For development aid to be effective it should bring together policy processes and community based knowledge.  At present, delivery of climate services is largely focused on technical assistance, toolkits, advisory and capacity-building support. The political economy analysis is missing from these engagements.

To address this important gap, CDKN supported this project on the political economy of climate compatible development in Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique, led by the Institute for Development Studies, Sussex, in collaboration with Natural Resources Institute at the University of Greenwich, University of Sussex and University of Southampton. The project built on three CDKN research projects by including a political economy analysis to the technical and social research findings. These projects are:

• ‘Improving low carbon energy access and development benefits in Least Developed Countries’ (University of Sussex and the African Technology Policy Studies Network)
• ‘Climate Learning for African Agriculture’ (Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich)
• ‘Achieving Triple Wins: Identifying Climate Smart Investment Strategies for the Coastal Zone’ (led by the School of Geography, University of Southampton)

The project focused on coastal areas and fisheries in Ghana, solar home systems in Kenya and agriculture, pastoralism in Mozambique.   These sectors employ the most climate-vulnerable people and also offer opportunities for climate adaptation and mitigation.

This project developed an analytical framework that integrates three common approaches to understanding policy in complex socio-political contexts. One emphasised political economy and the interactions of state and civil society, and different interest groups. Another examined the histories and practices linked to shifting discourses, and how these shape and guide policy problems and courses of action. The third gave importance to the roles and agency (or capacity to make a difference) of individual actors.  The integration was done to reflect generic issues in climate policies and subsequently adjusted to reflect the real issues for each sector. Key research questions that guided the research were:

1) Discourse and narrative – what is the ‘policy narrative’? How is it framed through science and research?

2) Actors and networks – who is involved and how they are connected?

3) Politics and interests – what are the underlying power dynamics and incentives for policymakers to promote some policies, often at the cost of others; whose interests are served, and whose are marginalised?

CDKN Funding: GBP 290,000

Image courtesy of Flickr / Lighana