Capacity development
our research, learning and innovation agenda
Critical capacities
Alongside our research and dialogue activities, we build the capacities of dryland stakeholders to manage environmental shocks through the Dryland Futures Academy. It aims to deliver face to face, online and blended learning through several pathways:
- Dryland leadership: This pathway is for early career professionals who aim to grow their expertise on drylands and the tools that they need to be future leaders on drylands food security early action and related issues.
- Continuing education: This pathway aims to develop capacities through taught and self-study short professional, technical and academic courses, designed and delivered with regional institutions.
- Academic and formal education: This pathways aims to provide a wider range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and vocational training in which individuals can advance their learning on dryland issues.
- Community skills sharing: This pathway focuses on pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities themselves, facilitating their sharing and gaining livelihood and resilience building knowledge and skills – through “peer to peer” learning methodologies, exchanging local and indigenous knowledge, and other forms of individual and collective or social learning.
Some achievements
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Appointing a cohort of young drylands professionals carrying out Master’s, PhD and postdoctoral research, and integrated into local, regional and international networks for maximum future impact and leadership opportunities
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Creating a community of practice, a dedicated opportunity to move beyond silos and develop capacities through partnerships and collaboration
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Launching the Dryland Futures Academy
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Developing the Dryland Education Framework that is inclusive and responsive, centred on the needs and concerns of communities living in drylands areas and those that work with them
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Co-convening a one-week drylands summer school with 33 PhD and Master’s students on ‘exploring local constructs of resilience in the face of shocks and uncertainties in the drylands’
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Co-organizing a workshop to harmonize climate risk management in agricultural extension curricula targeting livestock systems in Africa
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Launching a pastoralism and drylands development seminar series
Milestones
- In May 2024, we convened a workshop to start developing an ‘education framework’ for the Academy.
- In September 2024, we contributed to the second FAO Summer School on dryland agrosilvopastoral systems
- In September 2024, we convened a curriculum development workshop with Garissa University
- In September 2024, we published the ‘Education Framework’ for the Academy
- In February 2025, we co-convened a drylands summer school on ‘building resilience from below in the face of chronic uncertainty in the drylands’
- In April 2025, we co-organized a workshop with AICCRA on ‘harmonizing climate risk management in agricultural extension curricula targeting livestock systems‘
- In October 2025, we launched a website for the Dryland Futures Aasdemy.
- On 2 October 2025, we signed a collaboration agreement with the Kenya School of Government.
- On 3 October 2025, we convened a half-day research and networking exchange in Nairobi for early career researchers, students, and scholars.