EPD Capstone Project: Strengthening Food Systems’ Resilience to Climate Change in Africa

During the final semester, Seeples need to complete a capstone workshop as part of the degree program's curriculum. The goal is to provide clients with innovative analysis and practical recommendations, while SIPA students gain experience by working on a real-world. The capstone workshop clients vary from across all the different sectors and industries. As SIPA students, we get incredible first-hand experience by working on a real-world situation with a real client. 

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My interest in fighting hunger and malnutrition led me to look for clients and projects associated with that sector. I consulted my concerns on the project selection with Professor Eugenia McGill, the Economic and Political Development (EPD) Workshop Director, to see what projects aligned with my goals, skills, and experiences. Luckily, the EPD department has engaged for years with the Regional Centre of Excellence against Hunger and Malnutrition (CERFAM), a partnership between the Government of Côte d’Ivoire and the World Food Programme (WFP) to support African countries to achieve Zero Hunger (SDG2). They returned this year with a project called “An Analysis of Innovative Climate-Smart Technologies, Strategies, Techniques, and Tools to Strengthen Food Systems’ Resilience to Climate Change in Africa.” 

I selected the project as my first choice and was grateful to have been selected for it. I was paired with nine other students from different concentrations, including EPD, Energy and Environment (EE), and Development Practice (DP). We started to engage with the client and submitted our work plan in December, and finally conducted field research on three different countries in Africa on Spring Break. Our team split into Kenya, Namibia, and Madagascar to find the best climate-smart practices from various regions in Africa. I chose Namibia as my country of study, and I will share my experiences going to Namibia (and also Africa) for the first time!

Fieldwork Experience in Namibia 

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It was a wonderful experience going to Namibia with my amazing teammates, Luma Teixeira Dias (MIA-EE’24) and Rafaella Moreira Lopes (MPA-EPD’24). We departed a few days before spring break began to maximize our days for research in the country. Upon arrival, we rested and visited several landmarks in Namibia, which were spectacular. We visited a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes; I felt like I was in a Lion King scene, seeing the views of the African desert. On the first day, we went to the World Food Programme (WFP) office in the city of Windhoek, meeting the WFP representatives, and synchronizing our plan for field research in the next three days. Together with the WFP team, we departed for Gobabis, the largest town on the east side of Windhoek, which is well known for its cattle farms, and stayed there for 2 days for our fieldwork. Our days of research started with going to the Rapid Rural Transformation site in the area and interviewing key stakeholders involved in strengthening the food system’s resilience to climate change in Namibia. 

After a few days in Gobabis, we went back to the city to continue our interviews with NGOs, governments, the private sector, and also youth leaders for the rest of the two days. What I admire the most throughout the interviews was the passion of the Namibian people, to fight food insecurity and climate change, despite several challenges they face. It’s truly inspiring to see what people have done to reduce hunger and malnutrition. We had around 12 interviews during our time there and finalized our findings on the last day in Namibia. On the next day, we finally departed back to New York and started to incorporate our findings for the capstone final report.

Challenges

Our team faced several challenges approaching our travel days. One major challenge was the cancellation of our flight due to an upcoming strike happening in our designated layover airport, two days before the departure. Unfortunately, things happen that are out of our control! But fortunately, another flight was available at that time, though we had to split as a team due to visa constraints.

Capstone Selection Advice

Traveling to Namibia for fieldwork was a highlight of my second year in SIPA. I strongly advise EPD students to speak with Professor McGill regarding their interests and skills suitability for the project. Remember, each person has different goals for what they want to achieve through Capstone. Make sure you know yours–and make the most of it!

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