Themes: Adaptation and resilience

Themes: Adaptation and resilience

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6th August 2026
Amplifying the voices of African early-career researchers for global and regional climate leadership In this blog, Prince Ansah, Zelda Gadegbeku and Valerie Nutakor highlight the importance of strengthening African leadership in climate research through the CDKN Africa Early-Career Researchers (ECR) Fellowship. Despite being disproportionately affected by climate change, African researchers remain underrepresented in global climate science and policy spaces. The fellowship responds to this challenge by equipping emerging researchers with skills, networks and platforms to amplify their voices, influence policy, and generate locally grounded climate solutions. Through capacity strengthening, knowledge co-creation, science-policy engagement and peer learning, the programme demonstrates how investing in African ECRs can help build a new generation of climate leaders capable of shaping Africa's climate future on their own terms.
Active
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Active
Climate Activist Programme in Ghana

Young people across Africa are emerging as powerful drivers of climate innovation, advocacy, and community mobilisation, yet many still face barriers such as limited access to technical knowledge, mentorship, financial literacy, institutional support, and practical pathways to scale their impact. The Climate Activist Programme (CAP) was launched in 2024 to close these gaps, and its current edition, CAP 3.0: Skills to Scale for Resilience, builds on the lessons of CAP24 and CAP25 with a multidisciplinary, experiential approach spanning climate science, policy, leadership, project management, climate finance, entrepreneurship, storytelling, and creative advocacy. 

Active
Project
Active
Youth in Climate Action Small Grants Initiative in Ethiopia

CDKN Ethiopia supports gender-equitable and socially inclusive climate-resilient action by strengthening the capacities and leadership of government and youth partners. From 2023, youth groups participated in Ethiopia's Gender Equality and Social Inclusion and Climate Change Community of Practice. A youth-led assessment subsequently mapped climate and environmental initiatives in Addis Ababa and identified limited access to finance, organisational capacity and networking opportunities as major barriers to youth-led action.

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27th July 2026
Singing as climate action: Amplifying women’s voices in Ghana’s Upper West Region In Ghana's Upper West Region, women play a critical role in managing climate risks through their responsibilities in farming, seed preservation, water management and household food security. The following inside story, written by Shelta Gatsey and Patricia Bamanyaki, explores how women's climate knowledge can be amplified through culturally familiar communication channels.
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23rd July 2026
Africa Early Career Fellowship Podcast Series: Amplifying African climate researchers voices The Africa Early Career Fellowship Podcast Series is a flagship initiative of CDKN’s Amplifying Voices of African Researchers (AVAR) project, designed to elevate African-led climate research and strengthen links between science, policy and practice.
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21st July 2026
Seeds of resilience: How community seed systems are advancing LLA in Africa Across Africa, climate change is placing growing pressure on food systems. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and more frequent extreme weather events are making it harder for small-scale farmers to produce food, while biodiversity loss, environmental degradation and dependence on commercial agricultural inputs are increasing vulnerability. This blog by Essia Guezzi looks at how Micaia Foundation, one of CDKN's Knowledge to Action (K2A) grantees, is working with communities in Mozambique's Manica Province to strengthen community-managed seed banks. 
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7th July 2026
Lessons from a learning workshop on locally led adaptation in Africa This brief, authored by Fatema Rajabali, forms part of a year-long CDKN learning process on locally led adaptation with partners across Africa. It captures the core insights that emerged from the regional learning exchange and lays the foundation for a forthcoming synthesis report.
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28th May 2026
Enhancing resilience in Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains through community-led ecosystem-based adaptation This case study explores the RELIVES project, implemented by ORDA Ethiopia and CARE Ethiopia, and how it supported community resilience through locally led adaptation approaches. It highlights EbA efforts to strengthen climate resilience, improve natural resource management and support sustainable livelihood opportunities through community participation, partnership and locally driven action.
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20th April 2026
Building resilience or building risk? Lessons from Sapatana Ashrayan in Bangladesh As part of the CDKN Knowledge Accelerator for Climate Compatible Development Programme, a team from our alliance partners, ICLEI South Asia, visited Ward 9 of Lalmonirhat Municipality in Bangladesh. The visit focused on assessing the Sapatana Ashrayan national housing project, examining how effectively it addresses climate vulnerability and livelihood challenges in this highly exposed region. The team sought to answer an important question: does providing housing alone ensure long-term resilience in a changing climate.
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27th March 2026
Stewarding nature through culture: Lessons from Indigenous knowledge systems for biodiversity protection in Benin Forests and biodiversity-rich landscapes in Benin are not only ecological assets; they are entangled with cultural realities, belief systems, and knowledge traditions. Yet, the value of these knowledge systems is not always captured in conventional approaches to natural resource governance. The “Revitalising Biodiversity by Drawing on Traditional African Knowledge in Central Benin” project, implemented by SURVIE NGO in Central Benin, under the CDKN Knowledge-to-Action (K2A) programme, sought to change this narrative.
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25th March 2026
Strengthening rangeland management through community knowledge and science in Otjinene This blog by Ester Nangolo reports on CDKN Namibia's recent capacity-building and capacity-strengthening activities in the Otjinene constituency of the Omaheke region. Here, farmers are already seeing the impacts on rangeland management in a changing climate. However, communities are working with partners like CDKN to find practical and locally grounded solutions.
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11th March 2026
Learning from the ground: How science and local knowledge are reducing climate risks in the coastal city of Saint-Louis, Senegal In the coastal city of Saint-Louis, Senegal, local knowledge and climate science are being brought together to help residents anticipate risks and act before crises strike. This blog, written by Jean-Pascal Correa, Ndèye Mané Fall and Amanda April, explores how a climate-sensitive early warning system, through CDKN Senegal's implementing partner, ENDA Energie, is being developed to strengthen the resilience of local actors, giving them with the tools needed to forecast and prevent climate disasters.