The Africa Adaptation Programme was launched in 2008 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) with $92.1 million support from the Government of Japan. The AAP was established under the Japan-UNDP Joint Framework for Building Partnership to Address Climate Change in Africa, which was founded at the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in May 2008. 

The AAP’s goal was to enhance the adaptive capacity of vulnerable countries, promote early adaptation action and lay the foundations for long-term investment to increase resilience to climate change across the African continent. The overall objective of the Programme was to see 20 countries in the African continent adjust their national development processes to incorporate climate change risks and opportunities.