Researchers have intensified efforts to strengthen climate resilience and improve livelihoods in vulnerable communities across Lagos State through targeted socio-economic and climate adaptation interventions under the PALM-TREEs research project.

The initiative, being implemented in Nigeria by researchers from Lead City University, Ibadan; the University of Lagos; and the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), is funded under the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) Programme, co-supported by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

The project, an acronym for A Pan-African and Transdisciplinary Lens on the Margins: Tackling the Risks of Extreme Events, was unveiled during the handover of community-based intervention projects in Lagos.

Speaking at the event, the Principal Investigator and Pioneer Dean, Faculty of Environmental Design and Management, Lead City University, Prof. Grace Oloukoi, said climate change impacts such as flooding, heatwaves and droughts are becoming more frequent and severe, with disproportionate effects on poor and marginalised communities.

According to her, the PALM-TREEs project was designed to generate practical, solution-oriented knowledge and translate research findings into real-life interventions that enhance the adaptive capacity of vulnerable populations.

“Our work focuses on solution transfer, transformational climate tools and co-creation of knowledge with communities. Climate impacts are not experienced equally, and our interventions deliberately respond to differences in gender, livelihood, location and access to resources,” Oloukoi said.

She explained that Lagos State was selected as a major case study due to its high exposure to coastal flooding, heat stress and intense urban pressures. Fieldwork, she said, covered hundreds of communities across the state’s 20 local government areas, with more than 100 flood- and heat-prone communities, including Agboyi, Mile 12, Ketu, Ogudu, Iju-Waterworks and Epe, participating in the programme.

Oloukoi stressed that strengthening rural and peri-urban communities is critical to food security, public health and social stability, noting that most residents prefer to remain in their communities if provided with appropriate adaptation support.

“All our interventions are community-driven. The project team and beneficiaries jointly identified the needs. The communities own the facilities and are responsible for their use and maintenance, ensuring sustainability and long-term resilience,” she said.

Also speaking, a Co-Principal Investigator from the University of Lagos, Prof. Mayowa Fasona, said the PALM-TREEs project operates across six African countries—Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and South Africa.

In Lagos, he said the project has intervened in eight local government areas, delivering infrastructure and livelihood support aimed at reducing vulnerability to climate extremes.

Interventions include solar-powered boreholes at the Ogudu Police Barracks to support women’s vegetable farming and domestic water needs; smokeless fish-smoking kilns and inverter-powered deep freezers for fishing communities; irrigation equipment and farm tools; climate-resilient vegetable seedlings; shaded gazebos for communal activities; and cassava processing fryers.

Fasona added that the project has also distributed more than 3,500 economic tree seedlings, including cashew, shea butter and locust bean, alongside training in agroforestry, soil improvement, water management and household nutrition.

Beneficiaries, including Mrs Foluke Omoladeyemi and Mrs Felicia Olalekan, described the interventions as timely and impactful, urging government agencies to adopt and scale up the project’s model to promote climate-resilient development across Lagos State.