Southern Africa Research
Social, economic and political factors are increasing food insecurity in southern Africa. Changes in the environment (Global Environmental Change, GEC) are further complicating what is already a food insecure situation for many. The technical and policy interventions required to prevent the region’s food security from worsening further (and therefore becoming even more dependent on outside assistance) need to take account of GEC. Interventions must consider three issues:
- how GEC will further complicate food security across the region;
- the feasibility of policy and technical adaptation options at both regional and local levels; and
- the socioeconomic and environmental consequences of different adaptation options designed to improve food security.
A three-year consultation and planning exercise has identified the need for, and necessary components of, an integrated research endeavour on the links between southern African food security and GEC. The exercise, organised by the international research project Global Environmental Change and Food Systems (GECAFS), involved a diverse group of regional researchers, and regional and international organisations and donors, and culminated in the preparation of this Plan for a GECAFS southern Africa project (GECAFS-SAF). Recognising and building upon ongoing national and regional GEC and food security research, the Plan provides a strategy to deliver policy-relevant information about the interactions between GEC and the food systems that underpin food security. Research will contribute to a number of major food security initiatives in the region and support both local interests and those of major regional activities (e.g. NEPAD, FARA, COMESA and SADC-FANR). It will constitute an integral component of the internationally-endorsed GECAFS agenda.
GECAFS-SAF research will identify the social and geographical distribution of the vulnerability of the region’s food systems to GEC in the context of other stresses. Based on these new insights, collaborative research with regional stakeholders will evaluate how, when and where adaptations to food systems can be instituted to reduce their vulnerability to GEC while also being in line with long-term national and regional developmental goals. Research will also assess the long-term social and environmental consequences of different potential adaptation measures designed to enhance regional food security. In addition to addressing regional priorities, proposed research is also fully consistent with the international GECAFS conceptual and methodological research agenda and will be networked with other GECAFS research worldwide.
GECAFS-SAF will be implemented over five years. It will be based on
- selected Case Studies across the region, each addressing the food systems questions relating to GEC vulnerability and impacts, adaptation options and feedbacks;
- Regional Scientific Networking (in collaboration with ICSU-ROA), to link case study research with other relevant research in the region and internationally; and
- a Science-Policy Interface (in collaboration with FANRPAN), linking national researchers with policymakers, the private sector, civil society and representatives of regional food security programmes.
Research will be organised into defined phases with clear outputs at each stage. When integrated, outputs will provide policy-relevant information at both local and regional levels with the communications strategy underpinned by stakeholder engagement at all research stages. Research capacity will be developed by collaborative research within the international GECAFS project.
A GECAFS-SAF Regional Fund is proposed to cover case study research (via regional calls for proposals), regional networking activities, the science-policy interface and research management. A GECAFS-SAF Regional Steering Committee (RSC) has been established to provide scientific oversight and manage the Fund. A GECAFS-SAF Regional Coordinator will be appointed. The “Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network” (FANRPAN) will serve as the regional host institution.
For further information, see the GECAFS Southern Africa Science Plan and Implementation Strategy, which has been developed in consultation with SADC, and endorsed by FANRPAN, FARA, ICSU-Africa and NEPAD.
For a list of GECAFS southern Africa Meetings, click here.