RESIDAT

Climate change poses a serious threat to the lives of millions of people around the world. The African continent is warming faster than the global average and has been hit hard by climate change impacts

Low climate change literacy amongst the populace and lack of reliable data hugely compromise efforts to address climate change and its effects in Africa.

We profile climate risks(floods, droughts and threats to conservation) for vulnerable communities through smart and interactive maps. Through these maps, climatic threats of vulnerable localities are visualised, disaster models are developed and location-specific clues for community adaptation and resilience are proposed.

The solution builds on location analysis and visualisation of data on climate change and its impacts while proposing exciting clues for community action thus making the climate agenda inclusive and participative. It can be scaled around the African continent and beyond.

Climate change literacy and climate data availability for local communities

Africa is set as the continent to be most affected by the adverse impacts of climate change (IPCCC 2019). While climate related disasters are imminent across Africa, the most vulnerable communities are ill prepared to adapt and lead activities on addressing the climate crisis. A key factor for this non readiness stems from low climate change literacy amongst core populations. According to the Afrobarometer 2019 survey, fewer than 3 in 10 Africans are climate change literates. To further compromise adaptation efforts amongst vulnerable communities is the very sparse or absence of data on climate risks (floods, droughts and conservations threats). Where available, the climate data is technologically derived (from remote sensing) and often fails to trickle down insights to local stakeholders. The need for comprehensible community-centric data on climatic risks becomes indispensable for risks recommendations that drives community adaptability strategies. 

Educating through games and informing adaption through smart maps

We lead a twofold strategy that enhance climate change comprehension and achieve the last data mile on climate hazards for vulnerable communities. To enhance comprehension on climatic hazards, we have developed easy-to-play, easy-to-understand and interactive family cardboard games depicting floods, droughts, landslides and water epidemics from their causes to recommendations for adaptation. 

We are developing a platform (RESIDAT) serving both as a knowledge pool and a dashboard for visualising floods, droughts and conservation loss for climate change vulnerable communities in Cameroon. smart and interactive maps are used to profile climate hazards, model their their impact and provide clues for improved community adaptation strategies that fosters resilience. 

The maps are developed by analizing and interpreting fieldwork and remotely sensed data (drone and satellite) and processing them with GIS software. Through these maps which are interactive and smart, users can gain insight into the climate impact reality of the area and gain clues on better adaptation strategies that fosters community resilience. This solution builds on community participation and inclusion in the climate change agenda.

So far, this solution is prototyping in Sahel belt of Africa and the coastal regions where climate impact is severe and this trend is expected worsen.  The solution is expected to impact the following category of person;

·       core populations in climate vulnerable communities who will gain more understanding of climate change and its hazardous impact on their environment and how to better adapt to these changes.

·       Local stakeholders who will be armed with insightful data to better respond to climate change in their communities through valued risks recommendations,        

Climatic hazards and their impacts have a serious bearing on how communities react to and exploit their environment. visualising where these disasters will occur, how they will occur, whom and what they will affect can inform better preparedness and response strategies. Our platform serves as a data spot for visual community hazard representation and knowledge pool for enhancing climate impact understanding in various vulnerable localities. Thus we monitor and forecast climate risks of communities in format that are much comprehensible to community stakeholders. 

We are at the prototype phase where we are developing data tools for enhancing climate change understanding and providing insights on adaptation and community resilience. we profited from the diverse nature of Cameroon to prototype our solution in three climate hazard affected areas. These areas were selected on the bases of their distinct climate hazard impacts and sociocultural environments. We collect and analyse data on climate risks in these areas and develop comprehensible data tools with a community fit. We have ready products like our cardboard game series which are often customised to suit the observe climate impact realities of the area. We are equally completing digital portal to serve as a dashboard and knowledge pool for gaining insight into climate impact situation of project areas.