Exploring the role of climate science in supporting long-term adaptation and decision-making in sub-Saharan Africa

The document identifies significant barriers to integrating climate science into African policy-making, including systematic biases in climate models, a decline in observational data networks, and a lack of technical capacity to interpret data. It emphasizes that current climate information is often too coarse in resolution for local decision-making and is poorly communicated to policy-makers. To address these gaps, the authors recommend promoting African-led science, improving the translation of research into non-technical formats, and engaging influential finance and development ministries rather than relying solely on environment ministries.

• Climate models for Africa exhibit systematic biases and discrepancies, such as the excessive projection of rainfall in Southern Africa and a southward displacement of the Atlantic Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone.
• There is a decline in Africa's climate observation networks caused primarily by a lack of national and international leadership, with some time-series data disrupted by conflict and natural disasters.
• Current general circulation models (GCM) typically operate at resolutions of 100 km or greater, which is too coarse for local decision-makers who require downscaling to 25–50 km to understand localised impacts and decadal trends.
• A significant capacity gap exists in Africa for conducting climate modelling and interpreting model outputs, with most renowned analysis centres located in South Africa or a few isolated regional centres.

APA

Jones, L., Carabine, E., Hickman, A., Langston, L., Moosa, S., & Mukanya, R. (2014). Exploring the role of climate science in supporting long-term adaptation and decision-making in sub-Saharan Africa. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN_FCFA_Working_Paper.pdf

Chicago

Jones, Lindsey, Elizabeth Carabine, Anna Hickman, Lara Langston, Shehnaaz Moosa, and Ronald Mukanya. Exploring the role of climate science in supporting long-term adaptation and decision-making in sub-Saharan Africa. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2014. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN_FCFA_Working_Paper.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jones |first1=Lindsey |last2=Carabine |first2=Elizabeth |last3=Hickman |first3=Anna |last4=Langston |first4=Lara |last5=Moosa |first5=Shehnaaz |last6=Mukanya |first6=Ronald |title=Exploring the role of climate science in supporting long-term adaptation and decision-making in sub-Saharan Africa |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=April 2014 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN_FCFA_Working_Paper.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jones2014exploring, author = {Jones, Lindsey and Carabine, Elizabeth and Hickman, Anna and Langston, Lara and Moosa, Shehnaaz and Mukanya, Ronald}, title = {{Exploring the role of climate science in supporting long-term adaptation and decision-making in sub-Saharan Africa}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2014}, month = apr, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/CDKN_FCFA_Working_Paper.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }