Engaging communities in climate change and health research and practice in Sub-Saharan Africa

The article by Robert Kokou Dowou and Luchuo Engelbert Bain explores the critical role of community engagement in addressing the intertwined challenges of climate change and public health in Sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that meaningful involvement of local communities is essential for designing effective, context-sensitive interventions that reflect the lived realities of those most affected. The authors review literature from 2010 to 2022, identifying barriers such as low literacy, language differences, and limited dissemination of research findings, while also highlighting facilitators like participatory rural appraisal and community-based participatory research. They emphasize that community engagement enhances trust, relevance, and sustainability of health interventions, and propose a framework for integrating community voices into climate-health research and policymaking to support progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals