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The report details strategies for achieving political commitment and sectoral integration in National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes, based on a workshop with representatives from 14 countries. It identifies three dimensions of political support—expressed, institutional, and budgetary—and proposes framing adaptation as complementary to existing development goals to avoid 'initiative overload'. The document outlines a spectrum of integration approaches, ranging from sector-driven to nationally-driven, and emphasizes the necessity of strong in-country coordination and south-south cooperation to ensure climate-resilient development.

Civil society organizations gathered at the World Social Forum in Tunis in March 2015 to oppose the G8's New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa. They argue the initiative promotes corporate-led agriculture, facilitates land grabbing, and undermines the rights of small-scale farmers. The statement calls for a shift toward food sovereignty, agro-ecology, and the protection of peasant seed systems, demanding that governments suspend New Alliance commitments and prioritize human rights-based agricultural systems.

A statement by social movements and civil society organizations opposing the G8 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa, arguing that it prioritizes corporate interests over small-scale producers and undermines food sovereignty.

The report documents a 2015 policy dialogue hosted by SAIIA and Oxfam to explore the dynamics of South–South Co-operation (SSC) in Africa. It examines the roles of emerging partners like China, Brazil, and India, contrasting their non-conditional approaches with traditional North–South models. The discussions highlight the tension between the need for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to ensure accountability and the desire of Southern nations to maintain a distinct, solidarity-based framework that avoids Northern-led conditionality. Key conclusions emphasize the need for an African-led strategy to engage emerging partners and the development of a tailored M&E framework that respects national sovereignty while improving transparency.

The document examines how the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) evaluates judicial independence, arguing that the process relies too heavily on formal constitutional protections rather than the actual capacity of courts to issue autonomous judgements. Through analysis of reports from Uganda, Lesotho, and Tanzania, the author identifies a gap between the 'rhetoric' of separation of powers and the 'reality' of executive interference, underfunding, and selective compliance. The paper recommends shifting the APRM's focus toward 'judicial empowerment' and integrating the broader 'legal complex'—including law societies and legal scholars—into the assessment process to better understand the systemic pressures on the rule of law.

The document analyzes the strategic efforts of the US government (via USAID), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and companies like Monsanto to introduce GM crops into African markets. It argues that these actors bypass national precautions by promoting 'harmonized' regional biosafety policies through bodies like COMESA and ECOWAS. The report highlights the failure of GM projects, such as the virus-resistant sweet potato in Kenya, and the socio-economic risks of the 'Green Revolution' model, citing South Africa's experience where GM adoption has allegedly increased food insecurity and wealth inequality. It advocates for the adoption of the African Union's Model Law on Biosafety and a shift toward agro-ecology to ensure food sovereignty.

The report argues that USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are aggressively promoting GM crops in Africa by influencing biosafety legislation and bypassing national regulations through Regional Economic Communities (RECs). It highlights the contrast between the 'precautionary approach' of the Cartagena Protocol and the 'promotional approach' of US-funded programs like the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Programme (ABSP) and the Programme for Biosafety Systems (PBS). The document uses case studies from South Africa, Kenya, and Malawi to illustrate how GM adoption can lead to corporate consolidation and increased food insecurity, while criticizing philanthropic projects like Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) as 'Trojan horses' for private agribusiness interests.

A pilot study in Malawi reveals that while short-term weather and seasonal forecasts are used, medium- to long-term climate projections (5–40 years) are not currently integrated into national policy or planning. Barriers include inappropriate spatial and temporal scales of data, technical jargon, and policy cycles that are too short to accommodate long-term climate horizons. However, there is significant opportunity to incorporate climate projections into Malawi's long-term development visions and economic modelling to prioritise resilient investments.

The document highlights the vulnerability of sub-Saharan African port infrastructure to climate hazards such as sea level rise, storm surges, and extreme rainfall. It notes that while the industry is aware of climate change, this awareness is rarely translated into practical planning. The brief recommends establishing a close dialogue between climate scientists and port practitioners, reviewing port master plans, and providing designers with simple, quantified projections of climate variables to improve long-term resilience.

The report provides an 'Afro-realistic' analysis of accountability in Africa, contrasting the potential of continental initiatives like the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and Agenda 2063 with the practical challenges of domestic implementation. It investigates the roles of the African Union (AU), national parliaments, ombudsman offices, and civil society in curbing executive power and ensuring sustainable peace. The text highlights a tension between economic development and democratic governance, noting that while some states achieve growth, it often occurs at the expense of human rights.

The document argues that traditional techno-economic approaches to energy access are insufficient and proposes an ecosystem services lens to better understand how biomass use affects human welfare and the environment. It details three primary research methodologies: demand-side surveys, supply and value chain analysis, and economic modeling of consumer choice, with a particular focus on the charcoal sector in sub-Saharan Africa.

The document argues that regreening, primarily through Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), is a cost-effective solution for restoring degraded landscapes in Africa's arid zones. It details a six-step strategy for scaling these efforts: identifying existing successes, building a community of champions, resolving policy and legal barriers, implementing communication strategies, developing agroforestry value chains, and filling knowledge gaps through research. The report highlights significant achievements in Niger, where 5 million hectares have been regreened, and emphasizes the multiple economic, environmental, and social benefits of integrating trees into agricultural systems.

The report advocates for the scaling of regreening, specifically farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR), as a low-cost solution to food insecurity and climate change in drylands. It details a six-step strategy: identifying successes, building grassroots movements, addressing policy barriers, implementing communication strategies, strengthening value chains, and expanding research. Using examples from Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal, the authors argue that FMNR is more cost-effective and has higher survival rates than conventional tree planting.

The document examines the paradox of resource-led growth in sub-Saharan Africa, where windfall revenues from minerals and hydrocarbons often correlate with declining governance and institutional quality. It highlights the negative externalities of extraction and the role of foreign investment in shaping 'elite bargains' between political and business leaders. The author argues that for resource wealth to foster sustainable development, research must focus on reducing commodity concentration, improving institutional accountability, and balancing the trade-offs between extractive growth and climate change mitigation.

The Future Climate For Africa (FCFA) programme, funded by DFID and NERC, aims to improve the scientific understanding of sub-Saharan African climate on decadal timescales and enhance the uptake of this information in long-term development planning. The programme's 18-month scoping phase evaluates user needs against current scientific capabilities through case studies in Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda, Accra, and Maputo. FCFA posits that technical accuracy alone is insufficient for better decision-making; instead, success depends on understanding the political economy, institutional settings, and social processes that influence how climate science is communicated and used.

The document serves as a framework for analyzing the business-enabling environment and economic indicators in Southern Africa. It utilizes nine specific case studies to examine barriers to economic growth, including access to finance in Malawi, regulatory constraints on fuel ethanol markets in SADC, alternative energy in mining, access to medicines, the SADC univisa, regional transit bonds, non-tariff barriers at Beit Bridge, the Non-Tariff Barrier Monitoring Mechanism, and logistics development in Walvis Bay.

The policy brief argues that peace agreements in the DRC, specifically the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement and the Addis Ababa Framework Agreement (AAFA), reflect shifts in economic power between the eastern Kivus and the southern Katanga province. While early conflicts and the ICGLR were driven by the exploitation of coltan and other minerals in the east by Rwanda and Uganda, the subsequent rise of copper and cobalt investments in Katanga shifted geopolitical influence toward SADC states.

The document examines the precarious security environment leading up to Mozambique's 2014 elections, highlighting the need for a negotiated ceasefire and disarmament of Renamo to ensure long-term stability. It argues that while President Guebuza's commitment to the election timetable is a positive sign of democratic maturity, the risk of post-election violence remains high unless security guarantees and confidence-building measures are established.

The document analyzes a growing trend among African leaders to prioritize 'traditional values' and 'sovereignty' over universal human rights, often using anti-imperialist rhetoric to shield themselves from accountability. It highlights the role of CSOs in fighting this regressive shift, specifically regarding LGBTI rights, corruption, and the International Criminal Court (ICC), while noting that these organisations face increasing government harassment and restrictive legislation.

The document identifies significant potential for increasing rice production in Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi through the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), noting that SRI can often more than double yields compared to traditional methods. However, it highlights that these gains are frequently linked to broader improved management practices rather than SRI principles alone. Implementation is hindered by common constraints including low seed quality, poor irrigation, limited credit access, and a lack of specific national policies to promote SRI, although Tanzania incorporates it into its "Big Result Now" program.