Program to Build Resilience for Food and Nutritional Security in the Horn of Africa

Adaptation Need

The Horn of Africa is a vast arid and semi-arid region that is among the most vulnerable areas to climate change globally. Its four countries on the peninsula—Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia—are warming at a rate faster than the global average. The region’s unpredictable weather patterns exacerbate its vulnerability: the torrential rains are often followed by severe dry spells, leading to catastrophic droughts and record-high floods. These extreme and sudden weather events negatively impact agricultural and livestock production, disrupt fishing ecosystems, and heighten tensions among communities over increasingly strained natural resources – arable land and water. The region’s low agricultural productivity, coupled with rapid population growth, intensifies the challenge of meeting rising demands for food, energy, and sustaining agriculture-based livelihoods. With approximately 80% of the population relying on subsistence farming and pastoralism, these climatic/weather extremes frequently drive farming communities into hunger and food insecurity. Alarmingly, nearly 64% of the population in the Horn of Africa live in areas highly vulnerable to severe food shortages. Given these conditions, climate adaptation is essential to enhance resilience, protect livelihoods, and ensure food security amid the increasing climatic extremes events.

GCA’s Added Value

In collaboration with CIAT, GCA’s technical assistance contributed to the identification of key agriculture adaptation constraints, assessed digital application opportunities, and prepared Digital Climate Information and Advisory Services (DCAS) profiles to support stakeholders and policymakers to further works with the AfDB on the feasibility and design of DCAS in the agriculture sector in the program countries.