Transformative Adaptations for Health Impacts of Climate Change in Burkina Faso and Kenya

AbstractClimate change strongly affects the health of sub-Saharan African populations. Effective adaptation strategies are required in order to enhance their limited adaptive capacities. The DFG-funded Research Unit (RU) “Climate change and health in sub-Saharan Africa” unites nine research institutions from Burkina Faso, Kenya, Germany, and Switzerland that will design, implement, and evaluate four different adaptation projects in these two African countries from 2020 until 2022.First, the effectiveness of an agro-biodiversification and nutrition program will be established for the reduction of child undernutrition of climate-sensitive nutrients in rural Burkina Faso and Kenya. Two respective cluster-randomized controlled trials (cRCT) will be conducted, each consisting of 2 × 600 children. Second, another cRCT will be conducted among 2 × 300 households in rural Burkina Faso to investigate how sunlight-reflecting cool-roof coatings affect human health outcomes, including cardiovascular and heat-related outcomes. Further outcomes comprise indoor temperature, carbon footprint, and productivity. Third, an index-based weather insurance (IBWI) will be introduced in rural Burkina Faso. The effects of IBWI on childhood nutritional status, dietary behavior, and healthcare seeking will be determined in 2 × 20 villages. Fourth, microbial larviciding has been evaluated as a promising environmental control for malaria vectors in Burkina Faso. Here, the interactions between climatic factors and the effectiveness of the intervention will be tested using spatiotemporal models.