Fellowship Interview with Simbarashe Kanyimo
The following interview is the fourth in the series of seven blogs with the Accountable Adaptation Fellows about their research and fellowship experience. The interviews were all conducted by Susmita Puri (Accountable Adaptation).
Simbarashe Kanyimo is a senior researcher and PhD candidate at Africa University in Zimbabwe.
Q: Tell us about yourself
A: My name is Simbarashe Kanyimo. I'm a senior researcher at Africa University, a university based in Zimbabwe, and my work focuses primarily on children’s rights. I am also a PhD candidate in my final year at Africa University. My research examines child sexual abuse in refugee settings. A significant part of my professional work has been dedicated to working with children. I have worked with the Norwegian Refugee Council in the Tongogara Refugee Camp, as well as in areas with internally displaced people. I have also worked with the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council on a Global Fund funded project in Chiredzi District. Finally, I have worked with Tariro Trust, a nonprofit organisation that supports the “girl child” in the high-density suburbs of Harare by paying school fees, providing sanitary wear, and running mentorship programs.
Q: Tell us about your research under the AA Fellowship. What was its aim and focus?
A: The aim of my research under the AA Fellowship was to investigate how children can meaningfully participate in climate adaptation monitoring in the high-density suburbs of Harare, Zimbabwe. It sought to understand why despite being grounded in lived experience, children’s insights are rarely incorporated into local adaptation decisions. This involved assessing whether children have access to foundational information about climate risks and adaptation plans, how power and politics shape their inclusion or exclusion from adaptation governance, and whether community-level relationships support or limit their ability to influence decisions. In a nutshell, the research introduced and tested the concept of child-driven accountability, exploring how empowering children to monitor and record climate impacts can strengthen transparency and responsiveness in local adaptation systems.
Q: What are your key learnings about accountability in adaptation?
A: The first thing I learnt is that without accessible climate information, accountability cannot exist. For example, in my research, children cannot hold anyone to account when they do not know what adaptation plans promise, who is responsible, or where to report issues. Most of the children I worked with had never seen Zimbabwe’s National Adaptation Plan and this kind of exclusion makes participation impossible.
The second thing is that power and politics systematically silence children’s voices. My research findings showed that children do participate in climate-related activities like singing, performing or attending events, but their roles remain tokenistic and fail to influence any decisions. Adult-centric norms, fear of authority, and paternalistic beliefs that “children should be allowed to be children” block them from shaping adaptation processes.
Lastly, the communities I worked with are very resilient – families and neighbours have created their own warning systems, reporting networks and coping strategies to deal with climate challenges. However, this local resilience should not be a replacement for formal and vertical channels of accountability. None of their knowledge travels upwards towards decision-making levels and this means while communities can cope, the system does not learn from their experiences and harmful patterns continue.
Q. Based on your experience, what message would you like to share with adaptation funders and policymakers?
A: I think my major message to other adaptation funders and policymakers would be: if children are not included in accountability of climate adaptation, it will never be truly locally led. Children should be part of decisions made and we need to appreciate that they are not just beneficiaries, but they can also monitor daily risks, be the first responders to climate challenges in their homes and act as witnesses to the failures of adaptation systems.
I would call upon funders and policymakers to invest in formal pathways that can receive, respond to, and act upon children’s observations. We need to move away from relying on symbolic participation and towards children being treated as partners in governance.
Q: How has your experience been working with other AA fellows?
A: The best thing was becoming part of a community of thinkers and practitioners who approach adaptation through different lenses. We were a diverse group, some with a background in governance, some in livelihoods, some in youth participation, and some in indigenous knowledge systems. This diversity of perspectives helped me to sharpen my analysis, challenge my assumptions, and recognise the universal nature of accountability gaps across contexts.
I think the research and the fellowship became a space of intellectual generosity, solidarity, and shared passion for a more just, responsive, and community-rooted climate action.