AAAP in the Media
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Experts share lessons learned on gender-responsive climate action during Commonwealth NDC webinar
This year, Edith Ofwona Adera, Coordinator of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) and the African Development Bank’s Regional Principal Officer for Climate Change and Green Growth, marked International Women’s Day in a special way.
Adera took part in a panel discussion organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat, reflecting this year’s theme: Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.
The panel, hosted by Jennifer Namgyal of the Commonwealth Secretariat, brought together experts who shared their experiences and lessons learned on integrating gender equality in Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, across their respective regions and institutions. NDCs are national plans highlighting climate actions, including targets, policies and measures that governments aim to implement.
Hannah Girardeau, of the NDC Partnership Support Unit, kicked off the session with a presentation on the findings of an analysis of gender considerations in revised NDCs of the partnership’s member countries. The assessment revealed that more countries had now included the fundamental building blocks of gender-responsive climate action in their policies and plans. Girardeau noted that there is a need to invest in other critical elements such as conducting gender analyses, developing indicators, and establishing gender-responsive budgets to complement progress achieved.
Adera agreed with her. “As climate change impacts affect people differently, the responses need to be differentiated, based on identified unique needs, informed by disaggregated data,” Adera added.
To address this challenge, the African Development Bank is supporting national statistical systems in five countries through a Capacity Building for Gender Statistics and Monitoring Systems project. The project aims to produce quality, comparable and regular gender statistics to address national data gaps, strengthen monitoring systems, and integrate gender indicators across sectors.
Bertha Chiudza of the Green Climate Fund said a key requirement for all its financed activities is to ensure gender considerations are included in the development of action plans and assessments. “For its support on Nationally Determined Contributions, the Green Climate Fund ensures that gender considerations are brought in from planning and design, implementation and reporting across the sectors prioritized by countries, while ensuring inclusive stakeholder consultations,” Chiudza stated.
Sasha Jattansingh, the Commonwealth Climate Finance Adviser, gave insights into Antigua and Barbuda’s actions to mainstream gender equality into Nationally Determined Contributions. The country recognized equity issues and committed to a just energy transition with a strong focus on gender, Jattansingh noted. Antigua and Barbuda is an example of a country that has made progress in developing an inclusive renewable energy strategy that promotes socially inclusive, gender-responsive, and accessible investment opportunities.
Anna Rojas of the International Union for Conservation of Nature also shared her experiences and lessons in integrating gender into Nationally Determined Contributions, pointing out that biodiversity issues are now being integrated more consistently in these plans. She called for local-level conversations with women to tap into their strengths and rich knowledge. “Engagement with women will avoid dismal adaptation because, the more we identify needs, strengths, and solutions, the better we will be prepared,” she emphasized.
The African Development Bank is rolling out a detailed analysis of climate-gender hotspots in Rwanda. Adera said it would highlight real gender gaps and deep vulnerabilities, and how best climate interventions can address these gender issues.
Finance also emerged as one of the vital tools to promote gender equality in Nationally Determined Contributions. Innovative financial instruments and solutions must come into play when addressing gender inequalities for climate change interventions, noted Unnikrishnan Nair of the Commonwealth Secretariat.
African Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge – Cycle 1
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.
The YouthADAPT Challenge aims to support youth-led enterprises to accelerate and scale-up innovative solutions for climate adaptation and resilience that will also lead to decent jobs for youth. The solutions target key environmental, social, and economic sectors affected by climate change, with a clear value proposition to scale up for greater impact and to create specified direct jobs.
The Challenge aims to strengthen inclusive growth and broaden investment and economic opportunities for youth in Africa through entrepreneurial skills development by providing training, mentorship, and financing to youth-led businesses (50% women-owned). The first edition of the awards was launched on 06 September 2021.
- Provide a financial contribution to cover the cost of program implementation and 50% of grant funding
- Participate in project missions and field visits to review progress with select beneficiary enterprises
- Support the project team to provide clarity on climate change adaptation and resilience in the training component, including tracking the creation of adaptation jobs
- Coordinate project monitoring and evaluation.
- The most innovative youth-owned enterprises on the continent are scaled up
- The viability of selected businesses is improved, to help sustain their impact on climate change adaptation
- Inclusiveness promoted through 50% of the selected businesses being led by women.
- Young innovators and MSMEs equipped with customised business development skills and resources;
- The short-term growth of youth-owned enterprises supported, with links to private equity and loan products for longer term growth.
- Expansion of partnership, knowledge sharing, exchange and learning created through a network of youth entrepreneurs in Africa.
- Inclusive growth, investment and economic opportunities for youth are strengthened through entrepreneurial skills development;
- Adaptation, innovation and jobs integrated and for jobs;
USD 1,000,000
Insurance Technical Support to Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme (AAAP)
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”.
The findings in this report will contribute towards achieving the objectives of the HoA programme, which include:
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Strengthening the resilience of pastoral and agro-pastoral production systems to climate change
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Enhancing agribusiness and enterprise across value chains
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Strengthening climate services and applications for enhanced adaptive capacity
This report was intended to contribute to the project design by ensuring that activities supporting investments under the HoA programme maximize complementarity around the application of digital technology to ensure efficiency, quality and real-time exchange of data, advisories and related services.
The report was also designed to produce a number of recommendations towards the identification of climate-smart digital opportunities; for example, the importance of establishing strong coordination mechanisms to implement digital solutions at a regional scale.
An in-depth understanding of the existing climate-smart digital opportunities with scaling potential under the HoA Initiative, including (but not limited to):
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Emerging insurance innovations
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Mainstreaming digital solutions to climate risk finance into country programmes
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Application of digital technology to solve challenges in delivering agricultural insurance
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Critical success factors for a successful regional drought insurance scheme
The output of this report advances the objectives of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme (AAAP) of GCA and the African Development Bank, which was developed to help implement the vision of the Africa Union’s Adaptation Initiative. To accelerate adaptation, the AAAP will use a triple-win approach and implement climate resilience activities that address COVID-19, climate change and the economy. AAAP intends to mobilize over US$25 billion to support adaptation between 2020–2025.
N/A
Inclusive Insurance for Smallholder Farmers in Africa
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.
The key aim of the landscape study on Inclusive Insurance for Smallholder Farmers in Africa was to clarify the pathway for the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) to enter the agriculture insurance market in Africa. The study will contribute to defining the insurance toolkit included in the Smallholder Adaptation Accelerator (SAA) from the Climate Smart Digital Agriculture Pillar of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), a joint programme in cooperation with the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The landscape study, completed in December 2021, describes the current state of the agricultural insurance market in Africa and considers (i) the various approaches available to scale up agricultural insurance; (ii) the types of insurance product that could be created; (iii) whether insurance premiums should be subsidized; and (iv) how digital technologies and effective relationships with local partners could be leveraged to facilitate product design and distribution.
This landscape study aimed to achieve:
- A synthesis of market knowledge, including key trends in the African insurance market and the challenges to development of the market
- In-depth product knowledge, including of parametric insurance and digital innovations
- An understanding of the various potential insurance schemes and an awareness of the challenges in distribution
- A clear set of recommendations for the creation of an insurance product for smallholder farmers.
The outcomes of this landscape study should contribute to:
- The identification of priority countries to launch a pilot for a smallholder insurance product.
- The involvement of GCA either as a partner in an existing programme insuring smallholders in a country in sub-Saharan Africa, where the population is connected and digitally active, with a stable government willing to support an insurance programme; or as the catalyst for a new agricultural parametric insurance programme.
- The initiation of a four-step workplan: (i) a feasibility study; (ii) a business agreement; (iii) product design and validation; and (iv) enrolment of farmers into the scheme.
- Once established, the evolution of the insurance cover and type of product over time; for example, from drought index insurance for maize, to a hybrid product for maize, to a hybrid product for maize and cassava.
100000
African Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge – Cycle 2
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 YouthADAPT Challenge aims to support youth-led enterprises to accelerate and scale-up innovative solutions for climate adaptation and resilience. The solutions target key environmental, social, and economic sectors affected by climate change, with a clear value proposition to scale up for greater impact and to create specified direct jobs.
YouthADAPT aims to strengthen inclusive growth and broaden investment and economic opportunities for youth in Africa through entrepreneurial skills development by providing training, mentorship, and financing to youth-led businesses (50% women-owned). The first edition of the awards was launched on 06 September 2021.
- Provide a financial contribution to cover the cost of program implementation and 50% of grant funding
- Participate in project missions and field visits to review progress with select beneficiary enterprises
- Support the project team to provide clarity on climate change adaptation and resilience in the training component, including tracking the creation of adaptation jobs
- Coordinate project monitoring and evaluation.
- The most innovative youth-owned enterprises on the continent are scaled up
- The viability of selected businesses is improved, to help sustain their impact on climate change adaptation
- 50% of the selected businesses are led by women.
- Young innovators and MSMEs equipped with customised business development skills and resources.
- The short-term growth of youth-owned enterprises is supported, with links to private equity and loan products for longer term growth.
- Expansion of partnership, knowledge sharing, exchange and learning through a network of youth entrepreneurs in Africa.
- Inclusive growth, investment and economic opportunities for youth;
- Adaptation, innovation and jobs integrated and for jobs;
Total: USD 1,400,000
Budget for Knowledge Partner (Project Implementation Cost) - USD 400,000
Grant Awards (50% of total grant awards) – USD 1,000,000
2022 Disbursement:
60% Disbursement of Project Implementation Cost to Knowledge Partner – USD 240,000
50% of Grant Awards – USD 500,000
Digital Climate Adaptation Solutions Training – Southern Africa
Harnessing the power of technological innovations and digitalization to improve agricultural productivity and strengthen climate resilience has been recognized as one of the potential game changers to address many of pressing climate concerns and rural transformation challenges facing Africa today.
Digital climate-informed advisory services are tools and platforms that integrate climate information into agricultural decision-making. These services range from digital mobile apps, radio, and online platforms to digitally enabled printed bulletins based on climate models and extension services that utilize climate information platforms. DCAS offers crucial opportunities to build the resilience of small-scale producers in the face of worsening climate change impacts, particularly when bundled with complementary services (such as financing, input supply, market access, insurance).
The objectives of the DCAS trainings are as follows:
- Capacity enhancement for agricultural stakeholders across Southern Africa in DCAS
- Supporting trainees to improve their confidence and capacity to design and implement DCAS projects to reach the last mile and farmers for improved food security and climate resilience
- Facilitating knowledge/experience sharing of participants on contextual issues and approaches to scale up DCAS
- Increase the knowledge of stakeholders from across Southern Africa on opportunities and new approaches for the design, mainstreaming and use of digital tools and data-enabled agriculture to combat the effects of climate change
- enhancing capacity to use digital agriculture advisory services and solutions to ensure uptake by of DCAS among stakeholders in Southern Africa
- Over 50 Participants trained in digital agriculture and digital climate adaptation solutions
- A new cohort or platform of African public officials, researchers, farmers organizations leaders and agricultural NGO focal points with improved expertise in DCAS (for subsequent experience capitalization follow up and training)
- Training evaluation assessment report
- Improved understanding / knowledge of target stakeholders in Southern Africa through training and information sharing including lessons learned on the challenges, opportunities and new approaches to the design, mainstreaming and use of DCAS and data-enabled agriculture
- Enhanced capacity of selected agricultural stakeholders in public institutions and farmers groups across Southern Africa to use digital agriculture advisory solutions, implement digital climate smart advisory solutions, and train their members/colleagues to use DCAS tools
€100,000