The Horn of Africa drylands (HAD) depend on seasonal rainfall for subsistence (primarily rainfed) agriculture and pastoralism, so they are extremely vulnerable to water scarcity and food insecurity during droughts. DOWN2EARTH is examining the links between key seasonal climate, water scarcity, food insecurity, and the consequential impacts to livelihoods and well-being for rural communities in HAD. We are facilitating community-centered adaptation and resilience to climate change impacts through the delivery of community-relevant climate services that focus on water scarcity and its consequences at or near the Earth’s surface (hence DOWN2EARTH).

The DOWN2EARTH project is inherently focused on impacts to people, institutions, and policy within and beyond the affected communities of HAD. Our project activities are aimed at improving regional climate services delivery and promoting adaptation to climate change for HAD through new and enhanced decision-support tools, capacity building, citizen science, information dissemination to improve multi-level decision making, expansion of data networks, and climate change adaptation policy implementation.

Below you can learn about some key components of our project.

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Model Development

Development of new decision-making tools to aid in climate adaptation.

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Digital Technologies Development

Creating new methods for delivering climate and water information.

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Community Research, Engagement, and Impact

Understanding the perspectives and needs of agro-pastoralist communities.

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Dissemination and Communication

Broadcasting messages on new knowledge created in DOWN2EARTH.

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Policy Development

Co-development of new policy frameworks for climate adaptation.

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Climate Into Water Information

Analysis of historical climate, forecasts, and future climate projections.

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An EU Horizon 2020 Project funded under grant agreement No 869550