Priorities and Policies for CSA

Like many regions in Africa, the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region remains fundamentally dependent on a resilient agricultural system and natural resource base which increasingly is threatened by climate change. The SADC Futures project is a response to the dynamic and uncertain circumstances of the SADC region.

The project has created tailored foresight training to equip users in the practical appliation of a range of foresight tools and methods for innovative strategic planning and policy formulation for climate resilience. 

The suite of free, easy-to-access and engaging training materials includes an e-learning course and a toolkit, as well as a set of reports and recordings infomred by a webinar series that saw about 150 participants over the summer of 2020.

The resources are designed for regional and national government, civil society, research and private sector aligned to agriculture, food systems and climate change across the SADC region. Target stakeholders include policymakers, technical officers, representatives of farmers’ organizations, media, academia, advisory services, women- and youth-focused organizations, as well as potential financiers and development partners. The training resources are also beneficial for anybody working at policy level in terms of foresight and scenario development tools and within other regions across Africa.

Foresight is a set of tools and methods to practically help us to move toward the future we want.

Foresight is not a prediction of the future, but rather a process of imagining many different possible futures. Foresight empowers decision makers and policy planners to use new ways of thinking about, talking about, and implementing plans that are compatible with the unfolding future.

The SADC Futures project developed a tailored foresight framework built on seven key stages each with accompanying steps, tools and methods that can be used.

THE Seven stages of the Foresight framework:

At the heart of foresight is the empowering idea that the future is still in the making and can be actively influenced or even created. Through the tailored foresight framework that has been developed by the SADC Futures project, the materials are aimed to be similarly empowering to those accessing these pages.

The SADC Futures e-learning course comprises of 8 courses each consisting of a number of modules. The course starts with an introduction to foresight and then takes you through each step of the foresight framework. Each course will take approximately 20 minutes to complete, with the entire course taking two and a half hours in total. The courses are made up of modules of short videos, PDF documents and interactive assessments guiding learners through the course structure. You can access the course via smartphone, PC or tablet, and the material is available offline. 

A certificate is awarded after completion of each course (at the end of each part of the framework). Designed to be engaging, fun and convenient for your busy schedule, the e-learning course will equip you with the tools your need to apply foresight methods in your context.

Part of the SADC Futures project is a compilation of resources to help you learn about foresight methods and applications within the SADC region related to climate-resilient agricultural development. The resources include:

• SADC Futures Foresight Training Toolkit which is a summary of the SADC Futures Foresight Framework and it presents content that was given during the webinar series.
• Recordings from the six-part webinar series, an interactive virtual training that equipped users to practically apply the range of foresight tools and methods for innovative strategic planning and policy formulation for climate resilience.
• A range of useful resource documents associated with foresight training series, including a policy briefing and full reports as accompanying resources to the foresight framework.