Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions

ASSAR’s overarching research objective is to use insights from multiple-scale, interdisciplinary work to improve the understanding of the barriers, enablers and limits to effective, sustained and widespread adaptation out to the 2030s. Working in a coordinated manner across seven countries in India, East Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa, ASSAR’s research is case study based and strives to integrate climatic, environmental, social and economic change. The dynamics of gender roles and relations form a particularly strong theme throughout our approach.

Each of ASSAR’s teams conducts regionally-relevant research focused on specific socio-ecological risks/dynamics that relate centrally to livelihood transitions, and access, use and management of land and water resources in water-stressed environments. Focal research themes in each region are: agro-intensification in West Africa; land and water access in East and Southern Africa; and land use, land cover and livelihood changes in India.

Over its five-year lifespan (2014-2018), the cross-regional comparison and integration of research findings will enable ASSAR to develop a unique and systemic understanding of the processes and factors that impede adaptation and cause vulnerability to persist.

Members

BRACED learning event 2019 in Nairobi

A guide to Effective Collaboration and Learning in Consortia

This guide helps to establish effective transdiciplinary learning processes and co-production of knowledge with a diverse range of stakeholders.

Read more
Degraded land, with parts restored by villagers working with the Watershed Organisation Trust

Degraded soils cannot support lives

India has just declared that it will restore 21 million hectares of degraded land. However, this can only be done by community-level engagement and providing based inputs for replication. 

Read more
Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions India

Prosus #2: Building capacity for climate change adaptation in semi-arid regions

The second issue of START’s ProSus magazine features research and stories from the Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions (ASSAR) program.

Read more
tree

Global warming of 1.5°C and higher brings profound challenges to semi-arid regions

This page collects together key messages and outputs from the ASSAR project relevant to global warming of 1.5°C and higher.

Read more
Figure 1: Map of all ASSAR study countries.

Determining what global warming of 1.5°C and higher means

This article describes ASSAR's method for what global warming of 1.5°C and higher means for the semi-arid regions of Botswana, Namibia, Ghana, Mali, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Read more
Life histories

Understanding vulnerabilities through life histories

This article demonstrates how life histories can provide a dynamic and robust methodology to understanding household responses to risks and livelihood vulnerabilities in semi-arid India.

Read more

Pages