Tracy Cull

Farmers' responses to climate variability and change in southern Africa – is it coping or adaptation?

Southern Africa has a history of climate variability, and thus is an ideal setting to analyse responses to past and current climate variability by farmers. This paper presents original qualitative research undertaken in five southern African countries (Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe) to determine farmers’ responses and whether they can be classified as coping or adaptation. Farmers were both subsistence- and commercially oriented, operating on a variety of scales, from small-scale through to large-scale, and growing a wide variety of crops, from cereals to vegetables and cash crops. A wide range of strategies have been adopted in order to respond to climate variability and change. These strategies include crisis responses, modifying farming practices, modifying crop types and varieties, resource management and diversification. Coping typically refers to short-term strategies designed to maintain survival, but the long-term nature of many of the responses suggests that they do, in fact, constitute adaptations to current variability and change. However, determining whether or not the observed strategies are examples of coping or adaptation is dependent on the particular context in which they were observed, and also requires a consideration of the scale of interest. This has implications for how policies and programmes are designed to support adaptation in the future.

Cell phones, electronic delivery systems and social cash transfers: Recent evidence and experiences from Africa

Electronic delivery systems for social cash transfer programmes offer advantages to programme implementers and benefit recipients in terms of enhanced cost efficiency and flexibility. The rapid penetration of cell phone infrastructure, combined with a growing interest from banks to extend financial services, is likely to make the electronic delivery of cash transfers an increasingly viable option. Taking into account the broader benefits for cash transfer recipients arising from improved access to financial services infrastructure, this article elaborates recent evidence and experiences from Kenya, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland. The article concludes with an assessment of the opportunities and challenges for scaling-up electronic delivery systems.

Identifying climate services needs for national planning: insights from Malawi

The importance of climate services, i.e. providing targeted, tailored, and timely weather and climate information, has gained momentum, but requires improved understanding of user needs. This article identifies the opportunities and barriers to the use of climate services for planning in Malawi, to identify the types of information that can better inform future adaptation decisions in sub-Saharan Africa. From policy analysis, stakeholder interviews, and a national workshop utilizing serious games, it is determined that only 5–10 day and seasonal forecasts are currently being used in government decision making. Impediments to greater integration of climate services include spatial and temporal scale, accessibility, timing, credibility and the mismatch in timeframes between planning cycles (1–5 years) and climate projections (over 20 years). Information that could more usefully inform planning decisions includes rainfall distribution within a season, forecasts with 2–3 week lead times, likely timing and location of extreme events in the short term (1–5 years), and projections (e.g. rainfall and temperature change) in the medium term (6–20 years). Development of a national set of scenarios would also make climate information more accessible to decision makers, and capacity building around such scenarios would enable its improved use in short- to medium-term planning. Improved climate science and its integration with impact models offer exciting opportunities for integrated climate-resilient planning across sub-Saharan Africa. Accrual of positive impacts requires enhanced national capacity to interpret climate information and implement communication strategies across sectors. Policy relevance For climate services to achieve their goal of improving adaptation decision making, it is necessary to understand the decision making process and how and when various types of weather and climate information can be incorporated. Through a case study of public sector planning in Malawi, this article highlights relevant planning and policy-making processes. The current use of weather and climate information and needs, over various timescales – sub-annual to short term (1–5 years) to medium term (6–20 years) – is outlined. If climate scientists working with boundary organizations are able to address these issues in a more targeted, sector-facing manner they will improve the uptake of climate services and the likelihood of climate-resilient decisions across sub-Saharan Africa.

Sovereign insurance to incentivize the shift from disaster response to adaptation to climate change – African Risk Capacity's Extreme Climate Facility

In order to meet the costs of adaptation, additional funds will be required, including private finance. Sovereign insurance is currently used as a contingency for disaster response but, as yet, has not been harnessed to finance a shift to longer term adaptation. In addition to its existing disaster contingency products, African Risk Capacity has designed a new sovereign insurance product – the Extreme Climate Facility – that intends to complement existing bilateral, multilateral and private sources of finance that enable proactive adaptation by leveraging private sector funds through the market. In this viewpoint, we argue that the Extreme Climate Facility contributes to the adaptation financing gap while also being innovative in incentivizing disaster risk reduction and adaptation interventions.