pathways to impact, routes to resilience -...

Pathways to impact, routes

to resilience

About PRISE

Pathways to Resilience in Semi-arid Economies (PRISE) is a five-year multi-country research project that aims to generate new knowledge about how economic development in semi-arid regions can be made equitable and resilient to climate change. It supports decision-makers in local and national governments, civil society and businesses to strengthen their commitment to influencing policy interventions and investments that create more equitable and resilient economic development. It does so by transforming the way key policy-makers make decisions through deepening their understanding of how climate change presents both threats and opportunities for economies in semi-arid areas.

Cover image: © World Bank photo Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/legalcode

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2 www.prise.odi.org @PRISEclimate

3www.prise.odi.org @PRISEclimate

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What makes PRISE different to other research projects on climate change?Ground-breaking in its focus, PRISE research adopts a policy- and development-first approach to engaging decision-makers in governments, businesses and trade bodies. Rather than starting with complex climate change projections, it begins by identifying the decisions people need to make now about investment choices and development options for semi-arid regions.

Decision-makers and the research team decide jointly on the research questions and study areas to ensure the research supply responds to demand. PRISE researchers will engage continuously with these key stakeholders throughout the project duration. This demand-led approach means PRISE has the flexibility to support policy-makers and investors with targeted, quick-response research and the capacity to lead longer-term collaborative studies.


PRISE focus areas: climate change hotspots

Taking a hotspots approach to climate change adaptation brings greater insights than a country-by-country focus would: semi-arid regions span geographic borders but may present similar adaptation and economic development challenges. In addition, by comparing regions in different parts of the world, we can deepen our understanding of the similarities and differences in building resilience to climate change across these semi-arid hotspots.

The PRISE project targets semi-arid areas in ‘hotspots’ across six countries in Africa

and Asia: Burkina Faso, Senegal, Tanzania, Kenya,

Pakistan and Tajikistan.


Research development Building on the PRISE project’s demand-led approach, extensive consultations between the research team and key stakeholders in Year 1 of the project led to the emergence of seven research areas, focused on semi-arid regions, to form the foundation of PRISE’s research focus from Year 2 to Year 4.

Migration futures in Asia and Africa: climate change and climate-resilient economic

development

1

Enabling environment for private sector/multi-stakeholder action to

strengthen resilience to climate change

4

Cross-boundary multi-scale governance of semi-arid lands: implications for

climate resilience and economic development

6Water governance in semi-arid lands: political and economic

insights for the management of variability and extremes

in a changing climate

7

Migration, remittances, adaptation and resilience in arid and semi-arid regions of

Senegal and Tajikistan

2

Property regimes, investments and economic

development in the context of climate change

in semi-arid lands in East Africa

5

Harnessing opportunities for climate-resilient economic development in semi-arid

lands: adaptation options in key sectors

3

Each area is led by a consortium partner and engages researchers from across the five consortium members and country research partners in Burkina Faso, Kenya and Tajikistan, to ensure a blend of cross-disciplinary expertise and methodological insights.

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Some of the key objectives of PRISE include:1. Establishing an evidence base on the impact

of climate change on key factors conditioning the economic growth of semi-arid lands, and, conversely, how these factors condition vulnerability to climate change

2. Developing an evidence base on the risks posed to economic growth in semi-arid lands by extreme climate events, particularly droughts and floods

3. Identifying investment, policy and planning measures for inclusive climate-resilient development and growth in semi-arid lands

4. Leveraging existing initiatives and networks in a stakeholder engagement process that co-creates knowledge, builds credibility with research users and promotes the uptake of results.


Overseas Development Institute in the UK Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK Centre for Climate Change Studies at the University of Dar es Salam in Tanzania Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Pakistan Innovation, Environnement et Développement Afrique in Senegal

The consortium is working in collaboration with a team of country partners with extensive expertise in research and policy on climate change and semi-arid regions:

Regional Environment Center for Central Asia in Tajikistan University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso Kenya Markets Trust in Kenya

The PRISE project is funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada and the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

The PRISE consortium has a core of five organisations:

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Semi-arid regions

Globally, more than 1 billion people live in semi-arid lands.i

Many semi-arid areas in developing countries suffer from relatively low economic growth, high levels of poverty and increasing climate change impacts. Shifting climatic zones are also expanding these areas.Semi-arid areas will be home to an additional 400 million people by 2025 compared with the early 2000s.ii Meanwhile, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2007) has warned semi-arid regions are particularly susceptible to periods of drought and erratic rainfall. These climate change hotspots already suffer from limited access to markets, low productivity, water shortages and insufficient infrastructure.

The story so farEfforts to strengthen the resilience of semi-arid areas to climate change have so far been limited in their success. Country assessments show few policy frameworks dedicated to promoting the development of semi-arid lands in poor countries, and even fewer that treat climate change as an integral component.

i http://www.ifad.org/lrkm/theme/range/arid/arid_2.htmii Pray, C. and Nagarajan, L. (2009) ‘Pearl Millet and Sorghum Improvement in India’. Discussion Paper 00919. Washington, DC: IFPRI.

people live in semi-arid lands

Globally, more than

© Prabhu B Doss Creative Commons License: https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/legalcode


PRISE visionWe want to achieve a future where semi-arid lands are growing in a way that is inclusive, equitable and resilient to climate change.Semi-arid areas need not have a bleak future. While they do suffer relatively low levels of economic development, many are growing and livelihood options are expanding as extractives, processing industries, energy generation companies and new technologies arrive.While climate change does present major challenges, particularly for those reliant on ecosystem services, climate variability has always been a feature of semi-arid areas and people have developed routes to resilience. This could be through temporary migration, the formation of community mutual schemes, new investments or the adaptation of practices to early warning signs.Responding to climate change also bring opportunities – for example through a switch to renewable energy, with semi-arid areas potentially suited to solar, wind and hydro-power generation. It can also provide new sources of finance and guarantees that reduce investor risk, as well as creating demand for mitigation and adaptation goods and services that can offer new business opportunities.

Promoting gender equality and giving a voice to the marginalisedGender cuts across economic resilience and climate change. The PRISE research team has extensive expertise in gender, social exclusion and marginalisation.

We see that: Women, and other marginalised groups, must benefit from economic resilience in semi-arid regions around the world Women are potential agents of change that can be unlocked to build inclusive economic growth in semi-arid lands

© PRISE

© sandeepchetan.com travel Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/legal-code


Pathways to impact, routes to resiliencePRISE seeks to promote resilient and equitable economic development in semi-arid areas, by harnessing the opportunities and building economic resilience to the challenges that climate change may bring. It does so through two main channels:

Direct pathways:This includes developing and nurturing relationships of trust with key stakeholders involved in shaping the economic development of semi-arid areas in our six focus countries throughout the project duration.Through dialogue, trust-building and a demand-led research approach, we use research evidence to demonstrate the pathways that can achieve equitable, climate-resilient economic development. The specific target groups include businesses, trade associations, regional economic associations and national and local government departments.

Our research and relationship-building approach starts by considering the economic processes that currently shape the development of semi-arid areas and exploring how people already deal with the impacts of climate variability and change.We seek to present pathways to change by introducing information about climate change and measures to build resilience through adapting current policy frameworks and shaping current investment plans.

Indirect pathways: This involves reshaping the narrative around semi-arid regions in the international community and other non-PRISE countries.We will achieve this by publishing high-quality research, authoring visible, compelling reports, forging partnerships with complementary knowledge projects, presenting at key gatherings, strengthening the capacity of institutions and supporting a cadre of junior researchers to lead this agenda in the future.

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Views of PRISE stakeholders

This project is a great opportunity for the researchers of the global South to learn from each other on sustainable pathways to resilience in semi-arid regions. Multiple dimensions of climate change-related economic development are being explored and, for Pakistan, empirical evidence generated from this project would help policy-makers and other stakeholders devise efficient policies regarding climate-resilient economic development. – Dr Babar Shahbaz

University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Over the past years, climate change interventions in Tajikistan have grown. Opportunities for policy formulation and considerations of climate change in sector-based mainstreaming have improved. I think PRISE is just a timely initiative for Tajikistan to suggest innovative and research evident changes to complement existing climate and development interventions.’ – Anvar Khomidov

Committee for Environmental Protection, Tajikistan

PRISE is a good initiative. The involvement of subnational stakeholders is impressive. However, there is a need to make sure the research findings reach “people at the top” and they own it.’

– Sanford Kway Prime Minister’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government, Tanzania

The private sector is a key stakeholder in the fight against climate change and variability, and should be in a position to disseminate research results, as well as to be able to use them.– Luc Avougou

National Federation of Agriculture and Food Processing Industries, Burkina Faso

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Building relationships with key stakeholders: stories of successWithin Year 1 of the PRISE project:

The Centre for Climate Change Studies (CCCS)has partnered with the Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture to develop the National Agricultural Climate-Resilient Plan. This is a valuable opportunity for CCCS to use findings from its PRISE research to inform policy.

Innovations Environnement Développement Afrique has joined the National Committee on Climate Change (COMNACC) in Senegal. COMNACC raises awareness of and provides training in the design, finance, implementation and monitoring of programmes on waste management and air emissions, clean energy (including renewable energy), agriculture and energy and the integrated management of water resources. IED Afrique will produce and disseminate research and evidence through a joint research project with the committee, and will also strengthen the advocacy and advisory capacities of COMNACC.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change has invited experts from the Sustainable Development Policy Institute to provide input on the country’s final submission of its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), which Pakistan had to submit to the UNFCCC in October 2015.

PRISE will collaborate with the Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) programme. The two parties will work together to promote the sharing of evidence and harness opportunities for joint research on resilience-building processes.

© Ollivier Girard for Center for International Forestry ResearchCreative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/

This work was carried out under the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) with financial support from the UK Government’s Department for International Development and the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada. The views expressed in this work are those of the creators and do not necessarily represent those of the UK Government’s Department for International Development, the International Development Research Centre, Canada or its Board of Governors.

www.prise.odi.org @PRISEclimate

International Development Research Centre

Centre de recherches pour le développement international

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