Southern Africa is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as droughts, floods and variable rainfall. Urgent action is required to strengthen resilience to respond to these threats. In response to this need, the Government of Mozambique and the United Nations initiated a United Nations Joint Programme (UNJP/JP) for environmental mainstreaming and adaptation to climate change. This publication gives an account of the interventions on strengthening smallholder agriculture, community based natural resources management and livelihood diversification in the face of current and future climate-related stresses. The report identifies adaptive interventions that have been tested and applied and which have shown positive impact on productivity, broadening of the livelihood basis and improving resilience to climate change. It provides the rationale behind each of the activities, innovations and successes, but also barriers and challenges encountered over the three-year project period. It critically analyses the lessons learned and the opportunities for replication and scaling-up. The paper highlights the key lessons learned in several areas crucial for the success of future projects and programmes in climate change adaptation. These include:

project design and implementation, institutional arrangement and coordination, water harvesting and small-scale irrigation, crop and horticulture development, forest management, livestock management and livelihood diversification
the urgent need to fund and implement programmes in support of national and local development plans that build climate resilience
activities that should continue building on the progress made by the UNJP in integrating adaption into local and national development plans guided by the needs of the beneficiaries
programmes and projects in building climate resilience will be crucial to improving food security, reducing poverty and maintaining social stability
the need to seek a follow-up intervention on the basis of the lessons learned from these project experiences.

The report concludes that with some adjustments, the Delivering as One UN approach in partnership with national and local stakeholders is conceptually sound and should guide the future direction of UN climate change adaptation programmes.