Tag: Adaptation
Trading Natural Riparian Forests for Urban Shelterbelt Plantations—A Sustainability Assessment of the Kökyar Protection Forest in NWChina
Synergizing climate change mitigation and adaptation in Cameroon: An overview of multi-stakeholder efforts
This paper aims to examine the policy environments, institutional arrangements and practical implementation of some initiatives undertaken by the Government of Cameroon, together with some relevant stakeholders, in addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation at various levels in the country, which are prerequisites to promote synergistic ways of addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation. Using a qualitative approach to data collection, the paper draws upon information collected from relevant literature and interviews with 18 key country resource personnel. Results revealed that most reviewed policies/programs/strategies do not mention “climate change” explicitly but propose some activities which indirectly address it. Interaction is fair within the government ministries but weak between these ministries and other institutions. Inadequate financial resources are being opined as the most important challenge stakeholders are (and would continue) facing as a result of adopting integrated approaches to climate change. Other challenges include inadequate coordination, insufficient sensitization and capacity building, ineffective implementation, inadequate compliance, lack of proper transparency and inadequate public participation. To redress the aforementioned constraints and challenges, the paper concludes by outlining a number of recommendations for policy design.
Social learning approaches for ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction, a concept that has recently evolved from the notion of employing ecosystem management approaches for reducing societal risks to disasters, requires active and inclusive involvement of a range of stakeholders in order to enhance the knowledge base, facilitate favourable policy mechanisms and inform suitable practices on the ground. The integration of different disciplines of knowledge, alignment of policies such as those related to natural resource management, disaster risk management and development, as well as execution of unified practices are necessary conditions in order to successfully harness the benefits of nature for protecting people from the impacts of disasters. Social learning is an iterative, collective learning process that can convene the wide range of stakeholders support co-creation of knowledge, enhance collective understanding of what action is needed as well as strengthen the willingness for joint action and advocacy. The paper explores opportunities in applying social learning for ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction, especially in light of the emerging challenges documented from early applications and in evolving literature. It also elaborates on the limitations of social learning itself and the research opportunities social learning for ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction holds.
Identities, interests, and preferences matter: Fostering sustainable community development by building assets and agency in western Kenya
The efficiency and sustainability of climate change adaptation projects depend on appropriate models and tools to take climate‐smart practices to scale. This paper presents the “Building assets and agency” approach taken by the Accelerating Adoption of Agroforestry project whose objective is to scale the adoption of context‐specific adaptation and mitigation options. Through the approach, communities are encouraged to identify, mobilise, and use their existing assets to define community plans that are responsive to their identities, interests, and preferences. This innovative approach combines conscious selection of project staff and partners, group capacity and agency training, cocreation of skills in self‐selected agricultural practices with an emphasis on business skills, and tools for sustainable scaling through farmer‐to‐farmer extension. The paper addresses challenges and solutions, and case study data justifying proof of concept. While developed in a climate change context, and being sensitive to a number of factors, the approach can support effective, efficient, and socially appropriate action in any sector.
Determinants of Adoption of Multiple Climate-Smart Adaptation Practices in Sudano-Sahelian Pastoral and Agro-Pastoral Production Systems
To improve their ability to plan for and respond to potential negative impacts of climate shocks, such as droughts and dry spells, in the Sahelian agricultural production systems, many farmers have adopted diversified coping and adaptation strategies to secure their livelihoods. However, the scientific understanding of the key factors that determine the decisions that these pastoralist and agro-pastoralist households make, as well as the relation between existing human, social, natural, physical and financial assets and the adoption of adaptation practices at the household level has remained insufficient. Therefore, multivariate probit estimates were used to identify the key drivers of multiple adoption of climate-smart agro-pastoral adaptation practices in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso. The results indicated that respondent households adopted a combination of adaptation practices rather than a single practice. Most of these practices aimed at enhancing household food security and livelihoods. Regarding the variables that are related to the adoption of these adaptation practices overall, a few assets were found to contribute significantly to the decision to adopt the assessed adaption practices. These include the possession of household and farm assets and equipment, membership in associations and assistance from government, farming experience of the household head, access to credit, as well as ownership and size of farmland. In addition, access to climate and agronomic information, as well as a household’s location within a specifically dedicated pastoral zone, enhanced uptake of various adaptation practices in this study. Access to these assets and features hence plays a critical role in pastoralists’ and agro-pastoralists’ adaptive capacity. This study provides insights for policy makers in view of climate change adaptation and wider sustainable development planning in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Africa.
Social differentiation and climate change adaptation – synthesis report
Due to the climate sensitive nature of cropping and livestock keeping, climate change adaptation hasemerged as a central issue in agricultural/rural development. Even development interventions that arenot focused on climate change adaptation are increasingly called on to be sensitive to the implicationsof climate change impacts. However, many approaches to agricultural adaptation to climate changeremain highly technocentric, for example relying on measures of drought resistance and productivity toindicate adaptiveness without consideration of how a new practice/technology will move through andbe shaped by social spaces of household labor, market access, land use decision making, cultural values,etc. (Crane et al. 2011)
Scoping Study Protocol for Adaptation and Resilience Building Interventions in Pastoral and Agropastoral Settings
Development organizations aiming to support climate change adaptation and resilient livelihoods forpastoralists and agro-pastoralists are faced with unique and complex contexts in which theirinterventions must operate. These include the central, but changing, role of mobility in pastoralproduction and lifestyles, changing land and resource tenure systems, weakening customary institutionsand management practices, and political pressures that often result in conflicts. These contextualfactors are not uniform, and differences in social, cultural, economic, and biophysical characteristicsbetween different pastoral communities is often overlooked. Understanding the complexity anduniqueness of any particular context will lead to better-informed policies andprograms.
Opportunities and constraints for climate adaptation in regional water and land use planning
Whereas the literature on adaptation is rich in detail on the impacts of, vulnerability to, and constraints of climate adaptation, less is known about the conditions that facilitate adaptation in practice. We examined the constraints and opportunities for adaptation in water and land use planning in three regions: the Guadiana River Basin in Spain and Portugal, the Tisza River Basin in Hungary and western Inner Mongolia in China. We analysed the conditions that either facilitate or constrain adaptation in relation to (1) adaptation actors, (2) adaptation strategies, and (3) adaptation objectives. Many adaptation assessments concentrate on climate impacts and the potential of adaptation strategies. The conditions that enable people to act on adaptation are less studied. Yet these have been identified as particularly important for successfully implementing adaptation. We find that adaptation is enhanced by pilot projects that test and debate new ideas through collaboration between recognized actors from civil society, policy, and science. Promising for adaptation is the integration of (traditional) agro-environmental land use systems that regulate regional climate impacts with new technologies, organizational responsibilities and financial instruments. A key challenge is to create flexible and equitable financial instruments that facilitate benefit and burden sharing, social learning, and that support a diverse set of potentially better adapted new activities rather than compensate for climate impacts on existing activities.
The role of agroforestry in climate-change adaptation in Southeast Asia
[No abstract available]