Climate Adaptation Research Program (CARP)
What is CARP?
The Climate Adaptation Research Program (CARP) promotes a new generation of applied climate adaptation research in Africa with a focus on the impacts and implications for disaster risk reduction policies and strategies. CARP is an activity of the Humanitarian Assistance Technical Support (HATS) project at the University of Arizona in partnership with the Centre for Collaboration in Africa (CCA) at Stellenbosch University. The CCA serves as the secretariat for the Partners for Enhancing Resilience of People Exposed to Risks (PERIPERI U), a network that consists of 12 higher education institutions (HEIs) across Africa. CARP supports the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s climate change adaptation strategy, the disaster management mission of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, and expansion of the institutional capacities and partnerships of the University of Arizona with networks of African HEIs in addressing global humanitarian crises.
Why focus on climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction in Africa?
While most of the globe is vulnerable to climate change and its associated impacts, African countries are disproportionally more at risk than most to a diverse range of hazards that are induced or exacerbated by changing climatic conditions. The increasing threat of climate change and increasing frequency and magnitude of climate-induced hazards continue to undermine hard-earned gains in livelihoods and human well-being improvements, placing millions of vulnerable people and communities at increasing risk of harm and hardship.
African governments and development agencies widely acknowledge the need to invest in strategies and actions that mitigate the impacts of changing climatic conditions, however, they are constrained by a lack of data and knowledge generated locally. Consequently, it is critical that research and knowledge creation on climate change and disaster risk reduction at local and regional levels be prioritized and supported. Such knowledge will provide policy and decision-makers, and the wide array of development actors analyses, information, and recommended options needed to enhance climate change adaptation, resilience, and sustainability.
CARP recognizes the many young and emerging researchers and professionals working across fields related to climate change, disaster risk, and resilience, and seeks to promote this new generation of applied scholarship. Many of them can benefit from opportunities to apply scientific research and local knowledge generation toward African development increasingly threatened by the impacts of climate change. These young professionals are a critical resource for tackling climate change-induced challenges, and CARP constitutes an effort to mobilize this potential and empower this emergent generation of researchers.
What are the objectives of CARP?
- Fund and support localized research into climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in African HEIs.
- Enhance the research capacity of early career professionals and young researchers in Africa focused on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
- Develop an international community of professional scholars, policymakers, and practitioners that advances the understanding of climate change adaptation as a disaster risk reduction strategy across Africa.
- Provide policymakers, development organizations, and donor agencies with improved scientific and research-driven knowledge on climate adaptation and risk mitigation that can inform public decision-making and development programming.
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