Through the African Youth Adaptation Solutions (YouthADAPT) Challenge, the AAAP aims to inspire and support the commercialisation of climate change adaptation solutions, driven by African youth entrepreneurs. The YouthADAPT Challenge is open to solutions (products, services, tools, or ideas) targeted at climate change adaptation and increasing resilience. 

Admissible solutions can represent:

• An adaptation solutions business that has not been scaled and is not in widespread use
• An existing resilience and adaptation solutions business or product
• A commercially viable means to raise awareness or scale uptake of specific adaptation solutions.

Applicants must be 18–35 years old and registered and operating in Africa. Their venture must be youth-led while delivering climate adaptation or resilience solutions addressing a real-life challenge. 50% of the finalists will be women-owned or women-led enterprises. Winners will receive a business grant of up to $100,000 and the opportunity to further develop their ventures through business support and acceleration.

The Cycle 1 (2021) winners were unveiled at COP26 in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in a ceremony held at the Africa Pavilion. They include Mumita Holdings Limited, Cameroon, Salubata Technological Innovations Limited, Nigeria, Sustainable Builders, Zambia, Global Farms and Trading Company Limited, Ghana, Miama General Dealers Limited, Zambia, Kimplanter Seedling and Nurseries Limited, Kenya, Irri Hub Ke Limited, Kenya, Soupah Farm en- Market Limited, Nigeria, Simkay Green Global Ventures, Nigeria and Bleaglee Waste Management Limited, Cameroon.

Countries in the Horn of Africa (HoA) are vulnerable to climatic shocks and their impact can have a devastating effect on agricultural production. The most vulnerable regions are arid and semi-arid areas that receive low rainfall and depend on pastoralism as the main economic activity. Elevated levels of food insecurity and conflict resulting from increased competition for pasture and water among pastoral communities is a concern for governments of HoA countries.

Strategies for increasing resilience need to be customized to different sub-regions and microclimates. Initiated in 2019, The Horn of Africa Initiative brings together 6 countries – Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan – to deepen economic integration and promote regional cooperation. The countries agreed that regional cooperation and economic integration should remain key to the overall recovery efforts of the sub-region.

The project described here focused on “Identifying Climate-Smart Digital Opportunities with Scaling Potential under the Horn of Africa Initiative”.

Rising average temperatures, longer heat waves, more extreme precipitation events and locust invasions are just some of the adverse effects of climate change that will impact agriculture in Africa. Climate change is expected to cause a decrease in crop productivity due to increased heat and drought. Some crops are likely to be particularly at risk, such as cotton in Côte d'Ivoire or Ghana. This phenomenon will directly impact the population, with greater consequences for the most vulnerable famers. 

In the face of rising climate risk across Africa, insurance is a key adaptation measure to strengthen food security and ensure climate resilience. However, the agricultural insurance market is nascent, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where less than 3% of farmers are protected. 

The underdevelopment of agricultural insurance in Africa is due to a variety of factors, including the lack of organization in local value chains, the low profitability potential of programmes, and a general lack of financial resources and knowledge about insurance. Also, farmers do not consider agricultural insurance to be a priority.

YouthADAPT is an annual competition that invites young entrepreneurs and micro, small, and medium enterprises in Africa to submit innovative solutions and business ideas that have the potential to drive climate change adaptation and resilience across the continent.

Through YouthADAPT, the AAAP aims to inspire and support the commercialisation of climate change adaptation solutions, driven by African youth entrepreneurs. The YouthADAPT Challenge is open to solutions targeted at climate change adaptation and increasing resilience. 

Solutions can represent:

• An adaptation solutions business that has not been scaled and is not in widespread use
• An existing resilience and adaptation solutions business or product
• A commercially viable means to raise awareness or scale uptake of specific adaptation solutions.

The second edition of the African Youth Adaptation Solutions (YouthADAPT) Challenge was launched in September 2022. Winners will receive a business grant of up to $100,000 and the opportunity to further develop their ventures through business support and acceleration.

The Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge is an annual competition and awards program for youth-led enterprises (50% women-led) organized by GCA and AfDB as part of the Youth Adapt Flagship Program. 

The competition invites young entrepreneurs and Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Africa to submit innovative solutions on climate adaptation and resilience. The winners will be part of a 1-year incubator program, which will provide tailored training on business development and adaptation, coaching, networking opportunities, and grants to enable the youth-led enterprises to scale up their innovative businesses and build resilience among marginalized communities in Africa

The port of Cotonou has a strategic importance in the region, as it is also one of the main gateway ports for the sub-region, in particular the countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. ​ The port is the economic heart of Benin, handling an annual freight volume of around 11 million tonnes. The Port of Cotonou currently has a 546-metre quay. The 31.2-hectare container park has several modern equipment, including four quay gantries, one mobile crane, 12 RTG (Park Gantries), and 15 reach stackers. With a full container storage capacity of nearly 20,000 TEUs, it has 24-hour docking services

The Sahel, which lies between the Sahara Desert to the north and tropical savannas to the south, is one of the largest semi-arid/arid sub-regions globally. As such, the region is highly vulnerable to climate change and other uncertainties. The impacts of climate change may have critical socio-economic consequences for the Sahel, including poor agricultural yields, increased frequency of natural disasters. Already, the number of people in the Sahel suffering from chronic food and nutrition insecurity, poverty and vulnerability to the effects of climate change is rising steadily. 

A lasting solution to food and nutrition insecurity in the Sahel requires building resilience to climate change, long-term agricultural sector financing and developing trade and regional integration. Sustained, longer-term investments in household resilience can significantly reduce the cost of emergency assistance, ultimately breaking the cycle of recurring famine. This is the most cost-effective intervention option which meets the basic needs and preserves the dignity of the populations of the Sahel. This idea is central to the Programme to Build Resilience to Food and Nutrition Insecurity in the Sahel (P2RS)

Food production in Africa is largely dominated by smallholder rain-fed agriculture and the sector is therefore particularly vulnerable to climate change and variability. The continent is already experiencing more frequent extreme weather events and higher-than-average temperature increases. According to a recent report by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), the annual cost of adaptation actions is estimated at US$15 billion, while that of non-action is estimated at US$201 billion. 

Digitalization offers the opportunity to help farmers adapt to some of the challenges arising from climate change and could lead to in-depth transformation of the agriculture sector. However, the dissemination of digital technology at the farm level risks widening the digital divide that exists for women and marginalized communities. Further, despite the rapid growth of digital technologies on the continent, youth potential as an asset to foster uptake and scale of digital agriculture is not fully exploited. However, in developing countries where wages are lower and farms generally smaller, digital technologies could help to improve management practices and access to markets.