Robust Information Africa: A joint CLARE-RIfS project

RIfS has partnered with the CLARE Programme for an initial two-year period to implement the project Robust information for decisions: Africa climate change focus (RI-Africa). This joint initiative has enabled the launch of the RIfS Africa Task Team and aims to reinforce our efforts in amplifying the scientific value of climate information in African policy and decision contexts.

CLARE Programme’s support means a pivotal contribution to the task team work by supporting a science officer and two postdocs based in Africa to help coordinate across diverse but related efforts around the continent, and work on pilot projects. The Africa Task Team provides strategic guidance and scientific oversight for these positions, ensuring alignment with the project’s overall priorities.

RI-Africa project objectives

Engaging in exploratory conversations about robust climate information for decision makers, with adaptation projects across Africa (primarily CLARE) to:
- understand how they identify, access, interpret, and apply climate information
- build the foundations of collaborative relationships on this issue
- identify their experienced barriers and challenges to using robust information, including capacity, literacy, and structural issues
Building a synthesis of lessons learned of relevance across contexts
Design, implement, and coordinate small pilot actions to test innovative ways to overcome the identifies barriers and challenge ideas
Develop guidance materials that will be shared to help existing and future activities

About CLARE

CLARE is a flagship research programme on climate adaptation and resilience, funded mostly (about 90%) by UK Aid through the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and co-funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada. CLARE is bridging critical gaps between science and action by championing Southern leadership to enable socially inclusive and sustainable action to build resilience to climate change and natural hazards. Learn more about CLARE: www.clareprogramme.org

Hosting Institutions

Dr Thomas Minda -RIfS Africa Task Team science officer- is hosted by the African Population Health Research Center (APHRC) in Nairobi, Kenya.

APHRC is a premier research-to-policy institution, generating evidence, strengthening research and related capacity in the African research and development ecosystem, and engaging policy to inform action on health and development. Learn more: www.aphrc.org

Dr. Lum Sonita Awah, postdoctoral researcher, is hosted by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT in Nairobi, Kenya.

Established in 2019, the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) was created to address climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and malnutrition, maximizing impact for change at key points in the food system. Lear more: www.alliancebioversityciat.org/regions/africa/kenya

Dr Felix Ajibola, postdoctoral researcher, is hosted by the Centre National de Calcul de Côte d’Ivoire (High Performance Computing Center of Côte d’Ivoire) – Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny

The National Computer Center of Côte d’Ivoire support academic research by providing modern high-performance computing and data-processing capabilities to facilitate academic-industrial collaboration and promote the dissemination of innovative, competitiveness-driving technologies. Learn more: www.cncci.edi.ci

Interested in our work? Help us to co-develop a next generation of leadership in Africa that is convening the agenda, owning the process, building from local and regional needs, and operating within the realities of the Africa lived experience. Contact us: africa@wcrp.rifs.org

The RI-Africa Project was proposed and is being implemented under the Regional Information for Society (RIfS) Core Project of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). It is administered through the RIfS International Project Office (IPO), which is hosted at Ouranos Inc, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.