2023 Adaptation Network Steering Committee

In the face of diverse climate change consequences, Thando has migrated to interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches. These are, amongst others, triangulation, and thematic coding, spanning over NRF, WRC, SAWS, CSIR, SAMRC, HSRC, UKZN and JTF.

Currently, Thando is convalescing under the auspices of biokineticists and physiotherapists.

Farai has more than two decades of experience in the development sector, focusing on health, organisational capacity development, climate change, and entrepreneurship in Southern Africa.

Sibongile holds an MA in International Development from the Maynooth University of Ireland. She is also a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in South Africa AFHESA (TEKANO) and an Ireland Fellows Programme Alumni.

Sibongile is committed to empowering women, both young and old, with the courage and confidence to make their own choices in their journey of personal growth and development. By providing these women with the appropriate opportunities, support, and leadership skills, Sibongile hopes to assist in setting them up for wherever life takes them.

Broadly, his work revolves around climate change and development research in Africa and the rest of the world. He is part of a team of researchers from the University of Cape Town and Arizona State University (USA) which working on a research project titled Accelerating Climate Adaptation via Meso-Level Integration (ACAMI) funded by the Gates Foundation. The project seeks to analyse the role played by intermediary organisations in climate change adaptation with a special focus on small-scale producers in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and South Africa.

He is also part of a team of researchers in the process of completing a UKRI-funded project titled Transforming Social Inequalities Through Inclusive Climate Action (TSITICA). Darlington is an active member Alumni of the Africa Centres of Excellence funded by DAAD.

Previously, he worked at the Institute for Poverty Land& Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) on Water Research Commission-funded Projects. He also worked in the education sector for more than a decade.

She is a skilled and passionate scientist with just under 20 years of experience in the environmental sector. She is also the SANBI representative for the Adaptation Network.

SANBI’s Division: APR works to support departments, stakeholders, and communities to enhance their capacity to adapt to and build their resilience to the impacts of climate change. Key to this is SANBI’s accreditation to the Adaptation Fund and the Green Climate Fund which places SANBI in a unique position to access climate change adaptation funding for South Africa. Projects implemented by SANBI include the uMngeni Resilience Project (Click here for more info on the uMngeni Resilience Project) and the Small Grants Facility Project (Click here for more info on the Small Grants Facility). There are three projects currently in development that focus on (i) Ecosystem Disaster Risk Reduction, (ii)EbA for transforming smallholder farming systems, and the (iii)EbA for water security in South Africa.

Marilyn has worked with a variety of stakeholders ranging from government institutions to civil society organizations and communities. She has also held various coordinator roles for projects and events, for the highly successful Global Environment Facility (GEF) 5 Biodiversity and Land use Project, the Cape Action for People and the Environment (CAPE) Programme, the Climate Change Adaptation and Gender Dialogue held in March 2023, to mention a few.

Prior to working in the environmental sector, Marilyn’s passion for working with people can be traced back to when she worked for a Civil Society Organization in the Cape Flats community where she lived. Marilyn’s personal and professional life has made her a lifelong student of social process learning. As such she is passionate about designing and working with social processes that include opportunities for reflection and planning that is ‘grounded’, as well as bridging the gap between natural science and social science toward benefiting people and the environment.