Beth Mackay

CCKE

Role: Knowledge Manager Beth is a knowledge manager in the Future Climate for Africa programme. Her background in an LLM in Global Environment and Climate Change Law from University of Edinburgh and a MSc in Climate Change and Sustainable Development from University of Cape

Donald Barclay

CCKE

Role: Project Manager Donald is currently supporting the Coordination, Capacity Development and Knowledge Exchange Unit (CCKE) in the role of project manager. He is conducting research that contributes to the Future Climate For Africa (FCFA) programme, researching the motivations and challenges for the uptake of

Julio Araujo

CCKE

Role: Research Fellow Julio is the research fellow and provides technical support for the Future Climate For Africa Project. He previously worked at Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG), where he was involved in a project that explores the impacts of and adaptation to climate

Suzanne Carter

CCKE

Role: CCKE Lead Suzanne leads the Climate Services Practice Area at SSN. She heads up the Coordination, Capacity Building and Knowledge Exchange Unit (CCKE) of the Future Climate for Africa programme and is the coordinator for Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa (WISER) TRANSFORM project. She is also the Head

In March 2019 the CCKE received an extension under an Accountable Grant. This extension seeks to maximise the impact and legacy of the FCFA programme and continue key components of work that have emerged from the implementation of the programme. In response to the FCFA 2018 DFID Annual Review recommendations, and wider strategy of HMG to scale up the International Climate Fund (ICF) spend, further elements of work were agreed with DFID. The focus remains to leverage the value of DFID’s initial investment in FCFA in order to inform a wider African research agenda whilst bringing new climate information to bear on strategic and operational developmental decisions.

Climate Model Evaluation Hub

FCFA has made substantial progress in understanding the African climate and has developed methodologies to evaluate the regional climate processes and impact-relevant indices which matter locally. LaunchPAD has been established to build upon these novel findings and methods to extend the work to more regions and systems, and to embed tools into automated software that will fast-track the understanding of how well climate models simulate climate dynamics in African regions.The establishment of the Hub was made possible by building on existing FCFA research networks through researchers at the University of Oxford, University of Yaounde I, University of Nairobi, University of Cape Town, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and the Met Office, showcasing the strong legacy and importance of FCFA partnerships between British and African research institutions.

Climate Mainstreaming Technical Facility

The CCKE hosts the FCFA’s Climate Mainstreaming Facility (CMF). The CMF offers support to DFID country offices, regional and central departments to strengthen climate mainstreaming and the integration of International Climate Finance (ICF) in their portfolios. The facility aims to improve the uptake of climate information and climate risk analysis and adaptation assessment, including for integration, and enhanced compliance with the DFID Smart Guide on Climate and Environment.

African Climate Risks Conference (ACRC)

The CCKE served as the Secretariat to the planning of the African Climate Risks Conference (ACRC) that was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 7th – 9th October 2019. The Conference provided a forum for the wider African climate research community to exchange on current scientific frontiers, and review progress in African climate and climate change science.

The goal of the conference was to ensure greater impact and legacy of completed and on-going research programmes by promoting the uptake of new data, tools and knowledge; and brokering new research collaborations and more targeted donor support for these.

The conference was convened under the auspices of the following organisations: WMO-GFCS, WMO-AMCOMET, UNECA-ACPC, WCRP, IPCC, CR4D, WASCAL, SSN and FCFA partner organisations.

Learning from the FCFA programme

The CCKE undertook a learning review, part of the programmatic learning endeavour, to take stock of the lessons emerging from FCFA’s collective experience. It predominantly focuses on three interrelated themes: promoting collective learning in FCFA, southern leadership and capacity, and mobilising climate information. Taken collectively, these three areas of review reveal some important insights and recommendations for improving the design, delivery and impact of climate and development research – providing a valuable source of information for the development and planning of future multi-consortia climate research programmes. Read the learning review here.

SSN: SouthSouthNorth (South Africa)

LATEST NEWS

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Filling the gaps: Building off FCFA’s success to prioritise existing research gaps within Africa

As the final curtains come down on the Future Climate For Africa (FCFA) programme, the impacts and outcomes of the programme will live on for many years. FCFA was one of the largest single investments in African climate science to date, and delivered considerable advances in understanding what drives the climate across the continent and what the future of climate change might look like. While the progress made within the programme life span was considerable, there are still several research gaps which limit our ability to understand Africa’s climate and how it may change.

Improving the use of Climate Change Information for Adaptation in Uganda – Hybrid Workshop on 2nd March 2022

Researchers from Uganda, Kenya and the UK shared their practical experiences of using new simulations with new datasets to examine climate futures and potential impacts in Africa, in a recent HyCRISTAL workshop hosted by the Water Resources Institute of Uganda.

New IPCC report emphasises the need to scale up adaptation in Africa and beyond

Climate change is already being felt across the world, with urgent adaptation action needed to avert the worst impacts. This according to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) working group II (WGII). In the 6th Assessment report (AR6), the IPCC authors highlight the interconnectivity between society, nature and climate change as vital to moving from risk to climate resilient development.

New papers from UMFULA feed into key themes from latest IPCC report

Three new papers highlight the diversity of approaches and themes covered in the FCFA project UMFULA and strong alignment with key themes promoted in the newly published IPCC Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) – ‘Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability’. The Summary for Policymakers emphasizes interdependencies between human societies and climate, biodiversity and ecosystems and the importance of non-climatic global development trends such as land and ecosystem degradation and unsustainable consumption of natural resources. To accelerate adaptation the report identifies, among other things, a need for removing barriers to accessing finance particularly for the most vulnerable and lists insurance alongside other public and private finance instruments as adaptation enablers.

FEATURED RESOURCES

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FEATURED RESOURCES

Hydrogeology of an urban weathered basement aquifer in Kampala, Uganda

June 20, 2022

Weathered basement aquifers are vital sources of drinking water in Africa. In order to better understand their role in the urban water balance, in a weathered basement aquifer in Kampala, Uganda, this study installed a transect of monitoring piezometers, carried out spring flow and high-frequency groundwater level monitoring, slug tests and hydrochemical analyses, including stable isotopes and groundwater residence time indicators. Findings showed a typical weathered basement aquifer with a 20–50-m thickness. Groundwater recharge was 3–50 mm/year, occurring during sustained rainfall. Recharge to a deep groundwater system within the saprock was slow and prolonged, while recharge to the springs on the valley slopes was quick and episodic, responding rapidly to precipitation. Springs discharged shallow groundwater, mixed with wastewater infiltrating from onsite sanitation practices and contributions from the deeper aquifer and were characterised by low flow rates (< 0.001 m³/s), low pH (<5), high nitrate values (61–190 mg/L as NO₃), and residence times of <30 years. The deeper groundwater system occurred in the saprolite/saprock, had low transmissivity (< 1 × 10⁻⁵ m²/s), lower nitrate values (<20 mg/L as NO₃), pH 6–6.5 and longer residence times (40–60 years). Confined groundwater conditions in the valleys were created by the presence of clay-rich alluvium and gave rise to artesian conditions where groundwater had lower nitrate concentrations. The findings provide new insights into weathered basement aquifers in the urban tropics and show that small-scale abstractions are more sustainable in the deeper groundwater system in the valleys, where confined conditions are present.

Building the foundation for climate-informed decision-making in Africa: the need for continued investment in African climate research

May 10, 2022

The FCFA programme aimed to fundamentally improve the scientific understanding of Africa’s climate and pilot new approaches to improve the uptake of medium- to long-term climate information (5–40 years) into decision-making. While much of the real-world impact of the programme emerged from pilot projects, the underpinning science played a critical role in strengthening the knowledge foundation to understand weather and climate processes, and climate change across the continent. The collaborative research approach allowed researchers to work together and build upon each other’s work. This resulted in rapid advances in improving the understanding of Africa’s climate and provides a strong evidence base for future work, as well as decision-making around future climate risks.

This brief aims to encourage further investments from donors in African climate science research. It highlights the advances FCFA has made in advancing the scientific understanding of Africa’s climate, improving climate models, and supporting capacity development. The brief then goes on to emphasise the value of investing in climate science within the FCFA programme and the importance of continued investment, including within existing gaps.

Improving the use of climate change information for adaption in Uganda

May 10, 2022

There is little doubt that climate change is already affecting the lives of people in Uganda. Climate change is a particular challenge for the effective management of the country’s water resources. Reliable information on climate change scenarios and impacts is essential to inform policy and practice. While several climate experiments (e.g. CMIP6) are already available, new experiments such as the 4.5 kilometre-scale convection-permitting regional climate simulations for Africa (CP4A) can now be used alongside the CMIP experiments and allow us to assess the impacts of intense storms in more detail than before. However, if these innovative methods are to influence policy, they first need to be well-understood and accessible. This requires capacity strengthening of the professionals and researchers so that they can analyse such experiments. This workshop provided an opportunity for practitioners in Uganda to learn about a range of climate experiments and see results from case studies focussed on water resources, tea production and urban flooding using the CP4A and CMIP experiments. This was a great opportunity particularly for early career staff at the Ministry of Water and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture Animal and Fisheries and Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) as well as researchers at Makerere University.

Can insurance catalyse government planning on climate? Emergent evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

March 1, 2022

This paper explores how climate risk information produced in the context of insurance-related activities can support public climate adaptation planning. The central contribution is to outline how relevant climate risk information can translate into behaviour change, and the drivers and barriers that influence this in Sub-Saharan Africa. The insurance industry has the potential to catalyse greater use of climate information, either through existing insurance transactions or through capacity building and investment in data sharing and collaboration. We investigate the interplay of climate risk information and insurance processes from two angles: the use of climate risk data by those who provide insurance – with information as an input to the underwriting process; and the catalyst role of insurance for governments to move towards anticipatory climate risk management. We apply a multi-method approach, combining insights from a survey of 40 insurance experts with key informant interviews and document analysis from three complementary case studies: indemnity-based insurance of private assets in South Africa; parametric sovereign risk pool in Malawi; and collaboration on risk analytics and risk management advice (no insurance) in Tanzania. The analysis offers a new perspective on the catalyst role of insurance by focusing on the ways in which political economy factors, particularly incentives and relationships, influence this process. Overall, there appears to be clear scope for a dynamic interaction between insurers and governments where symbiotic use and generation of climate risk information can advance mutual goals. However, that ambition faces many challenges that go beyond availability and suitability of data. Limited trust, unclear risk ownership and/or lack of incentives are key barriers, even if there is risk awareness and overall motivation to manage climate risks. The three cases show the importance of sustained cross-sectoral collaboration and capacity building to increase awareness and utilization of insurance-related climate risk information.