Designing for Adaptation: What We Learned from Building a Climate Innovation Programme in Asia
Insights from co-creating AFCIA with WFP Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines to source innovations in the region.
By Sanjna Sudan and Regina Rehorovska (with insights from Malena Macassi, Xavier Herault and Zehui Qiu)
As extreme weather events grow in frequency and intensity, the need for climate adaptation has never been more prominent. For the World Food Programme (WFP), this is more than about its mission to deliver food during emergencies; it’s a commitment to reimagining humanitarian aid in an era of climate uncertainty, where rising needs must be met with resilience, innovation and compassion.
To break the cycle of crisis and response, we must prioritize preparedness, protection and efficiency. That’s why, last year, the WFP Innovation Accelerator, in partnership with the Adaptation Fund, kickstarted the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator Programme, a five-year, US$10 million initiative supporting regional and local climate innovations. This year, the programme aims to select up to twelve climate innovators for its second cohort, focusing on solutions from or with potential of operating in Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines.
Asia, home to 4.7 billion people, is a continent of immense ethnic, environmental and economic diversity. Designing a climate adaptation programme across three vastly different contexts is both a challenge and an opportunity. Here’s what we’ve learned so far:
#1 Build on Past Successes
This is the second cohort of the programme, following the inaugural one in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region kickstarted in 2024. We’ve learned from our past experiences and refined our ways of working through tools like Trello, Slack and Google Suite to streamline workflows.
Early alignments in April helped us delegate roles across programme management, communications and workshop planning and not spend time reinventing the wheel. Learning and leveraging experience from last year’s lessons and successes has helped us move faster and smarter.
Building on the successful experience of running a programme collaboratively with WFP country offices in the Middle East and North Africa, and keeping both WFP’s and Adaptation Fund’s priorities in mind, we proactively thought through our lessons learned. This has become a key strength as we enter the second year of the AFCIA programme and begin scouting for climate adaptation focused ventures in Asia.” shares Regina Schmidt, Head of SDG2 Acceleration Programme who is also leading the AFCIA programme at WFP.
#2 Co-Design with Country Offices from Day One
Local relevance and insight is key. We organized three inception workshops in Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines, working closely with WFP Country and Regional Offices to define community needs, affected groups and climate priorities. Each country has unique challenges and complexities and therefore, at WFP Innovation Accelerator, we had a designated colleague from our team be a ‘Country Lead’ for each country and guide the co-creation process, ensuring the programme is rooted in local realities and aligned with national strategies.
“Gaining insights through these inception workshops helped us identify the common challenges faced by communities exposed to climate extremes in the region. This understanding also underscored the need to develop solutions that can tackle localized issues while also addressing similar challenges across the region”, shares Jothi Ganesh Shanmuga Sundaram, Regional Technical Lead for Climate and Weather-related Risks and PRISM at World Food Programme.
#3 Ask, Ask and Ask Again
Rather than starting from scratch, these workshops served as a platform to engage stakeholders, including government officials, colleagues from other UN agencies and local partners, to co-design problem statements that reflect national and WFP priorities. The WFP team listened intently and asked thoughtful questions to external stakeholders ensure long-term sustainability and relevance.
For example, in Nepal, the Joint Secretary of the Climate Change Management Division from the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE), the Adaptation Fund’s National Designated Authority, participated in the workshop. This entity plays a crucial role in endorsing project proposals and ensuring alignment with national priorities and fund requirements.
#4 Use the Process to Build Relationships
WFP’s country office colleagues are essential bridges to the communities we serve. Through direct engagement, we identified their needs and leveraged their deep local knowledge. Workshops were co-designed using existing climate insights, avoiding duplication and ensuring relevance. Government representatives were also engaged early to endorse and participate in the programme.
“To make AFCIA truly impactful in Pakistan, we ensured broad-based consultations-internally and externally throughout its design phase. By prioritizing national climate adaptation goals and engaging stakeholders at every level, we aimed to leave no relevant voice unheard.” Mehwish Ali, Programme Policy Officer — VAM, World Food Programme Pakistan Country Office
#5 Announce with Intention
The inception workshops served as a soft launch of the programme in all three country offices, engaging local communities and organizations active in climate adaptation. This helped build early momentum and trust. This is especially useful once the official call for applications is launched as this groundwork will help ensure visibility among local innovators through targeted outreach and peer sharing.
From experience, we’ve learned that this approach works best, local colleagues and stakeholders are able to translate the opportunity into local contexts and languages, making it more accessible and inclusive.
We’re still in the early stages of this journey, and every step brings new insights. Whether you’re designing a climate adaptation programme or working in human-centered design, we hope these lessons help you build more inclusive, impactful solutions. The call for applications for this cohort, is open until 30 September and you are welcome to apply or share the opportunity in your network.
The WFP Innovation Accelerator sources, supports and scales high-potential solutions to end hunger worldwide. We provide WFP colleagues, entrepreneurs, start-ups, companies, and non-governmental organizations with access to funding, mentorship, hands-on support and WFP’s global operations.
Find out more about us: http://innovation.wfp.org
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