Highlight: Food security, climate change and conflict

The nexus between climate change, conflict and food insecurity is one of the most urgent challenges today. adelphi has provided tailored support to international organisations and governments to better navigate the complexities of climate change, ensuring sustainable food security and improved livelihoods for vulnerable populations.

The Climate Security Learning Facility: Empowering climate resilience with the World Food Programme, East Africa

The Climate Security Learning Facility, established by adelphi, is a pioneering initiative designed with the World Food Programme (WFP) to support its work in navigating the complex challenges posed by climate change in East Africa. This facility aims to enhance WFP’s capacity to integrate climate adaptation and resilience-building strategies into its operations, ensuring a more sustainable impact on food security and livelihoods in the region.

Rationale

East Africa is severely impacted by climate-related shocks, including erratic rainfall, droughts, floods, and pest outbreaks. These environmental stressors exacerbate food insecurity, leading to natural resource competition, displacement, and communal conflicts. In the Horn of Africa, millions are in urgent need of food assistance, a situation worsened by the 2022 drought. While WFP’s mandate focuses on immediate food and nutrition crises, there is a pressing need to incorporate long-term climate resilience into its strategic planning.

The Climate Security Learning Facility

The Climate Security Learning Facility provides WFP regional teams, country programmes and operational partners with critical insights into the climate-security nexus in East Africa. It offers a comprehensive framework for understanding how climate risks affect food systems and livelihoods, equipping WFP with the necessary tools to identify and leverage opportunities for climate adaptation. By fostering a deeper context-specific understanding, the facility enables WFP to integrate resilience-building measures into its strategies and programs effectively.

The Climate Security Learning Facility's Offering 

1. Analysis

• Collaboration with partner organisations to gather comprehensive data on climate change, biodiversity, ecosystems and security trends.
• Definition and prioritisation of key zones and identity groups facing vulnerability
• Assessment of ethnic, social and political conditions and risks
• Detailing of the main agents of instability and conflict, as well as resilience
• Analysis of datasets to clarify complex interconnections between climate change, nature and security
• Identification of regions, populations and projects most at risk from climate, nature and security challenges

2. Programming Support

• Provision of recommendations for programming priorities and urgent needs based on climate security risk analysis
• Alignment of short-term responses with long-term peace and resilience goals
• Development of options for improving programming in the face of climate security risks within existing mandate, personnel and financial resource constraints

3. Capacity Building and Technical Support Services

• Convening of key partners to create comprehensive solutions addressing risks and building resilience through food systems interventions
• Offer of tailored training and consulting services for decision-makers to better use data and incorporate climate and conflict/security considerations into risk assessments
• Delivery of bespoke capacity building and strategic support to country offices and project teams

Benefits to users

• Enhanced Understanding: Users receive tailored analyses of climate-related security risks, enhancing their ability to respond proactively.
• Strategic Integration: The facility supports the integration of climate adaptation strategies into existing projects and programmes, as well as future strategic and operational plans, ensuring long-term sustainability.
• Capacity Building: Through training and knowledge-sharing, clients build internal capacities to address climate challenges effectively.
• Impactful Programming: Clients can design and implement programs that are both responsive to immediate needs and resilient to future climate impacts.

Conclusion

The Climate Security Learning Facility offers a robust solution for organisations seeking to enhance their climate resilience strategies in East Africa. By partnering with adelphi, clients like WFP can better navigate the complexities of climate change, ensuring sustainable food security and improved livelihoods for vulnerable populations. This facility stands as a testament to adelphi’s commitment to supporting organisations to address climate change and security challenges through localised research, expert analysis, strategic policy development, and capacity building.

Dispelling myths on addressing climate security in the UNSC 

In February 2024, the UNSC, on the initiative of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, convened a high-level open debate to examine the impact of climate change and food insecurity on the maintenance of international peace and security. adelphi provided capacity-building support to the Permanent Mission by producing a thematic report on the impacts of climate change and food insecurity on the maintenance of peace and security and through targeted outreach and dissemination activities. 

The report

• Summarises the current debate around the climate, food insecurity and conflict nexus 
• Dispells the myths: Should climate and security be linked? And is climate security an issue for the UNSC? 
• Suggests a way forward by proposing operative measures for the wider UN system, international organisations, Member States and civil society

Outreach and dissemination

• Creation of a social media toolkit with key messaging, visuals, accounts to tag and hashtags
• Dissemination through Climate Diplomacy and Security social media channels and newsletter
• Presentation of key insights and recommendations at BCSC 2024

Watch the launch of the report at the Berlin Climate and Security Conference 2024 

Key Weathering Risk publications on food insecurity

• Climate, Peace and Security Study: Somali Region, Ethiopia (with WFP)
• Climate, Peace and Security Study: Uganda, West Nile sub-region (with WFP)
• Climate Security Study: Kenya (with WFP)
• Policy brief on building climate and conflict resilient livelihoods and food systems in East Africa (with WFP)
• The Impact of Climate Change and Food Insecurity on the Maintenance of International Peace and Security  (with the Government of Guyana)