This project addresses stakeholder and community needs across six countries to identify the consequences of extreme events as experienced by marginalized people. The project will extend beyond the characterization and modelling of physical anomalies (which consider extreme events in terms of their occurrence, intensity, and frequency) to examining when and why these events are considered “extreme” by the communities and how they contribute to their vulnerability. This knowledge will be integrated into the work of the local stakeholders in charge of preparedness and adaptation plans and into their inclusive design and implementation. The hypothesis is that more inclusive implementation of these plans will contribute to reducing inequalities rather than perpetrating them.

Research will be on flooding in Kitui and Turkana counties in Kenya; the dynamics of heat stress and gender-based violence (and responses) in KwaZulu-Natal in South; the impact of flood, drought, and heatwaves on the agricultural productivity of women in Guider and Foumbot in Cameroon and Mbanza-Ngungu locality in the Democratic Republic of Congo; the impact of heat stress on the health and livelihoods of communities in informal settlements in Lagos, Nigeria; and the impacts of droughts, floods and water management on diverse communities in the Volta River basins and Accra in Ghana.

Photo Credit: IDRC/Karla Gachet