| Project Detail |
Two-thirds of Africa and more than a third of Asia are covered in drylands that are home to some of the poorest and most marginalized communities. Drylands are highly vulnerable to impacts of climate change, with more than two billion people living under water stress that is projected to worsen in the coming decades. Improving groundwater availability and accessibility can sustain water supply and livelihoods to buffer episodes of drought, climate variability and climate change. Resource governance is a critical challenge, and sustainably managed groundwater offers opportunities for both inclusive development and climate resilience. This project will integrate gender and inclusion perspectives into climate resilience through disaggregation and downscaling of models. It will address rural/urban water resilience through transformational labs which are collaborative spaces where people co-develop sustainable, equitable pathways. The project team will convene transformational labs in the Sahel (Maradi region in Niger), the drylands of central Tanzania (Dodoma), and peninsular India (southeast Karnataka). Each location covers a rapidly developing urban-rural interface, incorporates river basin-level scaling, and will capture the complex challenges of water resilience. Research will document the narratives of marginalized groups through video diaries, interviews and aspirations studies, allowing them to participate on an equal footing. The team will work with communities to assess water management, build models of plausible pathways, and embed research outcomes into wider policy and practice. They will pursue rigorous, action-oriented research, linking inclusive stakeholder engagement with cutting-edge modeling and measurement to synthesize existing knowledge and identify promising innovations to improve climate resilience in tropical drylands. The project is part of the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) initiative co-funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and IDRC. CLARE is a five-year, CAD120-million initiative that aims to enable inclusive and sustainable action to build resilience to climate change and natural hazards for people across Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. |
