SMEs in developing countries are often highly exposed to climate risk and may face major barriers within their business environment to adapting to the impacts of climate change. Yet, until now, pathways to overcoming these barriers and to implementing action to support SME adaptation have been very sparsely treated within the literature.
In this paper, the authors explore the ways in which multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) are being mobilised to support SMEs to adapt to climate change in Kenya, and the rationales underpinning interest in MSPs as a model to structure the delivery of adaptation resources in development practice.
The research suggests that MSPs can mobilise a wide range of private sector actors to deliver adaptation goods and services that overcome barriers to adaptation for SMEs, including those in remote regions. As a result, MSPs are often seen to present an exciting opportunity to plug gaps in adaptation and development finance and to upscale adaptation at local levels. However, the analysis suggests that dependence on market mechanisms for delivering adaptation resources means MSPs may exclude the poorest groups, expose businesses to new risks and reproduce existing inequalities. Additionally, despite expectations that market-based approaches will support partnership sustainability, MSPs often remain heavily dependent on donor-led organisations for both resources and momentum. In Kenya, opportunities to develop more integrated responses to supporting the adaptive capacity of SMEs through MSPs are also being missed owing to a disconnect between the practice of MSPs and the national public–private partnerships governing framework.
The authors identify opportunities to enhance the strategic design of MSPs to support more inclusive adaptation and reduce the risk of MSPs reproducing existing inequalities. They conclude that employing MSPs in development action may necessitate rethinking donor programming to enable ongoing monitoring.