CliMaH - Exploring the impact of climate change and urbanization on maternal and child health in Mozambique using digital data: the CliMaH project
Project Abstract
Climate change is transforming the world, and nowhere is this more evident than in Africa. Mozambique in particular has been subject to increasing extreme weather events, lessened agricultural productivity resulting in food insecurity and malnutrition, rapid urbanization and growth of informal settlements or slums, and a high public health burden of weather-related morbidity and mortality. The burden of the negative consequences of climate change fall most heavily on women and children. Despite growing understanding of the importance of this threat, a comprehensive, transdisciplinary, gender sensitive, governance oriented approach to studying the full impact of climate change on the well-being of human populations is still lacking, especially in combination with the rapid changes in urbanization in Mozambique.
The CliMaH project integrates satellite and climate data with on-the-ground research to study the impact of climate change on maternal and child health in Mozambique. We examine how urbanization, agricultural changes, and climate change related population shifts affect health outcomes. With the ultimate aim of informing policy, we develop a framework for impact assessment of climate change which will be adaptable to other settings. Swiss TPH, as part of a global consortium, contributes to this interdisciplinary effort to create adaptable strategies for managing the health effects of climate change in vulnerable populations.
Through an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to integrate digital data, participatory methods, social science, and environmental research, CliMaH will spearhead a shift in the climate change and disaster response paradigm to a more comprehensive intersectoral view, one that works with diverse stakeholders across disciplines to prospectively manage and predict emergent health issues due to the multifaceted effects of climate change and rapid urbanization.