Connecting policymakers with rural communities to support long-term decision-making

HyCRISTAL is developing pathways for new climate research to support the resilience of rural communities vulnerable to climate change, with an emphasis on the sectors of agriculture and fishing, and in the context of other drivers of change such as shifts in land-use and population growth. Researchers employ methods such as the Household Economic Approach (HEA), the Individual Household Method (IHM), and ethnographic methods to understand current livelihood patterns and factors limiting peoples’ ability to adapt their sources of livelihood.

Other activities include market systems and value-chain analysis; working with hydrologists, geologists and crop scientists to understand community-level adaptation potential; and working with Kenyan and Ugandan social scientists to interpret community adaptation capabilities and policy implications.

Meanwhile, Knowledge Exchanges and Learning Alliances will be piloted to open channels for evidence-based decision-making in the context of rural livelihoods adaptations.

These pilot fora will be hosted in two different locations and will serve as sharing platforms for the users of HyCRISTAL research. The pilot locations, Mukono in Uganda and Homa Bay in Kenya, capture two different Lake Victoria Basin national governance and policy regimes.

The HyCRISTAL Learning Alliances will also support project partners in the development of an Integrated Database for African Policymakers (IDAPS). IDAPS is a platform that is being developed to provide users with a rich and integrated data resource that will span climate, crops, fisheries, hydrology, and livelihoods. Interpreting and analysing this data will assist policymakers to understand and respond to the effects of climate and other significant changes in the Lake Victoria Basin.

An IDAPS user forum was recently hosted by the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST). Key attendees included four Members of Parliament, including Hon Cecilia Atim Ogwal (Deputy Speaker) and the leader of the Parliamentary Forum on Climate Change; the Assistant Commissioner, Ugandan Ministry for Water and Environment (MWE); Deputy Executive Secretary of UNCST; a senior representative from Uganda's National Emergency Coordination and Operations Centre; representatives of civil society climate change advocacy groups; and, senior district level technical officers.

Furthermore, HyCRISTAL hydrologists are also working with MWE to support integrated water resource management within the Victoria Water Management Zone (WMZ). MWE are currently undertaking a consultation process with stakeholders to assess and understand water needs and stresses in this WMZ. HyCRISTAL hydrological modelling of current and possible future water resources will inform this process.