There is a gap in knowledge and literature of African voices on impact of and adaption to the climate crisis. People’s experience is not sufficiently captured in research, and those affected most directly do not have a way of sharing their stories to show the impact it has on them. Initiated by local academics and with co-funding from the PARTICIPATE research cluster and Lives and Voices cluster in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the proposal funded a book writing workshop in Nairobi (29 May-1st June, 2024) to help prioritise the voices and agency of those on the continent.
Executive summary:
“The workshop brought participants from multidisciplinary fields, including peace, finance, psychology, gender, conservancy and meteorologists. Key issues included how climate affects existing conflicts such as farmers-pastoralists conflicts, how it affects gender and how gender can be mainstreamed in climate and environmental policies. A second key thematic was mental health. It was demonstrated that the most vulnerable are the ones who bear the brunt of the climate change, economically and even increasingly mentally, especially one losses his livelihood or when land has been flushed by the floods or when the animals succumb to climate related diseases. Another thematic of ethical consideration was the climate or green financing which if not regulated could lead to money laundry and corruptions. Also the Youth were seen as having a role in responding to climate. All these thematic presented an opportunity for dealing with the consequences of climate through academic research. The conference brought six senior research and 14 junior researchers.”
The initiative demonstrates the benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration on global challenges.