As part of the African Climate Risks Conference (ACRC) 2019, on October 8 START will host a seminar showcasing lessons from the Future Resilience for African Cities and Lands (FRACTAL) program.

The discussion, featuring six panelists from FRACTAL cities and moderated by START’s Mzime Ndebele-Murisa, will speak to the theme of “Evidence for action: climate change risk analysis”. The speakers will cover innovative research work conducted under the FRACTAL program in the cities of Blantyre, Harare, Maputo and Windhoek. They will offer insights on both climatic and non-climatic risks; and on contextualizing and working with local communities and city stakeholders in advancing solutions to these risks.

Also on October 8, START’s Mariama Camara will take part in a session on “Cross-cutting issues: water-energy-food security-health nexus”. Her presentation will focus on renewable energy access in West Africa, and will provide key findings from two country assessments conducted as part of the ProGREEN program in Senegal and Burkina Faso. Insights will also be shared regarding how access to renewable energy can enhance development outcomes linked to agriculture and food security, water, health, and gender and youth empowerment.

The African Climate Risks Conference (ACRC) 2019 will take place on 7-9 October 2019 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The theme of the conference is ‘dismantling barriers to urgent climate adaptation action’ and its aim is to share the latest research on African climate change and adaptation among researchers, and with policy makers, practitioners, and development partners.