Quarterly Technical Report: Coastal City Adaptation Project (CCAP)

The project's geographic focus is on the most vulnerable coastal cities of Pemba and Quelimane, with plans to scale up successful activities to additional cities along the Mozambican coast. The project's objectives are threefold: to improve the provision of climate-resilient urban services by municipalities, to increase adoption of climate resilience measures by communities, and to increase the capacity to implement economic risk-management tools. The project's first objective focuses on upgrading the capacity and technical skills of municipal authorities to plan, manage, and lead the execution of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies. This includes participatory mechanisms for identifying and prioritizing adaptation options that combine technically credible and sound scientific analysis with engagement of vulnerable groups and communities. The second objective aims to increase community resilience to climate change by assisting Mozambican institutions to establish enduring partnerships with centers of global climate change expertise, building networks and information platforms for climate change resilience knowledge and resource sharing, and delivering training that equips individuals and community organizations with the skills to enhance resiliency within their local areas. The third objective focuses on increasing the capacity to implement economic risk-management tools, such as insurance plans and contingency funds, for at-risk urban infrastructure and livelihoods. The project will initiate activities under this objective during Year 3, with the purpose of improving the enabling environment for improved access to risk pooling measures. During the past quarter, the project achieved several highlights, including the launch of national coverage of the Integrated System for Disaster Information Management (SIGIC) platform, the installation of a monitoring system to gather data on conditions for mangrove restoration in Quelimane, and the advancement of comprehensive local adaptation plans for both Pemba and Quelimane. The public launch of the SIGIC platform was led by US Ambassador Douglas Griffiths, Minister of Transport and Communication, Carlos Mesquita, and INGC Deputy General Director Casimiro Abreu. The event highlighted the advantages of using mobile technology to quickly collect data during and immediately following emergencies, which will improve INGC's ability to respond. Approximately 100 people attended the event, including representatives from various ministries, Mayor of Quelimane Municipality, UN agencies, bilateral partners, NGOs, and others involved in disaster response. CCAP also assisted INGC to stand up SIGIC in the districts of Balama, Muidumbe, and Macomia in Cabo Delgado province, which are identified at high risk of flooding during the 2015/16 rainy season. The project trained decision makers and senior technical staff in the use of the system and provided additional laptop computers to improve INGC's capacity to manage SIGIC and effectively respond to emergency situations. In addition, CCAP, in partnership with the US Forest Service, the Municipality of Quelimane, Pedagogical University, and Eduardo Mondlane University, College of Marina Science, installed a system for monitoring growth conditions for restored mangroves and evaluating the effectiveness in areas of Icídua and Mirazene, in Quelimane. The system allows stakeholders to collect data on water quality, precipitation, and air pressure that are used to inform restoration efforts in CCAP's targeted area.