lessons from semi-arid regions on how to adapt to climate change

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undefined Lessons from semi-arid regions on how to adapt to climate change Gina Ziervogel, Kate Kloppers, Lucia Scodanibbio Tuesday 12 April 2016 X Building on local experience and having access to current and expected climate trends is crucial to adapting to climate change for farmers in semi-arid regions Researcg shows that it is critical to include a range of stakeholders to think about the problem together Rising temperatures and more extreme, unpredictable climate events are making sustainable livelihoods tough for many people living in semi-arid regions of the world. To adapt, local communities, and especially farmers, use different strategies and responses. Research in India and Africa shows that achieving sustained and equitable adaptation requires a number of things. It is critical to include a range of stakeholders to think about the problem together. It’s also important to have access to usable climate information that is considered alongside socioeconomic and governance issues. Finally, we must look at both the past and imagine possible different futures that reduce inequality and climate impacts. How farmers are adapting In northern Ghana farmers are increasingly suffering from delays in the onset of the annual rains. In an attempt to adapt, they are experimenting with different types of crop and water- storage systems. In the Moyar Bhavani basin in India’s southernmost state of Tamil Nadu, unpredictable weather patterns mean that traditional rain calendars, used to decide sowing and harvesting times, are no longer accurate. And as water scarcity becomes a growing problem, farmers are turning to irrigation crops. These require expensive inputs and can push marginalised groups further into poverty and debt. Water and pasture shortages in Kenya’s semi-arid regions, exacerbated by droughts, have driven pastoralist women into new types of livelihoods. These include petty trade in a number of products like milk, vegetables and beans, as well as small-scale agriculture. Men, on the other hand, pushed by conflicts with other groups over the use of land, often end up pursuing semi- legal activities such as the drugs or arms trades, according to our unpublished research.

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Climate Change and the Mitigation. Lessons from practices around the world.

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Page 1: Lessons From Semi-Arid Regions on How to Adapt to Climate Change

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Lessons from semi-arid regions on how to adapt to climate change

Gina Ziervogel,  Kate Kloppers,  Lucia Scodanibbio  Tuesday 12 April 2016X

Building on local experience and having access to current and expected climate trends iscrucial to adapting to climate change for farmers in semi-arid regions

Researcg shows that it is critical to include a range of stakeholders to think about the problemtogether

Rising temperatures and more extreme, unpredictable climate events are making sustainablelivelihoods tough for many people living in semi-arid regions of the world. To adapt, localcommunities, and especially farmers, use different strategies and responses.

Research in India and Africa shows that achieving sustained and equitable adaptation requires anumber of things. It is critical to include a range of stakeholders to think about the problemtogether. It’s also important to have access to usable climate information that is consideredalongside socioeconomic and governance issues. Finally, we must look at both the past andimagine possible different futures that reduce inequality and climate impacts.

How farmers are adapting

In northern Ghana farmers are increasingly suffering from delays in the onset of the annualrains. In an attempt to adapt, they are experimenting with different types of crop and water-storage systems.

In the Moyar Bhavani basin in India’s southernmost state of Tamil Nadu, unpredictable weatherpatterns mean that traditional rain calendars, used to decide sowing and harvesting times, are nolonger accurate. And as water scarcity becomes a growing problem, farmers are turning toirrigation crops. These require expensive inputs and can push marginalised groups further intopoverty and debt.

Water and pasture shortages in Kenya’s semi-arid regions, exacerbated by droughts, have drivenpastoralist women into new types of livelihoods. These include petty trade in a number ofproducts like milk, vegetables and beans, as well as small-scale agriculture. Men, on the otherhand, pushed by conflicts with other groups over the use of land, often end up pursuing semi-legal activities such as the drugs or arms trades, according to our unpublished research.

Page 2: Lessons From Semi-Arid Regions on How to Adapt to Climate Change

Adapting to climate change

There are many ways of preparing for, and adapting to, changing climates. We suggest threeimportant components:

1. Building on local knowledge of climate vulnerability and responses: To start with, it helpsto look at why farmers and pastoralists are vulnerable to climate impacts and what they aredoing in response. Communities, households and individuals have a wealth of knowledgethat can be shared about the practices and ways in which they respond. Adaptationinitiatives that build on local knowledge and integrate scientific findings have a higherchance of leading to sustained and effective adaptation.

2. Including climate information: Climate information that is tailored to users’ needs can helpvulnerable farmers make better decisions. But this needs to be transparent, high quality andcontext specific, and must deal with current and expected climate trends and their impact.This kind of information is also needed by people who work with these vulnerable groups,such as extension officers, local and national governments, and NGO practitioners.

3. Collaborative learning and decision-making: If planning and decisions allow for mutuallearning between scientists, decision-makers and local communities, all groups gain adeeper understanding and appreciation of the limits and uncertainties about climateinformation, and of the types of adaptation responses that might succeed. Co-productionof knowledge also supports the use of climate information in the local context andcooperative development of possible solutions.

This approach would prompt the following types of questions to be asked:

What makes different groups of people vulnerable, not only to climate risks but to othersocioeconomic factors? How serious are the risks and when will they occur? Are therehidden opportunities?

Will it be hotter or colder, wetter or drier? Will there be more extreme events? Will thesechanges further exacerbate the risks and vulnerabilities identified above?

What responses could be developed? Which are the most urgent, given the medium andhigh risks? For which groups of people? Are the proposed options robust in the face ofuncertainty? Are they politically and socially acceptable, and/or financially feasible?

This approach has three advantages. It ensures users are engaged in assessing vulnerability andrisk. It improves the understanding of where and how historical and future climate informationplays a part. And it contributes to the understanding of how climate information feeds intoadaptation options.

Engagement with farmers

In the Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions project, participatory assessments have beencarried out to identify the main hazards and issues affecting semi-arid communities. In thesemulti-stakeholder exercises, possible response strategies have been explored, from the local and

Page 3: Lessons From Semi-Arid Regions on How to Adapt to Climate Change

regional level. In the process, people have felt empowered and able to play a role in adaptation.

In parallel, researchers are conducting analyses of climate trends and future projections across anumber of areas in Africa and India. They are also increasing their understanding of thegovernance factors that enable or curtail adaptation actions, and their impact on different socialgroups.

In the second phase of the project, these and other findings will be used to develop scenarios ofpossible futures. In these, adaptation will take a range of different forms, from incremental totransformative. As part of this process, participants will develop possible adaptation strategies andresponses, and will hopefully feel empowered to act.

The aim is to develop adaptation that is more equitable, widespread and sustained. This will becrucial to help mitigate the possibility of maladaptation and ensure that people’s vulnerability toclimate change is decreased.

 

Gina Ziervogel, Associate Professor, University of Cape Town; Kate Kloppers, Senior ScienceEngagement Officer, University of Cape Town, and Lucia Scodanibbio, Adaptation at Scale inSemi-Arid Regions – Project Manager, African Climate and Development Initiative, Universityof Cape Town

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.