The West Africa region spans humid, sub-humid, semi-arid and arid climate regimes. It is currently home to over 340 million people, and constitutes 39% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population. The regional population is expected to exceed 400 million by 2020 and 500 million between 2030 and 2035.
This report, which encompasses the findings of a Regional Diagnostic Study (RDS) for West Africa, was undertaken in 2014-15 to advance understanding of climate change in semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. The RDS represents the first phase of a research effort under the Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions (ASSAR) project. ASSAR is one of four consortia generating new knowledge of climate change hotspots under the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA).
The RDS provides a foundation for developing an integrated regional research program (RRP) on climate change vulnerability and adaptation centered around advancing knowledge on socio-economic and biophysical systems, governance and institutions, gender, and wellbeing. The RDS thus provides a broad regional-scale context into which the RRP can be designed to focus on achieving deeper understanding of the multi-faceted nature of vulnerability, adaptation enablers and adaptation barriers.
There are multiple target audiences for the findings generated through this RDS. They include academics and researchers, stakeholders from government, civil society, and the international donor community. The findings of this report will be used to inform a communication strategy that will allow for broader dissemination of key findings from this RDS.