afri
alliance
social
innovation
Monitoringclimate for
earlywarning systems toprepare
for extremeweather events
The overall objective of the AfriAlliance Social Inno-
vation Factsheets (SIF)
is to highlight innovation oppor-
tunities that scientists, NGOs, managers and SMEs can
act upon, in order to foster short-term improvements in
the preparedness of African stakeholders for water and
climate change challenges.
Over the duration of AfriAlliance (2016-2021), four
setsof SIFswill bedelivered.
Each setwill cover onemain
theme and explore it across five Social Innovation Fact-
sheets.Monitoring is themain theme of this first series of
SIFs, covering the following five sub-themes:
Monitoring«drinkingwater »quality for improved
health inAfrica.
Monitoring of water availability in terms of quality
and quantity for food security.
Monitoringclimate for earlywarningsystems topre-
pare for extremeweather events (thisSIF)
.
Monitoring groundwater quantity to ensure sus-
tainable use of this resource and avoid conflicts.
Monitoringwaterpollutionby industriesandurban
areas to protect human health and ecosystems.
As detailed below,
social innovation combines four
dimensions: technological, governance, capacity develop-
ment and business roadmap. Each is described in a spe-
cific section of this thematicSocial Innovation Factsheet.
DESCRIPTION
Climatechange isexpected toalter temperature, airmovement, andprecipi-
tation in variousways and to varyingdegrees acrossAfrica
with consequences
for human health, nutrition, agriculture (e.g. reduction of crop yields and life-
tock productivity), andwater scarcity. Extremeweather events (EWEs) such as
droughts and floods are also projected to bemore frequent andmore intense,
with direct consequences for human
life and health [a].
As a response to EWE, EarlyWar-
ning Systems (EWS) are developed as
a way
to provide timely and effective
information, through identified institu-
tions, that allows individuals exposed
to a hazard to take action to avoid or
reduce their risk andprepare for effec-
tive response (b). EWS and making the link between predictable weather and
climate events and their impacts are critical to save lives and property when
disaster looms. They contribute to the preparedness of decision-makers and
individuals in terms of risk knowledge,monitoringwarning service, dissemina-
tion, communication and response capability (b).
EWS need to have a sound scientific and technical basis and incorporate
all relevant factors
from natural hazards to social vulnerabilities. The develop-
ment of EWS formonitoring extreme events includesmany steps, ranging from
the collection andmanagement of high-quality weather observations (both for
drought andflood) to turningdata, climate forecastsandprojections intouseful
information. To assess climate change and its impacts, observations of past
and current conditions, and scenarios for future developments are required for
different components (e.g. atmosphere, cryosphere, water systems, oceans,
terrestrial biosphere, urban areas, human and environmental health, etc.).
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SOCIAL INNOVATION
• InAfriAlliance, social innovationmeans tackling
societal, water-related challenges arising from
ClimateChange by combining the technological &
non-technological dimensions of innovation.
• Social innovation refers to those processes and
outcomes focussedon addressing societal goals,
unsatisfied collective needs or societal – as op-
posed tomere economic – returns. It is particularly
salient in the context of the complex and cross-cut-
ting challenges that need to be addressed in the
field of water andClimateChange – andwhichwill
not bemet by relying onmarket signals alone.
• Social innovation consists of new combinations
(or hybrids of existing and new) products, pro-
cesses and services. In order to succeed, social
innovation needs topay attention to technological
aswell as non-technological dimensions :
1) tech-
nology, 2) capacity development, 3) governance
structures and 4) business roadmap.
As such,
these four dimensions of the social innovation
process cut across organisational, sectoral and
disciplinary boundaries and imply new patterns of
stakeholder involvement and learning.
• The success of social innovation is reliant on the
accountability of diverse stakeholders and across
all government levels.
Social
Innovation
Factsheet
#1
•
MONITORING
SOCIETALCHALLENGES
INAFRICADUE TOCLIMATCHANGE
•Given themanifesta-
tionsof ClimateChange
and theconstraintsof
ecosystemsaswell as
socio-economicsystems,
thesocietal challenges in
Africaare to:
–ensure foodsecurity,
water securityandenergy
securityand thebalance
among them (short term),
– transform intoa low
carbon, resilient and
sustainablesociety (long
term).
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