Climate change risk & vulnerability assessment in Northern and Western Zambia

Climate Change Risk & Vulnerability Assessment in Luapula, Muchinga, Northern & Western Provinces, Zambia, under the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR)

In association with HabitatInfo and ZIEM

Zambia, a landlocked developing nation in East Africa, is considered particularly at-risk from climate change. Many Zambians are dependent on industries such as agriculture, fishing and livestock, which are very vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In addition, roads and bridges are vulnerable to extreme climate events such as heat and flooding.

The Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) helps climate-vulnerable nations like Zambia to develop resilience to climate change by assisting them in addressing climate change in their development planning.

To ensure sustainable progress, developing nations like Zambia need to safeguard vulnerable infrastructure and to increase the resilience of rural populations. In order to do this, policy and decision-makers at all levels need regionally-specific climate knowledge.

OneWorld was contracted to carry out a climate change risk and vulnerability assessment for the Luapula, Muchinga, Northern and Western Provinces of Zambia in 2018.

OneWorld, in association with HabitatInfo, worked to establish a scientific baseline for climate change in the region, identifying climate vulnerability hotspots. This process was supported by stakeholder engagement at district and national level. Four provincial workshops were held to validate the findings and identify appropriate actions to build resilience.

Building capacity by bridging the gaps

In the final phase of the project, a ‘Training of the Trainers’ workshop was held to hand over a training manual produced by the team. This capacity-building tool is designed to bridge the gap between complex climate knowledge and on-the-ground adaptation actions, that will target specific needs identified by the stakeholders.