A closing workshop was held in Zambia´s Eastern and Southern provinces, and in the capital city, Lusaka, to mark the successful completion of the project “Strengthening the Drought Resilience of Zambia’s Agricultural Sector.” The project aimed to provide context-specific guidance to reduce climate risks and to inform future policies, planning processes, and investment decisions in the agricultural sector. The workshop brought together around 60 participants, including the government stakeholders from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, provincial administrations, district authorities, and civil society organizations. The project has developed so-called Drought Adaptation Roadmaps for the agricultural sector in both provinces. These are guideline documents that illustrate both drought risk under climate change and possible adaptation options under different scenarios. Discussions during the workshop focused on how the developed adaptation pathways can be aligned with policy objectives and on how different asset foci and budget scenarios lead to varying outcomes.

An important feature of the workshop was the interactive presentation of the Drought Risk and Adaptation Dashboard developed for the Eastern and Southern Provinces. Innovative engagement methods, including live dashboard demonstrations and quiz-based interactions, enabled participants to explore climate risk data, adaptation pathways, and investment scenarios. A key lesson learned from the workshop was the strong interest among stakeholders in data-driven approaches to climate risk assessments. Participants emphasized the value of the project´s ability to quantify drought-related losses and damages in the agricultural sector and to assess how these impacts could be reduced through adaptation financed by domestic and international resources.

Looking ahead, stakeholders identified embedding the Drought Risk and Adaptation Dashboard within provincial government websites as a potential next step. This will expand access to the data, promote sustained use across sectors, and help ensure that climate risk information continues to inform planning processes beyond the project. The closing workshop thus marked not an endpoint but a transition towards long-term, evidence-based climate resilience-building in Zambia´s agricultural sector.