The main objectives of this study are firstly, to assess the key five household livelihood capitals owned or accessed by the agro-pastoralists and pastoralists; secondly, to analyse perception and adaptation to climate change and variability of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists; and thirdly to identify key assets and other factors affecting the adoption of and engagement in adaptation strategies related to crop and livestock production.
Tag: Adaptation
Determinants of pastoralists and agropastoralists households’ propensity to adapt in Il’Ngwesi Group Ranch, Laikipia County, Kenya
The overall aim of this report was to undertake a conceptual and empirical assessment of how adaptive capacity to climate change differentiates among pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the drylands of Kenya. The household perception to climate change and the adaptation strategies they choose to embrace that mitigate against the impacts of climate change. Specifically exploring the adaptation strategies implemented by the two main sources of livelihoods identified in the area, pastoralism and agro-pastoralist, how land tenure regime the household settled determines uptake of adaptation strategies. Finally, how various assets and resources available and accessible by the households determine, predict and build their adaptive capacity and uptake of adaptation strategies.
Reversing Land Degradation in Africa by Scaling-up Evergreen Agriculture (Regreening Africa): Inception Report (2017-2018)
The overall objective of the project is to improve livelihoods, food security and resilience to climate change by smallholder farmers in Africa and restore ecosystem services, particularly through evergreen agriculture.
Sondré-Est: Governance Assessment
This paper presents a case study of the governance system of the Pastoral zone of Sondré-Est, a pastoral zone in the Central Southern part of Burkina Faso, mainly inhabited by people of Peulh ethnicity. Sondré-Est, which had been granted some level of management autonomy by the State, relies fully on natural resources to practice livestock breeding, their specialized activity.
Social Differentiation in Adaptive Capacity: Analyzing Climate Adaptation as Social Practice in the Pastoral zone of Sondré-Est
This report, which focuses on Sondré-Est, gives insights into the adaptation case studies that feeds into the social differentiation work package, amongst other. Sondré-Est is an area delineated specifically for pastoralism in the Center-South region of Burkina Faso.
Social differentiation and adaptive capacity to climate change among a pastoral and agropastoral community in the Northern Rift of Kenya: A Case study of Il Ngwesi Group Ranch community members
The report characterizes adaptive capacity as a socioeconomic and technical process where a suite of practices are embedded within broader livelihood strategies. The output of this work is based on ethnographic methods: Focus group discussions, key informant interviews, semi structured interviews and participant observation. The study primarily uses qualitative and inductive methods to unpack how adaptive capacity is social differentiated in unfolding new practices.
Stakeholder Workshop for Governance System Assessment
The workshop was organized to present the preliminary findings to community members and other stakeholders, and to facilitate participatory assessment of the two identified governance mechanisms, the Il’Ngwesi Group Ranch and the Ngare Ndare Water Resource Users Association.
Mainstreaming adaptation in developing countries: The case of the Philippines
The Philippines, as an archipelago and a developing country, is very vulnerable to climate change. Current efforts to address the impacts of climate change exist but may not be sufficient. The first part of this paper reviews current knowledge on mainstreaming climate change adaptation into development. It then assesses how far climate change has been mainstreamed into key development plans and programmes in the Philippines. Interviews with key informants were also conducted. The results show that there is no mainstreaming in the Philippines. All the major development plans and policies reviewed did not contain any reference to climate change adaptation. Interviews with key stakeholders reveal a similar trend. The main reason preventing mainstreaming are that national priorities are biased towards concerns deemed more pressing, and that there is a pervasive lack of awareness about the impacts of climate change on sustainable development. However, there are massive investments in infrastructure projects designed to adapt to weather-related hazards. Projects such as these could provide an entry point for integrating climate change adaptation into development plans and policy in the Philippines.
Uncertainty, ignorance and ambiguity in crop modelling for African agricultural adaptation
Drawing on social constructivist approaches to interpreting the generation of knowledge, particularly Stirling’s (Local Environ 4(2):111–135, 1999) schema of incomplete knowledge, this paper looks critically at climate-crop modelling, a research discipline of growing importance within African agricultural adaptation policy. A combination of interviews with climate and crop modellers, a meta-analysis survey of crop modelling conducted as part of the CGIAR’s Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) programme in 2010, and peer-reviewed crop and climate modelling literature are analysed. Using case studies from across the crop model production chain as illustrations it is argued that, whilst increases in investment and growth of the modelling endeavour are undoubtedly improving observational data and reducing ignorance, the future of agriculture remains uncertain and ambiguous. The expansion of methodological options, assumptions about system dynamics, and divergence in model outcomes is increasing the space and need for more deliberative approaches to modelling and policy making. Participatory and deliberative approaches to science-policy are advanced in response. The discussion highlights the problem that, uncertainty and ambiguity become hidden within the growing complexity of conventional climate and crop modelling science, as such, achieving the transparency and accessibility required to democratise climate impact assessments represents a significant challenge. Suggestions are made about how these challenges might be responded to within the climate-crop modelling community.
Climate-smart landscapes: opportunities and challenges for integrating adaptation and mitigation in tropical agriculture
Addressing the global challenges of climate change, food security, and poverty alleviation requires enhancing the adaptive capacity and mitigation potential of agricultural landscapes across the tropics. However, adaptation and mitigation activities tend to be approached separately due to a variety of technical, political, financial, and socioeconomic constraints. Here, we demonstrate that many tropical agricultural systems can provide both mitigation and adaptation benefits if they are designed and managed appropriately and if the larger landscape context is considered. Many of the activities needed for adaptation and mitigation in tropical agricultural landscapes are the same needed for sustainable agriculture more generally, but thinking at the landscape scale opens a new dimension for achieving synergies. Intentional integration of adaptation and mitigation activities in agricultural landscapes offers significant benefits that go beyond the scope of climate change to food security, biodiversity conservation, and poverty alleviation. However, achieving these objectives will require transformative changes in current policies, institutional arrangements, and funding mechanisms to foster broad-scale adoption of climate-smart approaches in agricultural landscapes.