How is Africa responding to the need for climate change adaptation in coastal regions? A review of coastal Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) initiatives.
Supervisors: Elisa Sainz de Murieta (UPV/EHU), Ambika Markanday (BC3)
The window for climate change adaptation is closing, and the urgency of effectively addressing risks posed to many coastal regions as a result of climate change is becoming ever greater. Growing evidence that grey infrastructure results in maladaptation means that alternative approaches need to be adopted. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) has been proposed and has gained a lot of interest in developing nations as a potentially more affordable adaptation approach with opportunities also for economic and biodiversity co-benefits. There is evidence of the effectiveness of EbA, and this has been the focus of most studies along with other aspects such as possible constraints. However, uncertainties remain over its implementation.

This study provides the first review of coastal EbA initiatives in practice in Africa. The vulnerability of Africa to the effects of climate change, compounded by the low development status of most African nations, mean this region should be a hotspot for EbA. However, this study found that to date the implementation of EbA has been limited. A total of 52 coastal EbA projects were found in 27 out of the 39 coastal nations of Africa, inadequate to address the risks faced by vulnerable coastal regions. The highest number of projects (six) was in the Seychelles, with three nations (Mozambique, Kenya and Senegal) each having five.

However, the majority of nations with projects had only one or two of them. No projects were found for some of the most vulnerable Least Developed Countries with large coastal communities or for the small island nations of Comoros and São Tomé and Príncipe. The most common EbA approach was mangrove conservation and restoration. The most commonly described co-benefit was to the fishing industry. Projects were found to incorporate a variety of management strategies, the most common being alternative livelihood training. Fewer projects than would be expected placed any emphasis on a community-based approach, and an even smaller number set out to address gender inequality. Most projects were found in the grey literature, with only three projects identified in peer-reviewed journals which presented challenges in compiling information.