For the past 6-7 weeks, I have been carrying out my MScCCAFS research project in collaboration the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) Asia Regional Office in Hanoi, and at this point I’m just about half-way into the project period. It has been an interesting, intense and challenging experience and has certainly been a bit stretching. My research project is centered around ‘linking humanitarian and development interventions into a joint resilience continuum’ and I have been working with the Climate Change Team at CIAT Hanoi, who have been very amazing.
The project basically involves reviewing and analyzing the World Food Programme (WFP) Country Strategic Plans and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) project documents in countries where they are both present, to identity programmatic synergies, complementarities and missing linkages between both organizations along the resilience spectrum, and ties directly into the recent agreement for collaboration and partnership among the United Nations Rome Based Agencies (RBAs) on strengthening resilience and the Grand Bargain Agreement. This is achieved using a range of tools designed by the team and the end-product is an ‘analysis brief’ that provides information on areas of possible collaboration for WFP and IFAD to strengthen resilience.
For my research project, I have decided to choose one country each from Africa (Nigeria), Asia (Nepal) and Central America (El Salvador) as my case studies. I decided to select countries from different regions to introduce diversity to the project, but one thing they also have in common is they are all on the negative receiving end of climate variability impacts, from the desertification and resultant conflicts in northern Nigeria to the frequent natural disasters in Nepal and El Salvador.
At this stage, I’m just about getting started on the analysis of the projects in my country case studies and I’m thrilled to research and learn more about each of these countries.
Keep checking to stay updated on my progress and results…………….
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