Building resilience and inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa through social learning around climate risks

Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable to droughts, floods and other climate-related stressors and shocks. Some of the most vulnerable in the region are rural communities in arid and semi-arid areas, dependent on agriculture and livestock rearing. The processes of inequality that drives their vulnerability and risk to climatic variability and change is now recognized as important in pursuing the sustainable development goals. This research aims to contribute to greater understanding of the underlying drivers of risk, while also identifying pathways to improve the impact that climatic information may have on building resilience through bridging the 'usability gap'.

The focus of the research is on understanding the learning processes that build resilience and support livelihoods, which are responding to multiple pressures and opportunities across timescales in contexts that are complex and highly uncertain. Knowledge that feeds in to managing uncertainty is derived from a range of traditional, indigenous, local and scientific sources. In such contexts, linear models of knowledge generation from data collection to information generation to knowledge production around one specific stressor in one timescale are insufficient. Consequently, the processes of social learning, as iterative reflection that occurs when experiences, ideas and environments are shared with others, are central to building resilience. The research aims to improve our understanding of social learning in vulnerable communities across temporal scales and in complex historically, socially, economically and politically mediated contexts. The interdisciplinary endeavor will pay particular attention to environmental history and the dynamics of power, politics and gender within them, and explore how they link to ongoing work on delivering improved scientific climate information.

This research will build on the interdisciplinary track record of the University of Sussex and the Institute of Development Studies in climate science, climatic information exchange, adaptation, environmental history and processes of power and politics within social learning in Sub-Saharan Africa. The collaboration will use in depth case studies with participatory action research building on an established partnership with a broad consortium of research and development partners in Kenya - the Ada consortium. The case studies will provide learning and evidence from a continuum of communities focused on agricultural to pastoral livelihoods in arid and semi-arid regions of the country.

The learning from the case studies on social learning and local resilience building will be shared through engagement with key stakeholders and networks working in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in the region. A facilitated dialogue with key stakeholders will inquire in to potential avenues for improving the links between climate information exchange and disaster risk reduction strategies to build resilience in vulnerable communities. The project will facilitate planning of future work, building on the ongoing work of partners' in NERC/DFID funded projects and others, and identifying opportunities for further fundraising through the GCRF or other vehicles.

The proposed research will contribute to addressing the development challenge of millions of people currently living on the front lines of climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa through a collaborative inter-disciplinary partnerships approach. Its pathways to impact will be pursued both through the production of quality research outputs and their sharing and communications, and, through direct engagement of partners in the research process itself.

The research process will build capacity of the men, women and children in the case study communities in Kitui and Isiolo counties in Kenya, as well be scaled out to other communities at risk through enhancing the capacity of partner organizations to critically analyze, understand and reflect on the learning processes that build resilience locally. The appointed postdoctoral research fellow will be from Sub-Saharan Africa and will work with the Sussex African Center building capacity for quality research around resilience in in the region.

The project will contribute new knowledge through the production of the following identified and planned research outputs:
i) Two case study reports, on social learning for building resilience for each county
ii) One IDS research report to synthesise and compare findings across the two counties
iii) At least one journal article contributing interdisciplinary knowledge on social learning and the role it plays in building resilience locally
iv) One workshop research report from a national stakeholder dialogue
v) One practice brief on improving disaster risk reduction programs in the region
vi) On policy brief for national and regional stakeholders
A detailed communications plan will support dissemination of research outputs, and a network coordination role will support the dialogue and engagement as an integral part of the project - through work under the second objective.

Instrumental impact or changes in policy and practice will be achieved beyond the lifespan of this 9-month engagement through building new research and practice using emerging learning and strengthened partnerships in the region and beyond.