This guidebook translates current knowledge on climate change and international climate policies into practical options for mitigation and adaptation in Africa, outlining the links with sustainable development. It is aimed at policymakers, decision-makers and other interested practitioners such as environment and climate change negotiators.

The guide focuses on potential climate change impacts on key sectors in Africa, such as small-scale farming. It highlights tools, methodologies and literature available to help countries assess mitigation and adaptation needs.

The authors outline the governance, technological, financial and capacity-building opportunities to take action on climate change, and how they can benefit development. The guidebook also includes sources of financing, and case studies on mitigation and adaptation, including rainwater harvesting, coastal zone adaptation, fisheries and restoration of degraded lands.

This report presents findings from the first randomised evaluation of a cash transfer programme delivered using mobile phones. The study investigated the effect of mobile phone technology on monthly cash transfers to households in Niger that were affected by a severe drought.  

Villages that received cash in this way, known as 'zap', saw benefits such as reduced costs of receiving cash, more diverse purchases and diets, and more types of crops. This, suggest the authors, is down to the zap mechanism encouraging different decision-making in the household, as well as due to lower costs and greater privacy.

They conclude that mobile transfers are a cost-effective way of transferring cash to remote rural populations, especially those with limited road and financial infrastructure, but caution that more research is needed on broader effects on the welfare of these populations.

This technical guide describes the Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (SAKSS), a mechanism developed to address gaps in the capacity of many African countries to translate scientific evidence into agricultural and development policies. The SAKSS concept brings together "strategic analysis", an integrated framework used to identify strategies for attaining development goals, and "knowledge support systems", a network that supplies the evidence needed to formulate and implement these strategies.

The guide is aimed at policy analysts and researchers helping to set up SAKSSs in Sub-Saharan African countries, as well as governments and development partners looking for this type of knowledge support system. The first part gives an overview of SAKSS, including its objectives and underlying principles. The second part gives practical guidance on setting up a country SAKSS, followed by examples of existing applications and a list of resources.

This handbook offers developing countries guidance on how to conduct technology needs assessments systematically to address climate change.

It was prepared by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the Expert Group on Technology Transfer of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat and the Climate Technology Initiative.

This updated version of the 2004 handbook provides a more detailed framework for the development and implementation of needs assessments designed to help countries make informed choices on the technologies they can adopt to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. In particular, it advises on how to identify, assess and prioritise technologies. It also examines ways to support capacity building and help establish environments to enable technology transfer.

This report, endorsed by the African Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology, analyses the obstacles to providing better access to, and ensuring local production of, medicines in low- and middle-income African countries.

It presents a map of innovation and access activities across the continent and offers a planning tool — the Pharmaceutical Innovation Framework and Grid — to help countries do self-assessments, develop strategies, build capacity and partnerships and improve access to essential medicines.