Capacity Building for Climate Smart Natural Resource Management

Project title: Capacity Building for Climate Smart Natural Resource Management and Policy (CLISNARP)

Background

The purpose of the project is to improve the capacity for evidence-based policies on climate smart natural resource management for sustainable development in Ethiopia and Malawi. The impact of the project to society at large will be to contribute to improved food security, nutrition, household incomes and livelihoods in Ethiopia and Malawi.

Most climate change research is focused on the global scale, with little contextualization of data at national and sub-national levels in sub-Saharan Africa. There is currently inadequate teaching and research capacity at universities in developing countries on these topics. The project addresses this challenge by enhancing teaching and research capacity on climate change, natural resources management and environment in Ethiopia and Malawi.

Ultimately, the project aims to enhance the capacity of farmers in climate smart natural resources management through research-based farming solutions and better informed policy formulations. This will help farmers to adapt to negative effects of climate change and to improve the overall management of natural resources.

Strengthening research based policy making on natural resource management

The project focuses on research and academic capacity building in the field of climate smart natural resource management in order to improve policies on climate change mitigation, adaptation, and food security.  This will improve the national capacity for evidence-based policy analysis and implementation in climate smart natural resource management for sustainable development in Ethiopia and Malawi. The project will support the efforts of the two countries’ governments to integrate sustainable natural resources management and climate change in their development agenda.

Building academic and practical knowledge bases for climate smart solutions

The project is carried out by three higher education institutions in Ethiopia, Malawi and Norway as partners, with the lead partner in Ethiopia.

The project strengthens capacity of academic staff at the universities in Ethiopia and Malawi through academic and administrative training. Universities are also strengthened through joint teaching and research on climate adaptation and impact studies, including collaboration with farmers on extending climate smart technologies in Ethiopia and Malawi.

The knowledge base at the universities is consolidated in joint databases on climate change, natural resource management and food security in the target countries. Emphasis is on the identification and assessment of local climate smart development strategies, policies, institutions and technologies. The databases include data from a number of representative communities. Gender is an important theme both in the teaching and research topics and in terms of having gender-balance of academic staff. 

Key goals and achievements

Overall goal

To contribute to food security, improved livelihood, and poverty reduction through capacity building in climate smart natural resource management and policy analysis for sustainable development in Ethiopia and Malawi.

The objectives of the project are

1. Strengthening education and research capacity in climate smart agriculture, natural resource management and policy at Mekelle University and at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources
2. Increasing and improving regional and international collaboration in teaching and research on climate smart agriculture in Ethiopia and Malawi
3. Developing appropriate teaching and research infrastructure to ensure sustainable capacity for education and research on climate smart agriculture in Ethiopia and Malawi
4. Communicating the research results on climate smart agriculture and natural resource management to farmers and policy makers