A bold vision for systemic change: A multi-level, multi-stakeholder, transboundary approach to increasing climate resilience across West Africa

Summary:

Systemic and multi-faceted change is often required to tackle deep-rooted, widespread, and complex issues, such as vulnerability to climate change coupled poverty and poor governance. Such a scenario can be found in West Africa, where weak governance, ineffective policies, and natural resource degradation are threatening West Africans' ability to survive and thrive in the face of worsening climate change impacts. The USAID-funded West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC) program represents the largest investment of development funding to-date in supporting climate-resilient economic growth across West Africa. The five-year program takes a comprehensive, adaptive, and integrated approach to driving change in policies, capacities, and practices, epitomizing the theme of 'connecting the dots'. Social and behavior change communications is integral to the program's overall strategy to affect change at all levels, working with regional institutions, national governments, and local communities. On all levels, WA BiCC is helping to build institutional capacity, supporting policy development and revision, and improving inter- and intra-governmental collaboration and coordination. WA BiCC is also engaging with local communities to promote sustainable practices and enlist their participation in decision-making processes. PCI Media, an implementing partner to the program, will share lessons learned from supporting the implementation of SBCC interventions, including using mass media and community-based media to reach remote communities, leading social and community mobilization campaigns, using digital and social media to disseminate information, and engaging decisionmakers in refining and designing policies that would increase the region's climate resilience.

Background/Objectives:

West Africa's biodiversity supports the social, ecological, and economic resilience of the region, but complex forces that drive resource degradation illegal and unsustainable logging, wildlife poaching and trafficking, poverty, and weak governance undermine the ability of human and natural systems to respond and adapt to climate change shocks and stresses. WA BiCC represents the largest investment in the environmental sector in West Africa to address direct and indirect drivers of natural resource degradation to improve livelihoods and natural ecosystems across the region.

Description of Intervention and/or Methods/Design:

WA BiCC works with partners at the community, national, and regional levels to strengthen policies, systems, and practices that will improve natural resource management. WA BiCC produces powerful radio dramas, films, success stories, social media, and community mobilization campaigns to promote sustainable practices such as adapting alternative livelihoods like beekeeping, cocoa, rice and groundnut farming, adopting less detrimental and resource-intensive farming practices, creating embankments to buffer coastal communities against storm surges, raising awareness about wildlife trafficking, and establishing protected areas. The design and selection of the appropriate intervention is informed by extensive formative research such as the ground-breaking Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (CCVA) in Sierra Leone and highly participatory design workshops where stakeholders take part in co-creating communication objectives, messages, storylines, and distribution plans. A rigorous Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning plan is implemented to understand the degree of change that's resulting from the Program's activities.

Results/Lessons Learned:

To date, the Program has produced and broadcasted nearly 70 audio-visual programs and has reached over 23,000 people through community mobilization and advocacy campaigns. A 24-episode serial radio drama and call-in show targeting coastal communities in Sierra Leone is being broadcast in three languages on four radio stations (two community and two national radio stations), and have a potential reach of two million. A second 24-episode serial radio drama and call-in show targeting transboundary forest communities across the Mano River Union countries (Liberia, Cote D'Ivoire, Guinea, and Sierra Leone) is currently in production in seven languages. Thus far, through the collection of radio station monitoring data, we have received responses from listeners that demonstrate an understanding of the importance of mangroves for fishery health and protection against climate change impacts, and the need for local regulations to protect mangroves.

Discussion/Implications for the Field:

While WA BiCC engages with regional and national institutions and local communities, it also focuses its interventions in a few learning landscapes based on extensive formative research and stakeholder consultation. Lessons learned are shared with practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders who can then adapt and scale up best practices. This dissemination, through community-based, digital, social, support, and mass media, community and social mobilization, and advocacy, is central to WA BiCC's approach. WA BiCC is an exceptional example of how tackling complex issues and bringing about lasting change requires a multi-faceted approach that engages actors on all levels.

Abstract submitted by:

Loretta Cheung - PCI Media
Darius Barrolle - West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC)