Capacity Building for Climate

resilience in Pacific Island

Countries 10/08/2016

UNESCAP – SPC Workshop

Tanoa Hotel, Nadi

Viliamu. Iese

Pacific Center for Environment and Sustainable Development

The University of the South Pacific

Our canoe of islands: We anticipate the risks

and act accordingly to reduce it and keep it afloat

• The World Food Summit

of 1996 defined food

security as existing “when

all people at all times

have access to sufficient,

safe, nutritious food to

maintain a healthy and

active life”

Anticipate the risks

• Anticipated a rough journey -

stormy weathers, strong currents

– built seaworthy canoes

• Anticipated a long journey –

stored foods, water and packed

fishing gears and knowledge of

fishing and processing foods

• Anticipated landing – took

planting materials and livestock

including knowledge of

cultivation, cooking and

utilization of foods

• Gene of storing “fuel”

Important lessons

• Sustainable Capacity Building

• Appropriate Technologies and Tools

• Research, Innovation and Dissemination

of Information

The University of the South

Pacific

Strategic Plan 2013-2018

Sustainable Capacity Building –

Formal Qualification

• School of Agriculture and

Food Technology (SAFT)

• PGDip, MSc, PhD

• PGDip Climate Change -

Climate Science – CCA –

DRM – Ecosystem

Services - SEA/EIA –

Project Management –

Multilateral Reporting –

Food Security and

Climate Change (USP,

FAO, SPC, WFP, Fiji

Food Security Cluster)

Non Formal Capacity Building

• EU-PAC TVET (Energy and Resilience)

• Resilience Competencies – finalized

• Climate change and DRM Agriculture –

not a certification of participation –

Regional Qualification

• DRR – Agriculture - FAO

Informal

• EU-GCCA – 15 countries including Timor

Leste

• Regional and Sub-regional Trainings on

assessing and understanding risks and

building adaptation strategies

• Implementation and M&E

Tools and Technologies

Additional Info • FAO – DRR Agriculture Fiji, Agromet

support, Food Security and Livelihood

Cluster (Fiji government, MORDITT)

• Integrated Vulnerability Assessment tool

(15 PICs, more than 200 communities)

• Pacific Islands Food Security Best

Practices Report

• Support mainstreaming of CCDRM in

Community Development Plans – Tonga

and Fiji (MORDI TT, Live and Learn and

UNDP

Research

• Crops Simulation modeling – applied and

development – impacts, adaptation (USA,

CSIRO)

• Climate Resilient Agro-systems

• Climate Science and Oceanography

• Community based participatory research –

to understand impacts of hazards and

farmers coping and adaptive measures

• Seaweed biogas and fertilizer

Evaluation of Community Based Climate Change and Disaster Risk

Management Integration into Community Development Plans in Fiji and Tonga

Lead investigator: Mr Viliamu Iese

Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development, The University of the South Pacific

About the research Outputs and impacts Methodology

Fiji Islands

Kingdom of Tonga

2. Awareness

4. Processes 3. Benefits

1. Tools

Analysis - Criteria

Research team: Mr Viliamu Iese, Dr Helene Jacot Des

Combe,

Dr Robin Havea, Mr Soane Patolo, Dr Annika Dean, Mr Ame

Tuisavusavu, Mr Seone Lolesio, Dr Morgan Wairiu and Mr

Taniela Hoponoa.

Toolkit adopted by partners in Fiji and Tonga, and other

regional partners and Pacific Island Countries.

Toolkit Paper

1 Paper 2 Paper 3

Peer

reviewed

toolkit to

integrate

CCDRM in

Development

Plans.

Research problem

Climate change is projected to increase the onslaught of hydro-meteorological

hazards, threatening to hinder the development of Pacific Island Countries.

Two countries that are highly at risk in terms of exposure and vulnerability to

natural hazards are Tonga and Fiji. Disasters in these two countries have

caused loss of lives and severe damages to infrastructure, basic services, and

livelihoods beyond the ability to respond, disrupting the normal functioning of

communities.

Governments and rural development sectors have recognized the need to

shift from a reactive to a more proactive approach by integrating climate

change and disaster risk management (CCDRM) at all levels of development.

At the community level, climate change and disaster risk management have

begun to be integrated into community development plans in both Tonga and

Fiji.

Unfortunately, the ‘know how’ to effectively integrate CCDRM in development

plans is still an emerging area of knowledge and research in the Pacific. To

date, the methods used depend on the person or organization involved. This

leads to several problems such as increased confusion in communities,

communities feeling ‘burnt out’ because of over-visitation from various actors,

wasted time searching for the ‘supposed to be right’ method causing delays in

implementation and limited ability to compare the risk levels of communities

within and between countries.

A major barrier hindering effective and efficient integration of CCDRM into

community development plans is the lack of a standardized tool kit. There is a

strong need to review and evaluate all available methods and produce a

toolkit outlining best practices that could be used at all levels in Pacific Island

Countries.

Research objectives

1. To critically review existing methods and approaches on

integrating CCDRM in Community Development Plans in

PICs and other SIDS.

2. To develop a standardized CCDRM tool for PICs based on

Tonga

and Fiji experiences, lessons learnt and best practices.

3. To disseminate the lessons learnt, best practices and

CCDRM

tool kit to relevant stakeholders and wider scientific

communities.

Literature

review of

CCDRM

integration

in the

Pacific.

Comparative

analysis of

communities

with and

without

CCDRM

integration in

Tonga and Fiji.

Case studies

of best

practices,

challenges

and

opportunities

in integrating

CCDRM.

Literature

review

Surveys

(Kobo Toolbox)

Key

informant

interviews

and focus

groups

Photo credit: Viliamu Iese

Photo credit:

Viliamu Iese

Last words • Universities could play an active role in supporting the

mainstreaming processes and implementation

• Capacity Building – formal systems – sustainability

supply of “mainstreamed” people (agriculture etc)

• Non formal and informal trainings

• Research to support the processes and implementation

of mainstreaming pathways

• Research on CC and impacts, resilience, DRM

• Could facilitate data storage, access and utilization

• Development of tools and communication materials and

dissemination

• We can be very fun and effective to work with

Vinaka