Chandapiwa Molefe

Chandapiwa is a PlanAdapt Fellow based in Gaborone, Botswana. She was previously associated with PlanAdapt through a Research Fellowship  (International Climate Protection Fellowship Programme by the Humboldt Foundation). 

She is an Environmental Scientist with twelve years of professional experience in applied research on climate change, rural livelihoods, and land use/ land cover change. Her current research involves a pilot study of frameworks used in national adaptation plans and strategies, e.g., the framework for gender-responsive national adaptation processes. The overall objective is to develop a practical tool to support gender mainstreaming in climate change adaptation and development planning for the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, and the Ministry of Agriculture in Botswana. To achieve this goal, Chandapiwa seeks to identify how strategies from different institutions and different levels of government incorporate gendered climate change adaptation goals. She also wants to understand the extent to which stakeholders are involved in the development of various climate change adaptation strategies and whether they have a voice.  

Previously, Chandapiwa worked on various climate change adaptation projects, based at the University of Botswana. She worked with stakeholders in policy and practice so as to mainstream climate change into development planning. She ensured that stakeholders both at the National and District level have access to facilitated opportunities such as Vulnerability and Risk Assessments, Transformative Scenario Planning processes, experiential learning activities, key informant interviews and focus group discussions.  

In the Adaptation At Scale in Semi-Arid Regions (ASSAR) Project Chandapiwa was the Research-into-Use focal point for Botswana. She promoted uptake of adaptation findings by stakeholders in policy and practice strategically developing an Impact Pathway for Botswana. More recently, she worked with the FRACTAL project in facilitating Transformative Scenario Planning and Vulnerability and Risk Assessment with the Gaborone City Council, in order to begin the thought process and dialogues about mainstreaming climate change into development planning.

Chandapiwa holds a Master of Philosophy in Natural Resources Management from the Okavango Research Institute in Botswana.  

For more info, see Chandapiwa’s LinkedIn page