African Journal of Political Science

African Journal of Political Science ISSN 3461-2165 Vol. 10 (6), pp. 001-012, July, 2016. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

How will climate change transform African local governance? –Assessing the role of civic engagement

Chirisa I.^* and Chanza N.

Department of Rural and Urban planning, University of Zimbabwe, PO Box MP167, Mt Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Accepted 18 May, 2016

Abstract

The impact of climate change viewed from the poverty context of the region will deepen the plight of the continent. Nonetheless, the engagement of the asset of local governance will bring about a lot of opportunities owing from the fact that governance is about creating opportunities with, through and for society. In the face of climate change in Africa local governance will create a number of opportunities for the benefit of the region including technological Innovation, local government finance enhancement, social capital improvement and capital and asset investment. This is against a background of passivity, half-hearted involvement and indifference by the civic society pertaining to issues of local development. This paper assesses the role of the institution of local government as it gives the general oversight over actions parametrically availed by local citizens, line ministries and departments and bilateral and multilateral agencies as they act on the ground for mitigation and adaptation to the climate change challenge with a special focus on the Africa region.

Key words: Opportunities, innovation, local initiatives, technology, infrastructure development and maintenance, citizenship.