REPRESA (Resilience and Preparedness to Tropical Cyclones in Southern Africa) is a regional climate adaptation and resilience project focused on Madagascar, Mozambique, and Malawi.
Funded by FCDO and IDRC under the CLARE initiative (Climate Adaptation & Resilience), the project strengthens community, institutional, and scientific capacities to prepare for and respond to tropical cyclones and their cascading impacts.
Key goals include:
- Developing impact-based early warning systems
- Advancing high-resolution climate and flood modeling
- Co-producing local adaptation strategies with vulnerable communities
REPRESA runs from June 2023 to November 2026 (42 months)
- Lead Institutions:
- University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)
- Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique)
- University of Bristol (UK)
- Technical Partners:
- UK Met Office, Hadley Centre
- ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts)
- University of Reading
- Field & Policy Partners:
- National meteorological and disaster risk management agencies (Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique)
- Local NGOs (ARAKE in Madagascar is the co-Lead), universities, and government bodies
- Red Cross Climate Centre
- Vulnerable local communities exposed to cyclones and flooding
- Women, children, displaced populations, and migrants
- Government agencies, disaster risk authorities, humanitarian actors
- Researchers, planners, and development professionals
- Climate modeling of cyclone behavior, structure, and rainfall
- Hydrodynamic flood modeling to identify future flood exposure
- Improving forecast-based early warning systems
- Creating adaptation plans in agriculture, infrastructure, planning
- Analyzing migration patterns and social vulnerability
- Capacity building for scientists, policy makers, and communities
You can get involved through:
- Research partnerships (academic or institutional)
- Providing expertise in modeling, disaster response, or education
- Joining community consultations or workshops
- Scientific publications and data
- Educational tools: videos, teaching guides, infographics
- Tangible community stories and testimonials
- Interactive risk and flood maps
- Photo & video galleries of fieldwork and workshops
- Blog and news updates
- Reports and academic publications are listed in the “Outputs” section
- Technical datasets (e.g., climate model outputs, flood scenarios) are shared via partner repositories (kindly get in touch with us)
- Open-access where possible; some datasets may require authorization due to privacy or sensitivity
For access requests, kindly get in touch with Arake.Mada@proton.me
REPRESA is funded by the CLARE initiative, co-led by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and IDRC Canada.
CLARE supports high-impact climate adaptation projects in low- and middle-income countries. The overall CLARE program has a budget of £110 million.
- Stronger national and local disaster preparedness systems
- Communities adopting forecast-based early action
- Co-produced adaptation strategies informed by local realities
- Improved science-policy dialogue across southern Africa
- Capacity building for long-term resilience in cyclone-affected regions
Yes! REPRESA regularly hosts:
- Regional and national workshops
- Online webinars and knowledge-sharing sessions
- Local consultations
Check the website calendar or blog for upcoming dates and registration links.
- Through participatory workshops and Living Labs
- Via storytelling, mapping, and design of alert systems
- Communities shape the tools and messages to match their needs
- Local leaders, children, youth, and women’s groups are central in decision-making
Yes. REPRESA offers:
- Datasets from climate and flood simulations
- Training materials for universities and weather services
- Possibilities for student internships and academic collaboration
- Direct access to modeling teams for technical support (on request)
- Follow updates on our websites
- Join CLARE’s learning platform and public webinars
- Follow announcements on social media (coming soon)