The African Climate-Care Nexus Research Hub: Valuing diverse forms of care work in Africa for sustainable and equitable economies

Africa faces intensifying climate impacts that disproportionately affect communities already managing significant care responsibilities. This region's vulnerability stems from both threats to its rich biodiversity and significant socio-economic challenges, creating an urgent need to address the interconnections between diverse forms of care work and climate resilience. The region's vulnerability is further compounded by climate-induced migration that disrupts essential care networks precisely when they are most needed for people and for nature.

This project will establish a regional hub for East and Southern Africa to generate and mobilize evidence on the intersection of care and climate. Its goal is to reduce women’s vulnerability to climate shocks, unlock time for economic empowerment and drive lasting social equity across the region. It will document how climate change impacts both social and ecological care work in rural African contexts and generate evidence on how these interconnected forms of care contribute to climate resilience. It will also focus on innovative financing mechanisms. Building upon established carbon and biodiversity credit frameworks, the project will explore the concept of ""care credits"" that could recognize and reward diverse forms of care work, creating new economic opportunities while incentivizing conservation.

The project will build local research capacity at the intersection of care economics and climate science, facilitate knowledge sharing across East and Southern Africa, and connect researchers, practitioners and policymakers working on care-climate issues through bimonthly seminars, resource sharing and collaborative activities. This approach creates space for previously siloed communities to collaborate on generating evidence and finding sustainable financing solutions.

This project is one of five regional hubs supported by IDRC to advance locally grounded research addressing the intersection of care and climate change, with the aim of informing scalable, gender-transformative solutions in low- and middle-income countries.