ClimAfrica - climate change predictions in Sub-Saharan Africa: impacts and adaptations
Africa is probably the most vulnerable continent to climate change and variability, because of the combination of its low adaptive capacity with particular eco-climatic and socio-economic conditions. Nevertheless it remains one of the regions less covered by climate change studies. African population mostly depends on the rural sector, mainly based on rain fed agriculture which relies in turn on rainfall patterns: any negative effect of climate on the water cycle can significantly threatens agriculture production and so livelihood and economy. It is therefore of paramount importance to have available tools for a reliable prediction of changes in climate and its impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The current models are often of limited practicality in Africa, because they are usually developed in other geographical contexts and cover a time frame not adequate to take effective actions in time. ClimAfrica is indeed conceived to fill in the above gaps, responding to the urgent need for the most appropriate and up-to-date tools to better understand and predict climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa for the next 10-20 years, assess the expected impacts on ecosystems and population, and develop suited adaptation strategies.