Abstract:
Climate change and variability is expected to hit developing countries disproportionately especially the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) because of their heavy rely on their natural resources for survival. This group of countries of which African countries are the majority, have contributed the least to the emission of greenhouse gases due to their poor state of technological development but they are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change especially the poor and marginalized communities in these countries. Although much has been done in assessing the probable impact of unabated effects of climate change in Africa in terms of describing and analyzing climatic factors to support the existence of climate change, vulnerability to climate change and identifying potential adaptation options, there remains much to be done in adopting climate change adaptive measures specific to individual rural African communities. Top-down approach has been used in most adaptation efforts and little attention has been paid to adaptation strategies specific to rural communities. The objectives of this study are to identify the critical role of rural African communities in the overall sustainability of African countries; to review the vulnerability of the rural African communities to climate change and its variability; establish the effectiveness of communitybased adaptation approach in climate change adaptation, mitigation and capacity building in rural African communities; and to develop an effective approach for its implementation.
