Lessons for Climate and Nature Programming in Africa

The Midline Evaluation of the UK Government’s Africa Regional Climate and Nature (ARCAN) Programme, carried out by Ecorys, provides valuable lessons for climate and nature programming.

With International Climate Finance (ICF) funding of over £100 million, ARCAN has been a key vehicle since 2022 to meet the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) ICF commitments in Africa. Ecorys, together with Altai and IIED, has served as ARCAN’s independent Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Unit from 2022 to 2026.

The evaluation draws lessons from across the ARCAN portfolio, which consists of seven programmes: Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA); Forest and Farm Facility (FFF); Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI); Sustainable Renewables Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI); Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA); The Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP); and Weather and Climate Information Services (WISER). 

The overall key lessons learned are: 

• Mobilising private capital for climate projects in Africa is challenging, but possible when returns look steady and blended or concessional finance helps shoulder risks.
  
• Localisation helps shift power, funding, and decision-making from international
  organisations to local actors. The formation of local partnerships, investing in political economy analysis, support for targeted advocacy strategies and translating learning into institutional capacity development are all crucial for localisation efforts to achieve lasting results.

• Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) are not always central considerations in climate and nature programming yet are vital to deliver resilient outcomes and good value for money. Marginalised groups are often most adversely affected by this – but do not benefit equally from efforts to tackle it.

• To meaningfully assess impact and transformational change, the focus needs to be on what really shifts systems: e.g. whether incentives have changed, whether institutions behave differently and whether innovations are spreading without donor support. The ARCAN MEL Unit developed a ‘Signals of Transformational Change’ framework to address this by focusing on the emergence of signals as modest signs that new practices are taking root. 

The Midline Evaluation Learning Summary Report and full case studies have been published on DevTracker and are also directly accessible here:

• ARCAN MEL Midline Evaluation Learning Summary Report
• ARCAN MEL Unit Midline Evaluation Phase 2 AAAP Sustainability Case Study
• ARCAN MEL Unit Midline Evaluation Phase 2 AAAP VfM NbS Case Study
• ARCAN MEL Unit Midline Evaluation Phase 2 CAFI GEDSI Case Study
• ARCAN MEL Unit Midline Evaluation Phase 2 FFF Kenya Case Study
• ARCAN MEL Unit Midline Evaluation Phase 2 CIWA Case Study
• ARCAN MEL Unit Midline Evaluation Phase 2 SEFA Mini Case Studies

In addition, summary versions of the Midline Evaluation Learning Summary Report and the full case studies are available here:

• ARCAN MEL Midline Evaluation Learning Summary Report: Summary
• ARCAN MEL Unit Midline Evaluation Phase 2 AAAP Sustainability Case Study: Summary
• ARCAN MEL Unit Midline Evaluation Phase 2 AAAP VfM NbS Case Study: Summary
• ARCAN MEL Unit Midline Evaluation Phase 2 CAFI GEDSI Case Study: Summary
• ARCAN MEL Unit Midline Evaluation Phase 2 FFF Kenya Case Study: Summary
• ARCAN MEL Unit Midline Evaluation Phase 2 CIWA Case Study: Summary
• ARCAN MEL Unit Midline Evaluation Phase 2 SEFA Mini Case Studies: Summary

For more information, please contact Marleen Verhagen