Boosting Adaptation Through Climate Change Literacy in Africa

This policy briefing by the South African Institute of International Affairs argues that increasing climate change literacy across Africa is essential for moving from reactive coping mechanisms to transformative adaptation. It highlights significant gaps in public understanding of the human causes of climate change, particularly among women and rural populations, and advocates for the integration of climate literacy into education and national development agendas to build climate-resilient development pathways.

• There is a significant gap between the general perception of worsening climate conditions in Africa and the understanding of their human causes. While over two-thirds of Africans believe agricultural production conditions have worsened over the last decade, national climate change literacy rates across 33 African countries range from only 23% to 66%.
• A notable gender gap exists in climate change literacy, with rates for women being 12.8% lower on average than for men. In nearly two-thirds of the sampled countries, this gap exceeds 10%, which is critical as women often face higher vulnerability to climate impacts.
• Low climate change literacy in rural areas hinders informed decision-making regarding livelihoods and migration. For example, in many rural African regions, less than 10% of the population is climate change literate, potentially leading young pastoralists and business owners to ignore future risks like flooding or supply chain disruptions.
• Climate change impacts are creating severe economic and energy risks for specific regions, such as the Zambezi River Basin. Revenues from hydropower in this basin could be up to 58% lower than in a future without climate change, as evidenced by 2022 low water levels in Lake Kariba causing six-hour daily load management in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• Education is the primary predictor of climate change literacy in Africa, followed by income, urban residence, and mobility. Because these drivers overlap with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), boosting literacy offers co-benefits for poverty reduction and gender equality (SDG 5).
• There is a critical lack of access to early warning and climate information services in Africa, with 60% of the continent lacking such access. The document emphasizes that climate finance has historically favored mitigation projects over the systemic solutions needed for resilience and adaptation.
• The African Union and the IPCC identify climate change literacy as a key tool for transformative adaptation. The African Union specifically prioritizes integrating this literacy into formal and informal education curricula and mainstreaming it into vulnerable sectors including food systems, health, infrastructure, and water.

APA

Simpson, N., & Rosengaertner, S. (2023). Boosting Adaptation Through Climate Change Literacy in Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SAIIA_Policy-Briefing-267_simpson-rosengaertner_20230317-1.pdf

Chicago

Simpson, Nick, and Sarah Rosengaertner. Boosting Adaptation Through Climate Change Literacy in Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2023. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SAIIA_Policy-Briefing-267_simpson-rosengaertner_20230317-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Simpson |first1=Nick |last2=Rosengaertner |first2=Sarah |title=Boosting Adaptation Through Climate Change Literacy in Africa |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=March 2023 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SAIIA_Policy-Briefing-267_simpson-rosengaertner_20230317-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{simpson2023boosting, author = {Simpson, Nick and Rosengaertner, Sarah}, title = {{Boosting Adaptation Through Climate Change Literacy in Africa}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SAIIA_Policy-Briefing-267_simpson-rosengaertner_20230317-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }