Summary of the Climate for Development in Africa Programme (ClimDev-Africa)

ClimDev is an African development programme to integrate Climate Risk Management (CRM) into pertinent policy and decision processes throughout the continent. It will be implemented under the direction of the Joint AUC-ECA-AfDB Secretariat with support from a number of sources. ClimDev-Africa aims to enhance economic growth and progress towards the MDGs through mitigating the vagaries of climate variability and climate change, and to ensure that development achievements already gained are climate resilient in the longer term . It is envisaged as a 3-phase programme over an 11-year period.

Climate Risk Management is both:

•  A rational way of coping with the effects of climate variability today, and

•  A practical, ‘no regrets' way of incorporating longer-term climate uncertainty and risk, into policy and decision making tomorrow.

Climate variability lies behind much prevailing poverty, food insecurity, and weak economic growth in Africa. Some 200 million of the poorest people in Africa are food insecure, many through their dependence on climate sensitive livelihoods – predominantly rain-fed agriculture. Their vulnerability is expected to increase with climate change due to anticipated increases in climate variability (e.g. more droughts and floods). Similar changes are anticipated in crop production, seasonal water resources, malaria prevalence, crop pests and other climate sensitive aspects of rural life. Poor rural people with fewest choices, least access to resources, and climate sensitive livelihoods, are most at risk from climate uncertainty. In a similar way, national economies based on rain-fed agricultural production, and all the many people who work in related activities, are highly vulnerable to seasonal climate fluctuations. Hydropower production, irrigation resources, fisheries, pastoralism, post-harvest industries, inhabitants of settlements liable to flood, are all at risk from increased climate variability. These are some of the many target beneficiaries for ClimDev-Africa with a diversity of outcomes expected .

Currently, climate data is little used in development processes in Africa because of weaknesses in both demand for, and supply of, pertinent climate services. In order to strengthen resilience to short-term climate variability, ClimDev-Africa will assess primary stakeholder needs in relation to climate information and build capacity in institutions (public, private and civil) and people to use climate knowledge more effectively in planning and decision-making. It will also build capacity in climate and weather institutions, to be able to provide the many information services required.

Compliance with African Poverty Strategies

The Overall Purpose of ClimDev -Africa is to strengthen the climate-resilience of economic growth and the MDGs through mainstreaming climate risk management in sensitive sectors. This fits with all national poverty reduction strategies (PRSs) in Africa oriented towards the MDGs. It also accords with AU/NEPAD plans for improved agriculture and food security, disaster risk reduction and environmental action, and the global programme on adaptation to climate change agreed at Cop 12 in November 2006. The AU Summit of January 2007 addressed the challenges posed by the potential impacts of Climate Change on Africa's development, endorsed the ClimDev-Africa Stakeholders Report and Implementation Strategy, and requested implementation through full ownership of the Joint AUC-ECA-AfDB Secretariat.

Donors are currently developing new programmes in response to the recently recognised need to accelerate adaptation to climate change in Africa, in part because of the potential impact of climate change on poverty reduction. This was partly recognised in the G8 Gleneagles Statement (July 2005) as well as the AU-EU Partnership for

Development 2005, and fully endorsed at UNFCCC CoP 12 (November 2006) with timely release of the challenging Stern Review on Climate Economics. ClimDev-Africa is specifically designed for multi-donor engagement, and is predicated on major donor support for transfer and scaling up phases to achieve maximum impact on poverty throughout Africa.

Expected outputs/outcomes – in relation to MDGs and economic growth

The expected outcome from ClimDev-Africa is improved availability and use of quality climate information and services addressing needs of local, national and regional scale decision makers, in support of sustainable development and achievement of the MDGs , in critical climate-sensitive sectors and areas in Africa. This will include improved:

• Policies : Political engagement of all African regions and states in managing climate risk to assist development and adaptation to climate change;

• Practices : Much improved agriculture and food security, water, health, energy and environment in African countries through better CRM;

• Services : Adequate information services provided for the full range of CRM practices required to deliver the desired development outcomes in all countries; and

• Data and Infrastructure : Improved data and analytical methods for a) sectoral CRM, b) monitoring climate variability, and c) detecting climate change, with strengthened observation networks and service centres in Africa.

For more information: yadeyemi@uneca.org