Nature Based Solutions. How Africa Towns and Cities can Adapt.
Globally, more people now live in cities than in rural areas, and African nations are urbanising fast.
The UN Population Fund reports that most new urban population growth will occur in smaller towns and cities with populations under 500,000, which have fewer resources to respond to the challenges of climate change.
For people living in informal settlements, the relationship between city governments, community organization, and individuals is vital to adapting to climate change.
Adaptation is all about the quality of local knowledge and of local capacity and willingness to act combined with support provided by higher levels of government and international agencies.
The degree to which cities adapt to the anticipated disruptions of climate change is going to be a major determinant of how humanity adapts because cities are now where most people are. Looking forward, there is a growing economic rationale that the resource efficiency of cities point the way to sustainability and climate resilience.
High population density typically means lower per person cost of providing infrastructure and basic services and may also help to minimise people’s effects on local ecosystems if land use is concentrated. However, cities draw together many of Earth’s major environmental problems: population growth, pollution, overconsumption, resource degradation and waste generation.
Paradoxically, the efficiency of cities may also hold our best chance for a sustainable future.
Here are some of the ways African cities and towns can adapt and build a nature based solution:
Creating new buildings and infrastructure to increased risks;
Building seawalls to protect houses against coastal erosion, and dikes to carry water away during storm surges, as in coastal towns in Senegal.
Planting mangrove forests to limit coastal erosion and protect communities from rising seas and storm surges as in Kenya.
Working with vulnerable people and settlements to find solutions that serve them;
Preparing for disasters.
Creating networks of waterways to absorb sudden influxes of seawater
Using floating schools and other buildings in flood-prone communities as in the Masako slum of Lagos, Nigeria.
Planting trees and roof gardens to reduce temperatures, provide shade and increase food security.
Building multi-storey shelters to protect coastal communities during tidal surges and cyclones.
Harvesting rooftop run off to boost water supplies in informal settlements, as in South Africa.
Installing storm drains and raising walls around landfill sites to limit the risk of floods spreading diseases, as in Djibouti.
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