Background
Accelerating Climate Adaptation via Meso-level Integration (ACAMI) is an innovative 2 year transdisciplinary project focusing on the roles and functions of public, private, and non-profit organizations involved in implementing climate change adaptation interventions intended to benefit agricultural small-scale producers in Africa. These organizations are critical intermediaries between small-scale producers and the policy, scientific, and finance communities. They thus have a significant impact on adaptation through the diverse knowledge they integrate, the decisions they make, and the resources they provide. ACAMI aims to create tools and approaches that help ensure that the diverse roles, capacities and functions of these organizations are leveraged effectively in support of more resilient and sustainable livelihoods for the men and women in farming communities across Africa.
The interdisciplinary project team includes researchers from Arizona State University, the African Climate and Development Initiative (University of Cape Town), the University of Illinois at Chicago, CIRAD in France, the Africa Research and Impact Network in Kenya as the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions.
Vision and Mission
ACAMI envisions a transformed institutional context for inclusive and effective adaptation in African small-scale farming systems, in which “Meso-level” Organizations – connecting financial sponsors and policy makers to farmers -- use and share knowledge on their capacities and strengths in novel partnerships, helping farmers access the knowledge, data, climate services, and other resources they value for improved risk management and sustainable livelihoods under climate change.
ACAMI’s mission is to identify leverage points and bottlenecks to enable Meso-level Organizations to serve as catalysts of equitable and effective adaptation for small-scale African producers. Through collaborative approaches, ACAMI integrates knowledge and develops decision-support tools that will facilitate the mobilization of Meso-level Organizations’ capacities, thus enhancing communities of practice in relation to resilient and sustainable small-scale farming systems.
Project Objectives
- Understand how Meso-level Organizations influence the effectiveness, sustainability, and scaling of climate change adaptation
- Identify what might enhance the ability of Meso-level Organizations to exercise full capacities in climate change adaptation
- Co-create tools, and metrics that capture Meso-level Organizations attributes and capacities to support partnership opportunities in climate change adaptation
Project Location
To capture the contextual diversity of agricultural small-scale producers and climate adaptation initiatives in Africa, ACAMI focuses on four African Countries, namely Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and South Africa.
Key Project Activities
- An Integrative Literature Review
- Regular thematic convening with Meso level organizations
- Interviews with Meso-level organizations
- Expert-informed research - Delphi method
Outputs
Recording for the 1st ACAMI convening: Organizations and Partnerships in Climate Change Adaptation Projects for Agricultural Small-Scale Producers (5 July 2023) - Watch the full recording here
Summary Report for the 2nd ACAMI convening: Gender and Beyond: Creating Innovative Strategies for Inclusive Climate Change Adaptation among Small-Scale Producers in Africa (15 Feb 2024)
Convening Brief for the 2nd ACAMI convening: Gender and Beyond: Creating Innovative Strategies for Inclusive Climate Change Adaptation among Small-Scale Producers in Africa (15 Feb. 2024)
Project Team
PI: Prof Eric Welch (Arizona State University)
Project coordinator and contact person: Dr Nadine Methner (ACDI) Nadine.methner@uct.ac.za +27 (0)79 2829316
Project team member: Dr Joanes Atela (ARIN), Prof Mauricio Bellon, Victoria Chengo (ARIN), Prof Hallie Eakin (ASU), Prof Timothy P. Johnson (UIC), Washington Onyango Kanyangi (ARIN), Jinghuan Ma (ASU), Dr Ruth Magreta (LUANAR), Lesley Michalegko (ASU), Prof Mark New (ACDI), Dr Ekua Semuah Odoom (ACDI), Dr Darlington Sibanda (ACDI), Yamini Yoga (ASU), Charles Tonui (ARIN), Awulatu Abigail Apuryinga (Ghana)
Advisory Board
Dr Sélim Louafi (CIRAD), Sarshen Scorgie (Conservation South Africa), Ishmael Sunga (SACAU), Dr Mark Tadross, Dr Katharine Vincent (Kulima)
Partners and Funders
This project is based on research funded by (or in part by) the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The findings and conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.