Sequencing for Success: The Essentials of Locally-led Adaptation

Lessons from CARE in Zambia’s Locally-Led Adaptation Pilot

Locally-led adaptation planning is paramount in addressing the increasingly urgent challenges posed by climate change. Yet for adaptation planning to be effective, it is vital to plan for and sequence every step, from climate risk analysis to the development and implementation of local adaptation plans to policy advocacy and influencing. The information gleaned from climate risk analysis can be effectively used to guide the creation and implementation of local adaptation plans, while opportunities for learning events and policy advocacy ensure sustainability and scale. Between early 2022 – and early 2024, CARE conducted a Locally-led Adaptation Pilot (LLAP) in Southern Zambia, to implement the full cycle of adaptation planning from analysis to action with communities facing greater climate vulnerability due to increasing droughts, floods, and erratic rainfall patterns. This Brief describes this sequencing throughout the pilot, and provides key messages for how donors, policymakers, and adaptation practitioners can better design and support effective and equitable adaptation.