CSAG is a leading international climate research centre based in Africa with broad research skills and competency in both physical and social dimensions of climate, a strong experience in engaging with society, and an excellent track record in capacity development. We prioritize societally relevant research to support responses to climate variability and change.
Heatwaves in Mozambique (1983)–2016: Characteristics, trends and city-level summaries using high-resolution CHIRTS-daily. The intensity, frequency, and duration of heatwaves are increasing worldwide. Still, heatwaves are systematically underreported and underresearched across the African continent. This study examines heatwaves across Mozambique, a country highly vulnerable to a variety of climate risks yet where heatwaves have received little… Read more »
Role of Indigenous and local knowledge in seasonal forecasts and climate adaptation: A case study of smallholder farmers in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe. Accessible, reliable and diverse sources of climate information are needed to inform climate change adaptation at all levels of society, particularly for vulnerable sectors such as smallholder farming. Globally, many smallholder farmers use Indigenous… Read more »
Summary An initial look at preliminary March 2023 rainfall data for Table Mountain suggests it was the wettest March in the instrumental record of the “Mountain in the Sea”, going back as far as 1893! This appears to have been mostly the result of four cut-off low systems forming along the west coast during the… Read more »
The April 2021 Cape Town Wildfire: Has Anthropogenic Climate Change Altered the Likelihood of Extreme Fire Weather? CMIP6 models suggest that extreme fire weather associated with the April 2021 Cape Town wildfire has become 90% more likely in a warmer world. Paper Link: Liu, Z., Eden, J.M., Dieppois, B., Conradie, W.S. and Blackett, M., 2023…. Read more »
Fostering transdisciplinary research for equitable and sustainable development pathways across Africa: what changes are needed? The transformations required to accomplish the SDGs throughout the African continent necessitate new methods of mobilizing, weaving together, and implementing knowledge. Transdisciplinarity (TD), understood as the co-production of knowledge across disciplines and with non-academic actors, is a potential, all-encompassing method… Read more »
Attribution of the human influence on heavy rainfall associated with flooding events during 2012, 2016, and 2018 March-April-May seasons in Kenya. Kenya received severe rainfall during the March-April-May (MAM) rainfall season in 2012, 2016, and 2018, resulting in human and cattle deaths, the devastation of infrastructure and property, bursting of riverbanks, submerging of farmlands, and… Read more »
Lessons from integrated seasonal forecast-crop modelling in Africa: A systematic review Seasonal forecasts combined with crop models have the potential to improve decision-making in African smallholder farming. The study aimed to guide future research by identifying and analyzing crop and climate models, as well as approaches for merging seasonal forecast data with crop models. Google… Read more »
Perception of Cassava-Based Farmers to Climate Variability in the Rain Forest and Derived Savannah Biomes of Nigeria. The pattern of agricultural production is influenced by climate variability, particularly in those regions of Africa where agriculture is primarily rain-fed. There is a discrepancy in how farmers perceive and respond to climate unpredictability, which affects their choice… Read more »
The concept of climate justice has been gaining traction for some time. Broadly speaking, climate justice is about taking a human- and equity-centred approach to thinking about climate risks, responsibilities and potential responses. Like many other big concepts, climate justice is often proposed as important for climate action without careful and critical thought about what… Read more »