Wikipedia Guide and online climate change edit-a-thon
Are you interested in contributing to Wikipedia, but don’t know how? Does your institution have climate change content to share, but has never considered using Wikipedia as an outreach channel? The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) have produced a guide for climate professionals on how to contribute climate change information to Wikipedia through step-by-step guidance on how to edit articles, along with tips and suggestions on style and structure. CDKN and FCFA will also be hosting an online climate change edit-a-thon from 24 November - 1 December. Register for this event here.
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Learning from the FCFA Programme
A learning review, part of the programmatic learning endeavour, takes stock of the lessons emerging from FCFA’s collective experience. It predominantly focuses on three interrelated themes: promoting collective learning in FCFA, southern leadership and capacity, and mobilising climate information. Taken collectively, these three areas of review reveal some important insights and recommendations for improving the design, delivery and impact of climate and development research - providing a valuable source of information for the development and planning of future multi-consortia climate research programmes.
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A manual for Co-production of African weather & climate services version 2
This manual provides guidance on a range of co-production approaches that can be used to develop weather and climate services that seek to address climate-related risks facing affected people, sectors and livelihoods. The second version includes additional case studies.
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Collection of FCFA country and research team briefs
The country briefs provide a summary of FCFA’s in-country work and an overview of the approaches being implemented to promote the uptake and use of climate information into decision-making spaces. Linked to this, the research team briefs provide a summary of the work of IMPALA, AMMA-2050, HyCRISTAL, UMFULA and FRACTAL.
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The IPCC’s Special Reports on Land and the Ocean: What’s in it for Africa?
The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) has launched new guides in English and French which unpacks the IPCC Special Reports on Land and Oceans for decision-makers in Africa.
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Addressing power imbalances in co-production
Co-production is an increasingly popular approach to knowledge generation encouraged by donors and research funders. However, power dynamics between institutions in the Global North and South can, if not adequately managed, impede the effectiveness of co-production and pose risks for long-term sustainability.
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 New tools to support broader stakeholder involvement in sub-Saharan Africa river basin management
Several dams and hydro-power schemes are being considered for development in Tanzania’s Rufiji River Basin. A new online tool will allow decision makers to consider competing water interests across the entire basin, which will identify infrastructure opportunities or inform operational policies relating to these developments. Read more here.
The Sout h steps forward in climate knowledge collaboration
When climate scientists and researchers from the global South work in collaboration with their counterparts in the North, there will always be a diversity of skills, competence, and varying levels of confidence shared amongst a team. FCFA has canvassed researchers in order to lift out some of the most important lessons learned during their work together. These can inform future South-North project design and collaboration in a way that fosters leadership amongst researchers from the global South. Read more here.
The Congo Air Boundary holds the key to understanding climate change in southern Africa
Southern Africa is one of the few land-based regions in the world for which climate models are in agreement that rainfall will decline as the planet warms. This projected rainfall decline is strongest in the southern hemisphere spring, and manifests as a delay in the onset of the summer rainy season. However, this drying occurs in the context of a poorly understood climate, and so scientists don’t really understand why the models all display such clear agreement. Recent research by UMFULA has aimed to produce a better understanding of the weather systems that form the building blocks of the southern African climate system, in order to address this issue.
 South-North climate research collaboration benefits from inclusivity and expert facilitation
‘Collective learning’ was central to how FCFA research collaborations were structured. These different learning processes allowed all stakeholders, and particularly the Southern researchers, to be involved with identifying what the climate-related research needs were in their areas, and then conceptualise, design, and conduct the appropriate research to fill those gaps. Read more here.
Improved climate modelling could enhance Kenyan wind energy generation and drought information
The Turkana area of north-west Kenya stands in the path of air currents which move from the Indian Ocean towards countries in north-eastern Africa. Over northern Kenya, these produce low, strong winds that bring dry conditions to the region. Further north of here, the winds move moisture-laden air inland, carrying rainfall with it. Being able to simulate these air currents using computer modelling is important to help better understand their behaviour and project how they will respond to changing climatic conditions in future. Predicting changes in wind and rainfall can assist countries in East Africa and the Horn of Africa to anticipate variations in rainfall and drought. Read more here.
 Lessons for effective communication of climate information in sub-Saharan Africa
Climate change is already taking its toll on the African continent. It has never been more crucial that robust scientific information relating to the inevitable and escalating climate shocks reach beyond the scientific community and into the realm of policy makers, development and aid organisations, and communities on the ground. The findings from FCFA give valuable lessons on how to achieve this, so that governments and development-related sectors can build effective climate responses into their policy making and development projects.
Learning from HyCRISTAL’s urban WASH research
Like many developing cities in Africa, the Kenyan city of Kisumu has many residents living in informal settlements, and lacking secure access to clean water and good sanitation. One of the HyCRISTAL urban WASH teams key partnerships in this area was with local development agency Practical Action, which has more than 25 years’ experience working in the ‘WASH’ sector (water, sanitation, and hygiene) to help address these important service delivery gaps. Read more on the lessons from HyCRISTAL’s urban water research in East Africa here.
Climate communication: understanding the end-users’ environment is crucial to information up-take
Communicating climate information effectively with target audiences such as government technical staff starts with well-conceived and carefully packaged communication materials. But it doesn’t end there. According to recent research by FCFA, ensuring audience up-take of this information calls for understanding the environment in which the audience receives and uses these materials. Read more here.
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Recent journal articles by FCFA researchers
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Christopher Jack, Richard Jones, Laura Burgin, Joseph Daron (2020). Climate Risk Narratives: An iterative reflective process for co-producing and integrating climate knowledge. Climate Risk Management.
Sarah Chapman, Cathryn E. Birch, Dr Edward Pope, Susannah M. Sallu, Catherine Bradshaw, Jemma Davie, John Marsham (2020). Impact of climate change on crop suitability in sub-Saharan Africa in parameterized and convection-permitting regional climate models. Environmental Research Letters.
Declan Finney, John Marsham, David Rowell, Elizabeth Kendon, Simon Tucker, Rachel Stratton, Lawrence Jackson (2020). Effects of Explicit Convection on Future Projections of Mesoscale Circulations,Rainfall, and Rainfall Extremes over Eastern Africa. Journal of Climate.
Marco Gaetani, Serge Janicot, Mathieu Vrac, Adjoua Moise Famien, Benjamin Sultan (2020). Robust assessment of the time of emergence of precipitation change in West Africa. Scientific Reports.
Sacré Regis M., D.; Mouhamed, L.; Kouakou, K.; Adeline, B.; Arona, D.; Houebagnon Saint. J., C.; Koffi Claude A., K.; Talnan Jean H., C.; Salomon, O.; Issiaka, S (2020). Using the CHIRPS Dataset to Investigate Historical Changes in Precipitation Extremes in West Africa. Climate.
Yann Largeron, Françoise Guichard, Romain Roehrig, Fleur Couvreux, Jessica Barbier (2020). The April 2010 North African heatwave: when the water vapor greenhouse effect drives nighttime temperatures. Climate Dynamics.
Salomon Obahoundje, Eric Antwi Ofosu,Komlavi Akpoti, Amos T. Kabo-bah (2020). Potential impacts of climate, land use, land cover change on hydropower generation in West Africa: A review. Hydrology.
Katharine Vincent, Declan Conway, Andrew J.Dougill, Joanna Pardoe, Emma Archer, Ajay Gajanan Bhave, Rebecka Henriksson, Neha Mittal, David Mkwambisih, Estelle Rouhaud, Dorothy Tembo-Nhlema (2020). Re-balancing climate services to inform climate-resilient planning – A conceptual framework and illustrations from sub-Saharan Africa. Climate Risk Management.
Rachel James, Neil Hart, Callum Munday, Chris Reason, Richard Washington (2020). Coupled climate model simulation of Tropical-Extratropical Cloud Bands over southern Africa. Journal of Climate.
Cornelia Klein, Christopher M. Taylor (2020). Dry soils can intensify mesoscale convective systems. PNAS.
Caroline Wainwright, Declan Finney, Mary Kilavi, Emily Black, John Marsham (2020). Extreme rainfall in East Africa, October 2019–January 2020 and context under future climate change. Weather.
Katharine Vincent, Suzanne Carter, Anna Steynor, Emma Visman and Katinka Lund Wågsæther (2020) Addressing power imbalances in co-production. Nature Climate Change.
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