AFRICA CLIMATE RESILIENT INVESTMENT FACILITY Summary Lessons Learned from Component I Project-Level Technical Assistance Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility (AFRI-RES) About the Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility (AFRI-RES) The Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility (AFRI-RES) was established in 2017 with a €5 million grant from the Nordic Development Fund. AFRI-RES aims to strengthen the capacity of African institutions and the private sector to plan, design, and implement investments in selected sectors to increase their climate resilience. A partnership with the African Union, it is jointly implemented by the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Component I Project-Level Technical Assistance AFRI-RES Component 1 aimed to integrate climate resilience from the initial design stage of projects to effectively address and mitigate climate risks. Through a competitive process, AFRI-RES provided catalytic grants to World Bank projects through two separate funding rounds, amounting to €2.2 million. These grants were allocated to 36 projects across 10 World Bank Global Practices, spanning 23 countries in the Africa region. The catalytic grants played a pivotal role in informing and influencing consideration of climate resilience in the design of the investment support portfolio by AFRI-RES—with World Bank lending up to US$10.6 billion. This represents the total lending amount across all investments. To showcase what the projects did with the AFRI-RES grant funding and how climate resilience was incorporated into their design, the grant requests and outputs from the 36 projects that received the funding were reviewed and classified per overarching themes, generally following the classification of the Next Generation Africa Climate Business Plan (NGACBP) into strategic directions, with some adjustments to reflect that AFRI-RES grants cover climate resilience specifically, while the NGACBP includes all climate actions, including climate mitigation and low-carbon development. This brief summarizes lessons learned and recommendations on how to better incorporate climate resilience into project design. Number of Projects by Main Sector Food Security and Rural Economy 8 Natural Resource Management and Water 4 Energy 7 Transport 3 Urban and DRM 6 Locally-led Climate Adaptation (Social) 1 6 1 Human Dimensions (Social Protection, Health, Poverty and statistics and Education) Summary Lessons Learned from Component  I  Project-Level Technical Assistance Lessons Learned Coming Out from Each Specific Thematic Area Food Security and Rural Economy © 2021 Riccardo Mayer/Shutterstock New digital extension tools have the potential to Solar-based groundwater irrigation is more envi- enable widespread access to information, including ronmentally sustainable and financially viable than climate information. diesel-based irrigation, especially for high-value cropping patterns.  Using an integrated landscape approach would foster a spatial, ecological, and socioeconomic Providing a one-time subsidy for agricultural inputs, method to manage natural resources in a compre- such as improved, climate-resilient livestock breeds hensive and sustainable manner. and pastures, may encourage farmers to adopt more resilient practices and technologies. Weak institutional coordination hinders effective data generation, information service delivery, and Providing financial services that include weather easy access to information necessary for timely index-based insurance schemes, subsidies, and decision-making on food security and climate-re- reduction in interest rates to single digits on loans lated issues. will encourage farmers to take up more agricultural value chain activities, diversify their production Access to modern, water-efficient, and labor-sav- systems, and engage in risk sharing. ing irrigation systems (such as by solar pumping technologies) can enhance farmers’ resilience to Engaging in consultations with communities climate change and adoption of climate-smart agri- (agro-pastoral, pastoral and nonfarm/off-farm live- culture. Particular attention should be paid to appro- lihoods) to better understand their vulnerabilities priate water resources management, especially as to climate change, its impact, and potential inter- small-scale irrigation systems are rapidly expanding ventions to build resilience and reduce emissions in rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. is highly relevant to achieving eventual resilience/ sustainability. Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility (AFRI-RES) Ecosystem Stability/Natural Resource Management/Water Security The results of an assessment study on the impacts of climate change on soil erosion in Ethiopia supported by AFRI-RES reiterated the high risk of soil erosion and landscape degradation, especially in areas where rain- fall rates are high and slopes are steep. The study has also demonstrated that climate change is likely to increase the rates of erosion over the country; areas that are likely to see increases in erosion due to changes in precipitation patterns have significant over- lap with areas that already have high rates of erosion. This observation demonstrates the importance of the relationship between climate change and soil erosion, land degra- dation, and all the follow-on incumbent © 2013 Vlad Karavaev/Shutterstock problems (decreased agricultural productiv- ity, heightened food insecurity and poverty, increased water demand, reduced water quality, and greater sedimentation of water infrastructure). Risk Governance/Climate Shocks AFRI-RES financed the production of an Effective Locally Led Climate Action Assessment (ELLCAA) Tool in Kenya as part of the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action Program. This participatory self-assessment framework helps counties identify their strengths and areas for improvement in relation to effective locally led climate action. The ELLCAA Tool was pilot tested in eight Kenyan counties, and several revisions were needed to better support counties’ monitoring and reporting requirements for their climate actions, as well as for their environmental and social safeguards. Similarly, a participatory planning approach required more detailed guidelines to be co-developed with key national and county stakeholders. However, the overall feedback on the methodology and approach was positive, and designing a pilot testing phase was key to assess its feasibility and identify necessary adjustments to fully implement the approach across all counties. © Flore de Preneuf / World Bank Summary Lessons Learned from Component  I  Project-Level Technical Assistance Urban and Transport Resilience In urban settings In transport There is limited understanding of urban resil- Criticality of integrating climate resilience into ience in municipal authorities (MAs) and national policy and action plans. Having poli- therefore a lack of appreciation of the poten- cy-level directives on climate resilience transport tial benefits of more resilient infrastructure or road policy is critical. systems. Consequently, clarity on which activ- ities should be undertaken to plan, design, Need for practical guidance . Substantial construct, and operate more resilient infrastruc- research on climate resilience in this area is avail- ture is needed in MAs. able. However, project engineers and supervisors need practical “toolboxes” or guidance that they As access to data is frequently limited, there is a can apply easily in the field – for example, “tools good opportunity to start initiatives that would or action sheets” to give practicality to achieving assess the current data available for each type climate resilience within road asset management of urban infrastructure system and determine through specific engineering technical adapta- how the data can be accessed. tions or road maintenance practices. Improvements can frequently be made to help Need to strengthen the coordination among integrate planning and infrastructure. Given ministries and agencies to effectively address the interdependencies of urban systems, it is climate resilience and emergency response. essential that departments within MAs are well coordinated. © 2016 The World Bank The World Bank Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility (AFRI-RES) Resilient Energy and Energy Infrastructure For resilient energy systems in general © John Hogg/The World Bank Relevance of performing climate vulnerability and risk assessments, which allows to discern the specifics of what level of risk and where they are most likely to occur geographically, and solutions that make the infrastructure more adaptable and resilient. This allows the exploration of new and improved ways to help address climate vulnerability and develop more resilient power systems. For hydropower Climate risk is not enough on its own to justify not investing in hydropower projects - but only when includ- ing mitigation measures and appropriate planning. It is possible to manage or mitigate some of the identified risks while capitalizing on opportunities. High uncertainty in future climate change scenarios, even regarding key climatic parameters (such as precip- itation), need not be an impediment to decision-making. Decisions related to shorter time scales (such as the financial structuring of credit and loan repayment peri- ods) may require a different approach, with different risk tolerance thresholds, compared to decisions concerning longer time scales (such as power generation levels). Going forward, it is therefore important to enhance hydrometeorological monitoring and reporting systems and strengthen the technical and operational capacity of climate services in African countries. Summary Lessons Learned from Component  I  Project-Level Technical Assistance Human Dimensions Social Protection and Health On social protection For public works (PW) programs, ensure that community members/bene- ficiaries are as well informed as possible before subproject selection and implementation of subprojects and that they know the reasoning behind the © 2020 Lucian Coman/Shutterstock projects’ proposition, including climate considerations (that is, the impacts of climate in their village/economic activities). This will allow community members to provide better inputs for the selection of subprojects and to fully understand how these address climate change issues. Ensure that adequate training is provided regarding monitoring and upkeep of built PW assets. In some communities, operation and maintenance plans were not adhered to, leading to loss of or diminished function of the built assets—i.e.., water boreholes were left unfenced and hence were broken and filled with sand. On enhanced livelihoods programs, provide further training on financial © 2018 mbrand85/Shutterstock aspects, including how to access funding beyond the social protection program. Funding is a topic that must be clearly discussed with community leaders and involve nongovernmental organizations and other organizations that specialize in financial training for livelihood development. © 2019 Lucian Coman/Shutterstock Establish “centers of excellence” through demonstration workshops and visits to sites where successfully implemented climate-resilient subprojects that have led to sustainable livelihoods. Doing so will help replicate the expe- riences regionally or even nationwide, where applicable. Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility (AFRI-RES) On health Strengthen vulnerability, capacity, and adaptation assessments. Use modeling techniques, including climate, disease, and economic scenarios, to guide future vulnerability adaptation assessments. Strengthen integrated risk monitoring and early warning systems. Support expanded, enhanced, and electronic coverage of health surveillance for climate-sensitive diseases—for example, in terms of geographic, population, and seasonal aspects. This action would include establishing links with envi- ronmental/meteorological monitoring structures to develop climate-informed early warning systems and response mechanisms. This recommendation could build on efforts to develop a climate-informed early warning system for malaria.  © Dominic Chavez/World Bank Strengthen emergency preparedness and management for climate change– related disasters. Establish seasonal and sub seasonal climate outlooks (Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Meteorological Institute) to inform disease control and prevention programs ahead of potential extreme weather events and to facilitate multisectoral engagement with first responders, disaster manage- ment authorities, and community-based groups to conduct outreach and raise awareness regarding climate-sensitive diseases. © Dominic Chavez/World Bank