TY - JOUR
T1 - Strengthening the knowledge base to face the impacts of climate change on water resources in Africa
T2 - A social innovation perspective
AU - Wehn, Uta
AU - Vallejo, Bertha
AU - Seijger, Chris
AU - Tlhagale, Mamohloding
AU - Amorsi, Natacha
AU - Sossou, Seyram Kossi
AU - Genthe, Bettina
AU - Onema, Jean Marie Kileshye
N1 - Funding Information:
The research reported in this paper is part of the AfriAlliance project, which received funding from the European Union under grant agreement No. 689162. Moreover, the authors thank the interviewees and survey respondents for sharing their insights during the empirical research and to Luke Somerwill for research assistance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s)
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - While it is increasingly important to strengthen the existing knowledge base in Africa to adequately respond to the rising risks and impacts of climate change on water resources, a significant research gap remains to identify areas and mechanisms to cope with these societal challenges. The aim of the paper is twofold: i) to provide subject-specific insights by analyzing the current knowledge base in Africa given water-related challenges due to climate change, and ii) to offer methodological insights into how a knowledge base can be studied comprehensively. This study overcomes the limitations of existing studies by combining two different perspectives, namely a thematic focus on six societal challenges and a conceptual focus on five social innovation dimensions. It does so by undertaking an innovative qualitative analysis that combines both top-down and bottom-up perspectives. Top-down, it explores the extent to which five social innovation dimensions are included and addressed in policy agendas and action plans. Bottom-up, it explores the perception of African experts and practitioners in how these knowledge gaps should be addressed. The research identifies a strong bias in the policy arena towards water security versus other water-related societal challenges. Our research suggests that rather than focusing on traditional policy instruments, water-related societal challenges should be addressed by joint attention to all five social innovation dimensions. There is a strong call from practitioners and experts towards strengthening the existing knowledge base by engaging local realities and local stakeholders and for the involvement of business and private sector actors.
AB - While it is increasingly important to strengthen the existing knowledge base in Africa to adequately respond to the rising risks and impacts of climate change on water resources, a significant research gap remains to identify areas and mechanisms to cope with these societal challenges. The aim of the paper is twofold: i) to provide subject-specific insights by analyzing the current knowledge base in Africa given water-related challenges due to climate change, and ii) to offer methodological insights into how a knowledge base can be studied comprehensively. This study overcomes the limitations of existing studies by combining two different perspectives, namely a thematic focus on six societal challenges and a conceptual focus on five social innovation dimensions. It does so by undertaking an innovative qualitative analysis that combines both top-down and bottom-up perspectives. Top-down, it explores the extent to which five social innovation dimensions are included and addressed in policy agendas and action plans. Bottom-up, it explores the perception of African experts and practitioners in how these knowledge gaps should be addressed. The research identifies a strong bias in the policy arena towards water security versus other water-related societal challenges. Our research suggests that rather than focusing on traditional policy instruments, water-related societal challenges should be addressed by joint attention to all five social innovation dimensions. There is a strong call from practitioners and experts towards strengthening the existing knowledge base by engaging local realities and local stakeholders and for the involvement of business and private sector actors.
KW - Knowledge base
KW - Social innovation
KW - Capacity development
KW - Water
KW - Societal challenges
KW - Africa
KW - SMALLHOLDER AGRICULTURE
KW - ADAPTATION
KW - POLICY
U2 - 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.09.026
DO - 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.09.026
M3 - Article
SN - 1462-9011
VL - 116
SP - 292
EP - 300
JO - Environmental Science & Policy
JF - Environmental Science & Policy
ER -