Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa: Foundations for the Future

Abstract

Many institutions across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and many funding agencies that support them are currently engaged in initiatives that are targeted towards adapting rainfed agriculture to climate change. This does, however, present some very real and complex research and policy challenges. Given to date the generally low impact of agricultural research across SSA on improving the welfare of rainfed farmers under current climatic conditions, a comprehensive strategy is required if the considerably more complex challenge of adapting agriculture to future climate change is to bear fruit. In articulating such a strategy, it is useful to consider the criteria by which current successful initiatives should be judged. Ultimately, but possibly beyond the time scale within which funding agencies will specifically support climate change research in SSA, success will be measured by clear evidence that farmers are better able to cope with current climate-induced risk and adapt to future climate change as the need for the latter becomes imperative. However, for that to happen and for agricultural research to have made a significant contribution, in the shorter term there are key ‘foundation stones’ that must be in place upon which such research must be built. It is the degree to which the support provided under current initiatives is able to help lay those foundation stones that success should be judged. In