Ecosystems support the adaptation of societies to global changes through their contributions to people’s quality of life. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) implementation remains a challenge and will require changes of practices, structures and processes underpinning human and nature interactions, also considered as co-production of nature’s contributions to adaptation (NCA). We analysed the levers required to implement EBA to reach a future desired by stakeholders of a mountain social-ecological system in the French Alps. Using a participatory backcasting scenario approach and a serious game, local stakeholders were invited to design a desired vision for their region in 2040 and reflect on strategies and levers for reaching it. We analysed co-production actions required to achieve adaptation objectives aligned with the vision. We then assessed how local communities can leverage these actions to navigate a desired adaptation pathway. EBA and landscape multifunctionality are critical to achieve stakeholders’ vision. EBA require substantial adjustments, transformations, or new co-production actions, but natural capital was not a limiting factor for adaptation. Synergies among multiple co-production actions create windows of opportunity for local communities to achieve their vision through the combination of social levers. However, most powerful levers, like collaborative decision-making or common strategy design, appeared the most difficult to activate. EBA is mainly constrained here by social barriers reflecting the lack of collaboration and communication among stakeholders. Recognizing potential contributions of ecosystems to adaptation by maintaining and developing NCA supply can help communities to re-structure and re-think their local social-ecological system to achieve desired and sustainable pathways.
Tag: Adaptation
Combined effects of shade and drought on physiology, growth, and yield of mature cocoa trees
Climate models predict decreasing precipitation and increasing air temperature, causing concern for the future of cocoa in the major producing regions worldwide. It has been suggested that shade could alleviate stress by reducing radiation intensity and conserving soil moisture, but few on-farm cocoa studies are testing this hypothesis. Here, for 33 months, we subjected twelve-year cocoa plants in Ghana to three levels of rainwater suppression (full rainwater, 1/3 rainwater suppression and 2/3 rainwater suppression) under full sun or 40 % uniform shade in a split plot design, monitoring soil moisture, physiological parameters, growth, and yield. Volumetric soil moisture (ϴw) contents in the treatments ranged between 0.20 and 0.45 m3m−3 and increased under shade. Rainwater suppression decreased leaf water potentials (ѱw), reaching −1.5 MPa in full sun conditions indicating severe drought. Stomatal conductance (gs) was decreased under the full sun but was not affected by rainwater suppression, illustrating the limited control of water loss in cocoa plants. Although pre-dawn chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm) indicated photoinhibition, rates of photosynthesis (Pn) were highest in full sun. On the other hand, litter fall was highest in the full sun and under water stress, while diameter growth and carbon accumulation increased in the shade but was negatively affected by rainwater suppression. Abortion of fruits and damage to pods were high under shade, but dry bean yield was higher compared to under the full sun. The absence of interactions between shade treatments and rainwater suppression suggests that shade may improve the performance of cocoa, but not sufficiently to counteract the negative effects of water stress under field conditions.
Adapting transformation and transforming adaptation to climate change using a pathways approach
Human actions have driven earth systems close to irreversible and profound change. The need to shift towards intentional transformative adaptation (ITA) is clear. Using case studies from the Transformative Adaptation Research Alliance (TARA), we explore ITA as a way of thinking and acting that is transformative in concept and objectives, but achieved through a mix of incremental and transformative co-production processes that ultimately lead to the social-ecological system being transformed. Central to ITA are social and political issues of how individuals and collectives address environmental and social change and deal with power imbalances. ITA approaches are claimed to help overcome adaptation challenges, including: 1) re-framing human-nature relationships; 2) dealing with uncertainty; 3) engendering empowerment and agency and 4) addressing conflicting values and interests. However, it is unclear if these approaches work in practice. We examined six adaptation case studies in which participants used processes of: 1) co-producing visions of the future; 2) re-framing values, rules and knowledge to shift decision contexts for adaptation and 3) implementing actions using theories of change and adaptation pathways. We assessed the extent to which participants could use these processes to address their adaptation challenges. We found evidence of many positive achievements towards the implementation of ITA, but also examples where processes were not working, such as communities having difficulties in finding ways to work co-operatively. Different processes will be needed to address these issues, such as promoting pluralism, knowledge contestation, and deliberative re-politicisation of the adaptation agenda to shift power imbalances and enable change.
Translating climate-smart agriculture policies into action: A guidebook for operationalizing climate-smart agriculture into local action planning
Various countries have made significant progress in translating climate ambition into national action through legislation and policies addressing adaptation and mitigation. There is, however, a gap in the translation of national policies into local actions. Bridging this divide requires developing the capacity of technical officers and policymakers at multiple scales, including at the subnational and local community levels, to facilitate effective policy implementation. We organized sensitization and capacity-building workshops for subnational agricultural officers in Kenya against this backdrop. This guidebook details lessons and activities that will result in completed templates for CSA action plans or project concepts.
An oasis in the dryland of Kenya! The case of irrigation as an adaptation strategy among the transitioning pastoralists and agro-pastoralists of Laikipia County, Kenya
Irrigation as a climate-smart practice in agriculture is identified as a strategy accompanying the transformation witnessed where the dryland community is transitioning from pastoralism to agro-pastoralism. This community is learning and nurturing new adaptation strategies to adapt to the diminishing yet crucial natural resources. This article identifies the socio-economic factors that encourage or hinder the uptake of irrigation as an adaptation strategy among the dryland community in Laikipia County, Kenya. The Heckman probit model is used first, to assess a total of 494 household on how they perceive climate change, and secondly it identifies the drivers that either encourage these households or hinder them from adopting irrigation as an adaptation strategy. Results indicate that 80% of the households investigated experience the indicators of climate change, out of this, 32% adopted irrigation as an adaptation strategy to climatic changes among other livelihood changes. The drivers encouraging this uptake are identified as: quality of land for food production (1.152∗∗), assistance received from government (0.906∗∗), large livestock herd size, governance of community land tenure (1.556∗∗) and agronomic information (1.094∗∗∗). There is low possibility of adopting irrigation by older household heads (−0.0219∗) and those with small livestock herds (−0.473∗). The sustainable development of agriculture promoted in these dryland regions requires a broader policy response that looks at the sustainability of irrigation as an adaption strategy in the dryland. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd
Social Ecology, Climate Resilience and Sustainability in the Tropics: Special Issue
This Special Issue addresses the wide knowledge gap in how social ecology could influence both the resilience agenda and sustainability at local and global scales. It covers the missing link on how people at multiple scales could play a crucial role in addressing climate change from multiple angles through nurturing ecosystems.
Adaptation to climate change: ethnic groups in Southwest China
Based on interviews with 1216 randomly selected households in Yunnan, Southwest China, we assessed local people’s perceptions and coping strategies on climate change, and determined its influencing factors. Results indicated that 72% of the respondents perceived climate change-associated impacts, while 82% and 85% perceived the changes in temperature and precipitation, respectively. Most respondents perceived climate warming and decreases in precipitation. Drought and erratic rainfall are the most serious impacts. Approximately 40% of respondents who perceived climate change have chosen to do nothing. Others have reacted by migrating for work, introducing new crop types, giving up planting certain crops, and investing in irrigation infrastructure. The perception and response strategies of local residents to climate change were mainly influenced by the factors related to geographical characteristics and residents’ livelihoods. There are significant differences in perception of climate change among Tibetan, Yi and Naxi, while no significant differences in response strategies have been found among ethnic minorities. An integrated programme combining indigenous knowledge with scientific technology and government policies is proposed to enhance the adaptive capacity to climate change of ethnic populations in mountain areas. The policy implications call for understanding of cultural difference that affect people’s perception and adaptation to climate change.
Natural rubber systems and climate change: Proceedings and extended abstracts from the online workshop, 23–25 June 2020
The International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), with the International Rubber Research and Development Board (IRRDB), the CGIAR research program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) led by CIFOR, and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), ran an open digital workshop on natural rubber systems and climate change on 23–25 June 2020, attended by more than 500 scientists and stakeholders.
The purpose of the workshop was to review recent research results on impacts of climate change on rubber production, potential means of adaptation and contribution to mitigation of climate change, and to identify knowledge and research gaps as well as recommendation for action.
This document brings together the extended abstracts of the presentations and summaries of the discussions held during the workshop.
Archetypes of Climate-Risk Profiles among Rural Households in Limpopo, South Africa
More frequent and intense climate hazards, a predicted outcome of climate change, are likely to threaten existing livelihoods in rural communities, undermining households’ adaptive capacity. To support households’ efforts to manage and reduce this risk, there is a need to better understand the heterogeneity of risk within and between communities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revised their climate vulnerability framework to incorporate the concept of risk. This study contributes toward the operationalization of this updated framework by applying a recognized methodology to the analysis of the climate-related risk of rural households. Using a mixed-method approach, including a cluster analysis, it determined and assessed archetypical patterns of household risk. The approach was applied to 170 households in two villages, in different agroecological zones, in the Vhembe District Municipality of South Africa’s Limpopo Province. Six archetypical climate-risk profiles were identified based on differences in the core components of risk, namely, the experience of climate hazards, the degree of exposure and vulnerability, and the associated impacts. The method’s application is illustrated by interpreting the six profiles, with possible adaptation pathways suggested for each. The archetypes show how climate-related risk varies according to households’ livelihood strategies and capital endowments. There are clear site-related distinctions between the risk profiles; however, the age of the household and the gender of the household head also differentiate the profiles. These different profiles suggest the need for adaptation responses that account for these site-related differences, while still recognizing the heterogeneity of risk at the village level.
PUNTLAND. Country Information Brief
This document aims at providing a brief synthesis of best practices and opportunities for scaling-up regreening /land restoration and sustainable land management in Puntland, learnt from the implementation of the Regreening Africa program and the experience of implementing partners. This will be useful for informing future European Union (EU) efforts to support regreening in the territory.