The Readiness Index for Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: The Role of Climate and Adaptive Capacity Proxies
As global changes continue, the repercussions in Africa remain profound. This is reflected notably in food and water crises across Africa. This work examines the readiness of Africa to climate change adaptation through a newly developed readiness index (ClimAdaptCap Index). In fact, this work shifts...
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/20/9413 |
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| author | Terence Epule Epule Abdelghani Chehbouni Driss Dhiba Mirielle Wase Moto |
| author_facet | Terence Epule Epule Abdelghani Chehbouni Driss Dhiba Mirielle Wase Moto |
| author_sort | Terence Epule Epule |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As global changes continue, the repercussions in Africa remain profound. This is reflected notably in food and water crises across Africa. This work examines the readiness of Africa to climate change adaptation through a newly developed readiness index (ClimAdaptCap Index). In fact, this work shifts the readiness debate from emotional descriptions that currently flood academic scholarship to a more pragmatic evidence-based approach in assessing readiness. Readiness for climate change adaptation is driven by the intensity of climate forcing and adaptive capacity. The historical climate score data or precipitation and temperature for the period 1991–2016 were culled from the World Bank Climate Portal. The historical adaptive capacity score data included proxies such as poverty and literacy rates from 1991 to 2016 were collected from the World Bank and Macrotrends. The climate data were normalized using the normalization function to enhance interpretation, comparison, and fusion into the index. Missing poverty and literacy rate data were estimated by linear interpolation of the poverty and literacy rate data. The ClimAdaptCap Index was developed to compute readiness. This index is the first of its kind and will serve as a flagship for assessing readiness for climate change adaptation as it is highly adaptable to different contexts. This work’s first-ever maps of readiness show that North and Southern Africa are the readiest for climate change adaptation under historical climate and literacy and poverty conditions. West Africa is the least ready while Middle and East Africa are in the middle. Consistent is that readiness has a positive correlation with literacy rates and an inverse one with poverty rates. In addition, with readiness scores of between 0.35 and 0.39 for all the regions with a maximum potential score of 1, this work has shown that the level of readiness in Africa is generally low, and there is a very small variation between the different regions. In addition, climate change adaptation will highly be influenced by both climatic and non-climatic indicators. The developed readiness index adequately simulates readiness to climate change adaptation in Africa and complements previous frameworks of adaptation preparedness. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:45:47Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:45:47Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-de90fe1348ed4772a2df926b8c4b5fd32023-11-22T17:18:11ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-10-011120941310.3390/app11209413The Readiness Index for Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: The Role of Climate and Adaptive Capacity ProxiesTerence Epule Epule0Abdelghani Chehbouni1Driss Dhiba2Mirielle Wase Moto3International Water Research Institute (UM6P), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Lot 660, Hay Moulay Rachid, Ben Guerir 43150, MoroccoInternational Water Research Institute (UM6P), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Lot 660, Hay Moulay Rachid, Ben Guerir 43150, MoroccoInternational Water Research Institute (UM6P), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Lot 660, Hay Moulay Rachid, Ben Guerir 43150, MoroccoInternational Water Research Institute (UM6P), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Lot 660, Hay Moulay Rachid, Ben Guerir 43150, MoroccoAs global changes continue, the repercussions in Africa remain profound. This is reflected notably in food and water crises across Africa. This work examines the readiness of Africa to climate change adaptation through a newly developed readiness index (ClimAdaptCap Index). In fact, this work shifts the readiness debate from emotional descriptions that currently flood academic scholarship to a more pragmatic evidence-based approach in assessing readiness. Readiness for climate change adaptation is driven by the intensity of climate forcing and adaptive capacity. The historical climate score data or precipitation and temperature for the period 1991–2016 were culled from the World Bank Climate Portal. The historical adaptive capacity score data included proxies such as poverty and literacy rates from 1991 to 2016 were collected from the World Bank and Macrotrends. The climate data were normalized using the normalization function to enhance interpretation, comparison, and fusion into the index. Missing poverty and literacy rate data were estimated by linear interpolation of the poverty and literacy rate data. The ClimAdaptCap Index was developed to compute readiness. This index is the first of its kind and will serve as a flagship for assessing readiness for climate change adaptation as it is highly adaptable to different contexts. This work’s first-ever maps of readiness show that North and Southern Africa are the readiest for climate change adaptation under historical climate and literacy and poverty conditions. West Africa is the least ready while Middle and East Africa are in the middle. Consistent is that readiness has a positive correlation with literacy rates and an inverse one with poverty rates. In addition, with readiness scores of between 0.35 and 0.39 for all the regions with a maximum potential score of 1, this work has shown that the level of readiness in Africa is generally low, and there is a very small variation between the different regions. In addition, climate change adaptation will highly be influenced by both climatic and non-climatic indicators. The developed readiness index adequately simulates readiness to climate change adaptation in Africa and complements previous frameworks of adaptation preparedness.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/20/9413readiness indexclimate change adaptationadaptive capacityclimadaptcap indexAfrica |
| spellingShingle | Terence Epule Epule Abdelghani Chehbouni Driss Dhiba Mirielle Wase Moto The Readiness Index for Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: The Role of Climate and Adaptive Capacity Proxies Applied Sciences readiness index climate change adaptation adaptive capacity climadaptcap index Africa |
| title | The Readiness Index for Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: The Role of Climate and Adaptive Capacity Proxies |
| title_full | The Readiness Index for Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: The Role of Climate and Adaptive Capacity Proxies |
| title_fullStr | The Readiness Index for Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: The Role of Climate and Adaptive Capacity Proxies |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Readiness Index for Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: The Role of Climate and Adaptive Capacity Proxies |
| title_short | The Readiness Index for Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: The Role of Climate and Adaptive Capacity Proxies |
| title_sort | readiness index for climate change adaptation in africa the role of climate and adaptive capacity proxies |
| topic | readiness index climate change adaptation adaptive capacity climadaptcap index Africa |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/20/9413 |
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