Spotlight on BASIN- our new action research programme

We are proud to be part of a new action research programme launched at Africa Climate Week.

The programme is called BASIN, which is short for Behavioural Adaptation for water Security and INclusion. It’s part of the CLimate Adaptation and REsilience (CLARE) programme jointly set up by the UK and Canadian governments.

What is it for?

The overall programme goal is to support climate adaptation and resilience. The BASIN project is using behavioural and psychological science approaches to investigate the drivers and blockers of climate adaptation in water at different levels of society. To learn more about water security and the importance of behaviour please read these introductions from our partners at LSE: climate security; behavioural science

What is Water Witness doing?

We are working with our partners in Tanzania, Shahidi Wa Maji, to integrate behavioural and psychological science concepts into our participatory community adaptation approach “Uhakika Wa Maji”.

We will test them and scale them up in four communities in Tanzania. The Water Witness Malawi office will be trained by Shahidi Wa Maji to implement the approach in three new communities in Malawi.

This approach includes participatory climate adaptation planning and engagement with local authorities and national stakeholders. We will incorporate behavioural dimensions of information use and action in communities and early warning agencies, and work with behavioural scientists to develop research.

What is the Uhakika Wa Maji approach?

Uhakika Wa Maji is a 3-stage process: activating citizen voice, accountability monitoring and evidence-based advocacy. 

Stage 1 – identify communities facing water challenges;

Stage 2 – train Mashahidi (Witnesses)  to be community leaders, well aware of their rights and knowledgeable on how to use various approaches to bring about change;

Stage 3 – Using the community engagement and Mashahidi experience, develop evidence-informed advocacy to bring about wider change, by engaging with stakeholders and using TV and radio to communicate widely.             

What will we learn?

The implementation of the Uhakika Wa Maji approach will involve seven communities where climate adaptation behaviour change is being attempted. Studying these case-studies individually and comparatively will reveal the factors that encourage or inhibit climate adaptive behaviour-change at the individual, community and institutional levels. We will also identify ways to improve our participatory community interventions to help support climate adaptation.

Where will we be working?

In Tanzania: in Mkindo we will be revisiting communities who have Mashahidi already working to bring about change. We will also be working with two new communities in Gulwe.

In Malawi: in the Lower Shire River Valley districts of Chikwawa and Mulanje, and in the Zomba region. These areas experience floods, droughts and extreme weather. WWI has also been working with smallholder farmers in the region impacted by floods (70% of whom are women). As a drought and flood prone area, the frequency and severity of water challenges is likely to increase with climate change.

In both countries: we will also be working with national ministries, regulators, civil society organisations and other influential partners to support long term planning for climate risk, learning from local case studies and building climate adaptation and resilience policies that are fit for purpose.

Who is involved?

We are part of a consortium involving LSE, WaterAid, Shahidi Wa Maji, University of Malawi, Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology, UN University – Institute for Water, Environment and Health and Kulima. BASIN is funded by UK aid from the UK government and by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, Canada as part of the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) research programme.