Locating Climate Insecurity: Where Are the Most Vulnerable Places in Africa?

Abstract

Africa is widely recognized as one of the continents most vulnerable to climate change. The continent’s vulnerability is partly driven by geography, but also by the low adaptive capacity of the continent resulting from dysfunctions in countries’ economies, health, education, infrastructure, or governance. This study is intended to be a proof of concept for a methodology for identifying which areas in Africa are most vulnerable at the most detailed scale possible. The study identified four main processes that encompass different aspects of vulnerability: (1) physical exposure to climatological disasters, (2) household and community vulnerability, (3) governance and political violence, and (4) population density. Each of these areas of vulnerability was given equal weight in the final vulnerability analysis. Within three of the four areas, a number of different indicators were identified that contribute to that dimension of vulnerability. Indicators within each area were assigned equal weight unless there were missing data for an indicator.