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Our Programmes

Climate, Health, Agriculture and
Biodiversity (C-HAB) Programme

The SFA Foundation is dedicated to making major contributions to Africa’s climate science, innovations for adaptation and creation of strategies for resilience to climate threats, locally and globally.
Broad science area: Interconnections of environment and planetary health
Africa contributes only 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions – the least of any continent -- yet is hardest hit by the impacts of climate change. Among the consequences for Africa are an increase of disease outbreaks, leading to a shortage of water, in turn causing food insecurity.
Africa is experiencing an unprecedented loss of its biodiversity; if not averted, it will cause an estimated 50% decline in bird and mammal species, and loss of 20-30% of lake productivity by the end of the century (UNEP-WCMC, 2016). Protecting Africa’s biodiversity is necessary in order for current and future generations to derive livelihoods, sustain agricultural productivity to ensure food security, protect the air we breathe and to preserve our cultural identities. Without biodiversity, we cannot have a healthy and prosperous Africa, or globe.

The SFA Foundation has declared climate change and its impacts on health, agriculture and biodiversity to be a strategic priority. Africa must be positioned as a global player in climate change strategies proportionate to the impact that it has on the continent. The SFA Foundation is dedicated to making major contributions to Africa’s climate science, innovations for adaptation and creation of strategies for resilience to climate threats, locally and globally. The Foundation’s Climate, Health, Agriculture and Biodiversity (C-HAB) Programme will:

  • Support African scientific leadership in working to understand the science of climate change in Africa, and its impacts across geographies and timescales.
  • Further African expertise in climate science and improve Africa’s climate modelling.
  • Bring the best of Africa’s research together to assess climate change evidence for regional governments.
  • Grow technical capacity on the continent so that global discussions of priority actions for Africa are informed by her climate change science and led by the continent’s scientists.
  • Develop a master’s degree in biodiversity with a bespoke curriculum in genetics and genomic science that considers Africa's human genetics and biodiversity and build research capacity in these areas at selected research universities.
  • Implement a structured biodiversity mentorship programme to build research support and culture within research universities.
  • Create partnerships with other organisations working to support climate adaptive farming, agricultural research and food systems.
  • Collaborate with strategic partners to support and advocate for the building of global health efforts that are synergistic with and/or complementary to climate treaties.
  • Prioritise research on the impact of climate change on human health based on evidence of its potential to address urgent under-examined areas.
  • Support the strengthening of health systems, surveillance, infectious disease and public health training and product development through quality discovery research and translational and data sciences.

Moreover, the SFA Foundation DELTAS Africa initiative is supporting two large South Africa-based networks dedicated to strengthening climate sciences and related health challenges: the Cascading Climate and Health Risks in Cities (CASCADE) and the Critical Zones Africa South & East (CzASE).

Initiatives from this Programme

C-HAB Initiatives
Africa, contributing only 4% of global emissions, faces severe climate impacts. The SFA Foundation strives to make Africa a climate change leader, prioritizing health, agriculture, biodiversity, and resilience strategies.
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