adaptacion basada en comunidades

60participatorylearningandaction

Community-based adaptation to climate change

Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) formerlyPLA Notes and RRA Notes is published twice a year.Established in 1987, it enables practitioners ofparticipatory methodologies from around the world toshare their field experiences, conceptual reflections,and methodological innovations. The series is informaland seeks to publish frank accounts, address issues ofpractical and immediate value, encourage innovation,and act as a voice from the field.

We are grateful to the Swedish InternationalDevelopment Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the UKDepartment for International Development (DfID) fortheir continued financial support of PLA. The viewsexpressed in this publication do not necessarily reflectthe views of the funding organisations or the employersof the authors.

This special issue of PLA was produced incollaboration with IIEDs Climate Change Group. We would also like to acknowledge the support of theBangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) andPractical Action for enabling the guest editors toprovide their valuable input and expertise.

Participatory Learning and Action 60 IIED, December 2009Order no: 14573IIEDCover illustration: Regina Faul-DoyleDesign and layout: Smith+BellPrinted by: Russell Press, Nottingham, UK

Guest editors: Hannah Reid, Terry Cannon, RachelBerger, Mozaharul Alam, and Angela Milligan.

Editors: Holly Ashley, Nicole Kenton, and Angela Milligan.

Strategic Editorial Board: Nazneen Kanji, Cath Long,Jethro Pettit, Michel Pimbert, and David Satterthwaite.

International Editorial Advisory Board: Oga Steve Abah, Jo Abbot, Jordi Surkin Beneria,Ivan Bond, L. David Brown, Andy Catley, RobertChambers, Louise Chawla, Andrea Cornwall, BholaDahal, Qasim Deiri, John Devavaram, CharlotteFlower, FORCE Nepal, Ian Goldman, Bara Guye, Irene Guijt, Marcia Hills, Enamul Huda, VickyJohnson, Caren Levy, Sarah Levy, Zhang Linyang,PJ Lolichen, Ilya M. Moeliono, Humera Malik,Marjorie Jane Mbilinyi, Ali Mokhtar, Seyed BabakMoosavi, Neela Mukherjee, Trilok Neupane, EsseNilsson, Zakariya Odeh, Peter Park, Bardolf Paul,Bimal Kumar Phnuyal, Giacomo Rambaldi, PeterReason, Joel Rocamora, Jayatissa Samaranayake,Madhu Sarin, Daniel Selener, Anil C Shah, MeeraKaul Shah, Jasber Singh, Marja Liisa Swantz,Cecilia Tacoli, Peter Taylor, Tom Wakeford, EliudWakwabubi, and Alice Welbourn.

The International Institute forEnvironment and Development (IIED)is committed to promoting social justice

and the empowerment of the poor and marginalised. Italso supports democracy and full participation indecision-making and governance. We strive to reflectthese values in Participatory Learning and Action. Forfurther information contact IIED, 3 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0DD, UK. Website: www.iied.org

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Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) is an umbrellaterm for a wide range of approaches andmethodologies, including Participatory Rural Appraisal(PRA), Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), ParticipatoryLearning Methods (PALM), Participatory ActionResearch (PAR), Farming Systems Research (FSR), andMthode Active de Recherche et de PlanificationParticipative (MARP). The common theme is the fullparticipation of people in the processes of learningabout their needs and opportunities, and in the actionrequired to address them.

In recent years, there has been a number of shiftsin the scope and focus of participation: emphasis onsub-national, national and international decision-making, not just local decision-making; move fromprojects to policy processes and institutionalisation;greater recognition of issues of difference and power;and, emphasis on assessing the quality andunderstanding the impact of participation, rather thansimply promoting participation. ParticipatoryLearning and Action reflects these developments andrecognises the importance of analysing andovercoming power differentials which work to excludethe already poor and marginalised.

1Editorial ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................3

THEME SECTION: COMMUNITY-BASED ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE..............................91. Community-based adaptation to climate change: an overview

Hannah Reid, Mozaharul Alam, Rachel Berger, Terry Cannon, Saleemul Huq, and Angela Milligan ....................................................................................................................................................................................11

Glossary ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................34

PART I: REFLECTIONS ON PARTICIPATORY PROCESSES AND PRACTICE ........................................392. Combining different knowledges: community-based climate change adaptation

in small island developing statesIlan Kelman, Jessica Mercer, and Jennifer J. West ..............................................................................................41

3. Childrens participation in community-based disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate changeThomas Tanner, Mercedes Garcia, Jimena Lazcano, Fatima Molina, Grace Molina, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Baltz Tribunalo, and Fran Seballos ..................................54

4. Katalysis: helping Andean farmers adapt to climate changeStephen Sherwood and Jeffery Bentley ..................................................................................................................................65

5. Ethics and methods in research for community-based adaptation: reflections from rural VanuatuOlivia Warrick ....................................................................................................................................................................................................76

6. Participatory rice variety selection in Sri LankaRachel Berger, with Rohana Weregoda and Varuna Rathnabharathie ......................................88

7. Lessons from a transboundary water governance project in West AfricaSam Wong ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................99

Contents

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PART II: PARTICIPATORY TOOL-BASED CASE STUDIES ......................................................................................1078. Participatory three-dimensional mapping for disaster risk reduction

Jean-Christophe Gaillard and Emmanuel A. Maceda..................................................................................1099. Amplifying childrens voices on climate change: the role of participatory video

Tamara Plush ................................................................................................................................................................................................11910. Farmers become filmmakers: climate change adaptation in Malawi

Fernanda Baumhardt, Ralph Lasage, Pablo Suarez, and Charles Chadza ....................129

PART III: PARTICIPATORY TOOLS........................................................................................................................................................13911. Developing a climate change analysis

Christian Aid ..................................................................................................................................................................................................14112. Rain calendars: a tool for understanding changing rainfall patterns and effects

on livelihoodsCynthia Awuor and Anne Hammill ..................................................................................................................................149

13. Mental models: understanding the causes and consequences of climate changePetra Tschakert and Regina Sagoe ......................................................................................................................................154

14. Child-friendly participatory research tools Fatima Molina, Grace Molina, Tom Tanner, and Fran Seballos ..................................................160

15. Participatory scenario development for translating impacts of climate change into adaptations Livia Bizikova, Thea Dickinson, and Lszl Pintr ......................................................................................167

16. Reflections on practical ethics for participatory community-based adaptationextracts from Elkanah Absalom et al., and Giacomo Rambaldi et al.....................................173

REGULAR FEATURESTips for Trainers ....................................................................................................................................................................................................17917. Communications maps

Sonal Zaveri ....................................................................................................................................................................................................18018. Rivers of life

Ziad Moussa ....................................................................................................................................................................................................183In Touch ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................187RCPLA Network ..................................................................................................................................................................................................211

3Welcome to the new look 60th issue ofParticipatory Learning and Action! Thefocus of this special issue is community-based adaptation to climate change. Itspublication is timed to coincide with theforthcoming United Nations ClimateChange Conference (COP 15) to be held inDecember, in Copenhagen, Denmark, andevents surrounding it. The conference willbring together world leaders to try to makedecisions on four key questions: How much are the industrialised coun-tries willing to reduce their emissions ofgreenhouse gases? How much are major developing coun-tries such as China and India willing to doto limit the growth of their emissions? How is the help needed by developingcountries to engage in reducing their emis-sions and adapting to the impacts ofclimate change going to be financed? How is that money going to be managed?1

Reducing emissions of greenhouse

gases is crucial to limiting the extent offuture climate change. However, there isalso recognition that human-inducedclimate change is already happening, andthose most affected will be the estimatedone billion people living in developingcountries who are already poor andmarginalised.2 Since the industrialisedcountries are responsible for most pastgreenhouse gas emissions, they haveaccepted that they should help those whowill be most affected by climate change toadapt to its impacts (UN FrameworkConvention on Climate Change).

It is now increasingly recognised that,for poor communities, adaptationapproaches that are rooted in local knowl-edge and coping strategies, and in whichcommunities are empowered to take theirown decisions, are likely to be far moresuccessful than top-down initiatives. Inaddition, communities have the right toparticipate in decisions that affect them.

1 Source: http://en.cop15.dk2 Jessica Ayers and Saleem Huq, Community-based adaptation to climate change: anupdate. IIED briefing, June 2009.

Editorial

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For these reasons, community-based adap-tation has come to the fore in recent years.

Good community-based adaptation,like other forms of participatory develop-ment, is community-driven, empowering,and strengthens local capacity. Much CBAis rooted in disaster risk reductionapproaches, designed to build the resilienceof communities to disasters, such as floodsand drought, with the difference that itshould also incorporate longer-termclimate change and its predicted impactsinto community-based planning. Broaderparticipatory community development andlivelihood approaches should also be takinginto account the effects of climate change,if development gains are to be sustained.

Communities have a wealth of knowl-edge about the local environment, and havebeen adapting to and coping with changefor years. Although this knowledge andtraditional coping mechanisms maybecome less effective as climate changeleads to greater unpredictability in weatherpatterns (e.g. rain coming at any timerather than at predictable times) and moreextreme events (e.g. droughts and floods)it remains an invaluable resource, and, inthe absence of historical written records, isoften the only source of information on e.g.rainfall trends. This is not to say that scien-tific knowledge does not have a very signif-icant role to play in helping communitiesto adapt to climate change, and many ofthe articles in this issue reflect on therespective strengths and weaknesses oflocal and scientific knowledge, and how thetwo can best be integrated.

Community-based adaptation bringstogether those working in the fields ofdisaster risk reduction, community devel-opment, and climate change science. Thereis still much work to be done to encouragethese different communities to develop acommon language, to share good practice,and to draw on the lessons of other partic-ipatory development work, in particular,the dangers of rushing to scale at theexpense of the quality of participation, as

happened with PRA in the 1990s. Theoverview for this issue reflects on differenttypes of participation, and on what ismeant by good, empowering participation.

Structure of the special issueThe special issue is divided into threesections: The first section includes reflections onparticipatory processes and practice incommunity-based adaptation to climatechange. These have a variety of entrypoints, including participatory vulnerabil-ity analysis, disaster risk reduction frame-works, and Farmer Field Schools. The casestudies provide a rich source of experienceand lessons for CBA practitioners. The second section focuses on participa-tory tool-based case studies. Thesedescribe a participatory process with anemphasis on the use of a particular partic-ipatory tool, such as participatory video orparticipatory mapping. They also reflect onthe strengths and limitations of these tools. The third section, participatory tools,includes shorter, step-by-step descriptionsof how to facilitate a particular tool in acommunity, for example, rain calendarsand mental models of the drivers andeffects of climate change.

Guest editorsThe guest editors for this issue are HannahReid, Terry Cannon, Rachel Berger, Moza-harul Alam, and Angela Milligan.

Hannah Reid is a Senior Researcher inthe Climate Change Group at IIED. She isinterested in the links between climatechange and sustainable development andis a lead editor for Tiempo: a bulletin onclimate and development.

Terry Cannon works with the ClimateChange Group as a Visiting Fellow at IIED.Until recently he was Reader in Develop-ment Studies at University of Greenwich.His special interest is in community-basedvulnerability assessment and disasterreduction, and climate change adaptationin relation to rural livelihoods. He is

5 Editorial

currently working on projects for this inBangladesh and Vietnam.

Rachel Berger is currently climatechange policy adviser with Practical Action,a development NGO that focuses on reduc-ing poverty through enabling poor peopleto access and develop technologies appro-priate to their needs and resources. Beforeher current role, Rachel managed multi-country projects in sub-Saharan Africa andsouth Asia focusing on strengthening liveli-hoods in the face of increasing climate vari-ability, and empowering communities toaddress their problems. She currentlyworks on advocacy and policy on adapta-tion to climate change in the internationalUN climate change negotiations, as well assupporting Practical Action's countryoffices on climate change policy andprogramme work.

Mozaharul Alam has recently joinedUNEP as Regional Climate Change Coor-dinator for Asia and the Pacific Region,located in Bangkok. Before joining UNEP,he coordinated the climate changeprogramme of the Bangladesh Centre forAdvanced Studies (BCAS). He hasconducted and coordinated significantamounts of research on climate changeimpacts, vulnerability, and adaptation atnational, regional, and international levels.He has also designed and implemented a

community-based adaptation project inBangladesh and provided technical inputson CBA projects in African Countries.

Angela Milligan is Co-Editor of Partic-ipatory Learning and Action. She workedwith poor farming communities in Kenya,Tanzania, and Uganda in the early 1990s,an exciting time when the use of participa-tory approaches was expanding rapidly,and the rate of innovation was extremelyhigh. She was an avid reader of those earlyissues of PLA (then RRA Notes)! Afterreturning to the UK, Angela worked as atutor and course writer for the Wye College,University of London distance learningcourses in Agricultural Development. Aftera stint communicating the research find-ings of DfIDs natural resources researchprogrammes, she joined IIED in 2001 asEditor of Participatory Learning andAction, and has been here ever since!Getting to grips with the discourse of disas-ter risk management and climate changeadaptation has been a steep learning curve,but guest editing this issue has been a greatlearning experience, and has highlightedthe importance and challenges of CBAwork.

How this issue came about The idea for this issue arose from theinvolvement of the International Institute

Flyer for the 3rd international conference on community-based adaptation to climate change.

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for Environment and Development(IIED)s climate change programme in theFirst International Community-basedAdaptation (CBA) conference, held inDhaka, Bangladesh in 2005. More then 80experts, policy makers, NGO representa-tives, and grassroots practitionersdiscussed the possible impacts of climatechange on communities, and how to helpthem adapt in the future. Whilst the firstconference focused on firming up theconcept of CBA and gaining acceptance forit, a second and third conference (in 2007and 2009) considered issues such as thedistinction between CBA and community-based development, scaling up CBA, andhow to integrate climate science into CBAwhilst maintaining a community-drivenprocess.3 A fourth conference will be heldin Tanzania in February 2010 (see InTouch, page 199 for more details).

An invitation to submit papers for thisspecial issue of Participatory Learning andAction was circulated to PLA and climatechange networks prior to the third CBAconference, and abstracts were thenselected by the guest editors for develop-ment into full papers. These were supple-mented by directly commissioned papers,drawing on the guest editors suggestionsand those of staff at the Institute of Devel-opment Studies, Sussex, in particularRobert Chambers.

AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank the guest editors fortheir hard work and dedication to thisissue, despite many other demands on theirtime, as well as all who submitted articles.We would also like to thank Robert Cham-bers for pointing us towards innovativework on CBA, particularly the develop-ment of new participatory tools. Thanksalso to our editorial board for their insight-ful comments on the papers for this issue.Finally, huge thanks to our authors whohad to contend with sometimes contradic-

tory feedback from climate change expertsand participation experts, and who dealtwith our requests for changes with patienceand good humour.

The rest of the issue

Tips for TrainersFor this issue we have two Tips for Train-ers articles. First, Sonal Zaveri presentsCommunication Maps, a participatory toolto understand communication patternsand relationships. Developed in Nepal, thetool provides a simple and effective way toplot and understand how children commu-nicate with the people in their lives.

Next, Ziad Moussa provides some tips onusing a tool called Rivers of Life, whichallows participants to reflect on personalexperiences and influences that have moti-vated them in their personal and professionallife. Participants are invited to use the symbolof a river to reflect on key stages in their lives,positive experiences and influences, and diffi-cult challenges. This is a fun way to introducepeople to each other in a workshop settingand was used at the RCPLA workshop inCairo last year. See the RCPLA pages for anupdate on the programme Deepening Partic-ipation for Social Change that was initiatedat the workshop.

In TouchThe In Touch section of this issue is dividedinto two sections. The first section containsa variety of books, papers, and web-basedresources on climate change adaptation,including sources of climate data, casestudies of CBA, and CBA methodologies.The second section includes resources onother participatory themes.

RCPLAFind out the latest news from partners andcolleagues from the Resource Centres forParticipatory Learning and ActionNetwork.

3 Ayers and Huq, ibid.

7 Editorial

PLA 59: DVDTogether with the Technical Centre forAgricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA),we are working on a bilingual DVD whichcontains English and French versions ofthe articles in PLA 59: Change at Hand:Web 2.0 for development, as well as videodocumentaries, and a Tips for Trainers inSpanish. This will be available in January2010. PLA 59 has been extremely well-received (see under PLA online below), andwe hope that the bilingual DVD will enableyou to share the issue more widely withpartners and colleagues.

Other news

Change of formatYou have probably noticed that this issue ofPLA looks rather different from previousissues! We have been considering a changeof format for some time now as feedbackfrom readers suggested they would prefera smaller, more portable size. The new sizeshould also mean that issues of PLA siteasily on a shelf, without flopping over asthe larger size does! A further considera-tion, in these times of financial crisis, is thatthe format is a standard size, and so isconsiderably cheaper to print.

Whilst the look is a little different, westill aim to be an informal journal, withplenty of photographs and illustrations. Allour articles are peer-reviewed by membersof our International Editorial AdvisoryBoard, helping us to maintain the very highquality of the content, while also keeping afocus on practitioner-based experiences.

We would very much welcome yourfeedback on the changed format. Does itwork better for you? Are there any otherchanges you could like to see? Email us [email protected] with your views.

PLA onlineWe had a record number of downloads ofPLA 59 on Web 2.0 for development, andhave had an amazing amount of positivefeedback on the issue. There is so little

about participatory Web 2.0 that this isclearly meeting a need, and we hope thatthe issue has encouraged many of you todip a toe in the world of Web 2.0.

Dont forget that you can also accessand download most issues of PLA freeonline. Visit www.planotes.org for moreinformation.

Next issueIn a change to our publicised schedule, ournext issue, PLA 61, will be published inJune 2010 rather than December 2009,and the issue will be a special theme one oncommunity-led total sanitation (seebelow).

PLA 61: Community-led total sanitation,June 2010This issue is being produced in partnershipwith Plan International and will be guestedited by Sammy Musyoki from Plan Inter-national and Petra Bongartz from the Insti-tute of Development Studies, UK.

In recent years, sanitation has receivedrenewed attention internationally and hasbeen acknowledged as one of the centralcomponents of development because of itsinterconnections with health, livelihoods,education, the environment, and othersectors. Its close ties with poverty reductionare being increasingly recognised.

The WHO and UNICEF reportssuggest that as many as one in three peopleworldwide lack sanitation facilities. Mostof those affected live in low-income coun-tries in Asia and Africa. Poor sanitation,lack of access to clean water, and inade-quate personal hygiene are responsible foran estimated 90% of incidences of child-hood diarrhoea (WHO). It is estimatedthat diarrhoeal diseases kill at least twomillion children in poor countries eachyear, and diarrhoea is the second highestsingle cause of child mortality (WHO).

Despite the efforts and resources thathave been poured into sanitation in the lastdecade, the millennium development goal(MDG) for sanitation (halving by 2015, the

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proportion of people without sustainableaccess to safe drinking water and basicsanitation) is a distant dream for manydeveloping countries. Providing subsidiesto build toilets has not been enough andcreates a culture of dependency on exter-nal help.

In contrast, Community-Led TotalSanitation (CLTS) focuses on mobilisationof collective action and behaviour changeto ensure real and sustainable improve-ments in sanitation and hygiene. CLTS hasits origins in Participatory Rural Appraisal(PRA), drawing on simple PRA visual toolssuch as mapping, transect walks, and flowdiagrams to enable communities to analyseand learn from their hygiene habits andpractices, and come up with collectiveaction plans for sanitising their habitatwithout depending on external subsidies.

This issue will focus on recent CLTSexperiences in Africa, enabling sharing ofexperience and lessons, and improvingpractice and policy around CLTS. Practi-tioners will come together to share andreflect critically on the questions, issues,and challenges that CLTS practice throwsup, and develop articles for the issue. Thispromises to be a fascinating and timelyissue, which will be of interest to practi-tioners in Africa as well as other regions.

Editorial board newsWe would like to say farewell to two IIEDmembers of our Strategic Editorial Board.

Ivan Bond left IIED in September tojoin the UK Department for InternationalDevelopment. He will be working prima-rily on REDD (reducing emissions fromdeforestation and degradation), but willmaintain close contact with IIED. Ivantook a leading role in the development ofPLA 55 on Community conservation insouthern Africa, and he will continue to bea member of the wider PLA advisory edito-rial board. We wish Ivan well in his newposition, and look forward to receiving his

continued input on the development andcontent of PLA.

Sonja Vermeulen left IIED in Novem-ber this year to pursue other interests.Sonja has been a very valuable criticalfriend during her time on the PLA Strate-gic Editorial Board. She also guest editedPLA 53, Tools for influencing power andpolicy. This issue was developed aroundthe Power tools project, which provideshow-to ideas that marginalised people andtheir allies can use to have a greater posi-tive influence on natural resources policy.4

We would like to extend our warm thanksto Sonja for all of her good-humouredsupport over the years, and look forward tokeeping in touch in future.

Final thoughtsThe decisions that will be made at in Copen-hagen in December 2009 will have far-reaching repercussions for people the worldover for years to come. As we move forward,good participatory practice will play anessential role in community-based adapta-tion. We hope that this issue will encouragereaders to take into account climate changeimpacts, both present and future, in theirdevelopment or relief work with communi-ties, in participatory research, and in policy-making. We hope also that this special issuewill promote the spread of good practice,and the sharing of experiences and lessons,so that we can all help to meet the globalchallenge of climate change.

4 See www.policy-powertools.org

Community-based adaptationto climate change

THEMESECTION

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IntroductionScientists are clear that climate change ishappening, and that it is due to emissionsof greenhouse gases produced largely byindustrialised countries (IPCC, 2007).Those likely to be worst affected are theworlds poorest countries, especially poorand marginalised communities withinthese countries. Ironically it is these poorcountries and people who have contributedleast to the problem of climate change,because of their very low greenhouse gasemissions, but who will suffer most from itsconsequences. Even if emissions areseverely curbed, climate change will stilloccur. The industrialised countries haveaccepted they have a responsibility to helppoor and vulnerable countries to adapt(UNFCCC). However, until recently, mostadaptation efforts have been top-down,and little attention has been paid tocommunities experiences of climatechange and their efforts to cope with theirchanging environments.

This special issue of ParticipatoryLearning and Action focuses on recent

approaches to adaptation to climatechange which are community-based andparticipatory, building on the priorities,knowledge, and capacities of local people.Community-based adaptation draws onparticipatory approaches and methodsdeveloped in both disaster risk reduction(DRR) and community development work,as well as sectoral-specific approaches suchas farmer participatory research (Berger etal., this issue) and Farmer Field Schools(Sherwood and Bentley, this issue). Inno-vative participatory methods are alsoemerging to help communities analyse thecauses and effects of climate change, tointegrate scientific and community knowl-edge of climate change, and to plan adap-tation measures.

In this overview paper to the issue, wedescribe how community-basedapproaches to climate change haveemerged, and the similarities and differ-ences between CBA and other participatorydevelopment and disaster risk reductionapproaches. Whilst CBA is a relatively newfield, some lessons and challenges are

by HANNAH REID, MOZAHARUL ALAM, RACHEL BERGER, TERRY CANNON, SALEEMUL HUQ, and ANGELA MILLIGAN

Community-basedadaptation to climatechange: an overview 1

60 Reid, Alum, Berger, Cannon, Huq, and Milligan12

beginning to emerge, and we analyse these,drawing on the experiences contained inthe collection of articles for this issue. Manyof the articles are concerned with naturalresources, reflecting the preponderance ofsubmissions we received in this area.However, climate change will affect manyother aspects of communities lives, and wewould urge practitioners working in othersectors, such as human health and urbanareas, to share their experiences of commu-nity-based adaptation.

Climate change and its impactsClimate change refers to short-, medium-,and long-term changes in weather patternsand temperature that are predicted tohappen, or are already happening as a resultof anthropogenic emissions of greenhousegases such as carbon dioxide. These changesinclude a higher frequency of extremeweather events such as drought and floods,as well as greater unpredictability and vari-ability in the seasons and in rainfall. Over-lying this increased variability are expectedlonger-term changes, such as temperatureand sea-level rises, and lower (or in somecases higher) rainfall. Annex 1 shows inmore detail how the climate is predicted tochange over the medium- and long-term(Christian Aid, 2009, based on the IPCC4th assessment report, 2007).

Why are poor people most vulnerable toclimate change?Poor countries and communities are morevulnerable to climate change because theytend to be located in geographically vulner-able areas, such as flood-prone Mozam-bique, drought-prone Sudan, orcyclone-prone Bangladesh, and in morevulnerable locations. For example, theslums and informal settlements surround-ing many developing country cities areusually sited on land prone to landslips orto flooding and river bank erosion. Wealthypeople, commerce, and industry can affordto situate themselves on safer land.

Many poor communities are heavily

dependent on natural resources for theirlivelihoods. Smallholder farmers have muchexperience of adapting to their complex,diverse, and risk-prone environments.However, farming is now becoming evenmore difficult and risky because of greaterunpredictability in the timing of rainyseasons and the pattern of rain withinseasons, making it more difficult to decidewhen to cultivate, sow, and harvest, andneeding more resources to seize the righttime for planting, and to maintain cropsand animals through dry spells. Heat stress,lack of water at crucial times, and pests anddiseases are serious problems that climatechange appears to be exacerbating. Theseall interact with ongoing pressures on land,soils, and water resources that would existregardless of climate change (Jennings andMcGrath, 2009).

Vulnerability to climate change is notjust a function of geography, or depend-ence on natural resources; it also hassocial, economic, and political dimensionswhich influence how climate changeaffects different groups (Action Aid,2005). Poor people rarely have insuranceto cover loss of property due to storms orcyclones. They cannot pay for the health-care required when climate change-induced outbreaks of malaria and otherdiseases occur. They have few alterativelivelihood options when their only cowdrowns in a flood or drought kills theirmaize crop for the year and they do nothave the political clout to ask why theircountrys early warning system did notwarn them of likely flooding. Climatechange will also have psychological andcultural effects, for example beliefs andtraditions associated with the seasonsbeing undermined by climate change(Jenning and McCrath, 2009).

Poor communities already struggle tocope with the existing challenges of povertyand climate shocks, but climate changecould push many beyond their ability tocope or even survive. It is vital that thesecommunities are helped to adapt.

13Community-based adaptation to climate change: an overview

Adapting to climate changeInternational climate change negotiations,multilateral and bilateral agencies, donors,and international governance and financialinstitutions such as the World Bank arepaying increasing attention to adaptationand how best to help people to adapt. Moreand more funding is available for adapta-tion.1 However, until recently, most effortsto help countries adapt focused on nationalplanning and top-down approaches basedon climate change modelling. Remarkablylittle attention has been paid to the ways inwhich poor people have been coping withclimate variability and extremes fordecades.

What is community-based adaptation? Community-based adaptation to climatechange is a community-led process, basedon communities priorities, needs, knowl-edge, and capacities, which shouldempower people to plan for and cope withthe impacts of climate change. As Tanneret al. and others in this issue point out,climate change is only one of a range ofnatural, social, and economic problemsthat may face poor people (such as unem-ployment, the prices of food and otheressentials, commodity prices, drugs,gambling, community conflict, and health).So it is unlikely that interventions focusingonly on climate-related risks will reflectcommunity priorities.

CBA needs to start with communitiesexpressed needs and perceptions, and tohave poverty reduction and livelihoodbenefits, as well as reducing vulnerabilityto climate change and disasters. In prac-tice, CBA projects look very like develop-ment as usual and it is difficult todistinguish the additional adaptationcomponents. For example, in a droughtyear, we cannot divide water storage meas-

ures undertaken by local communities intothose initiated as a response to normalclimate variability, and those initiated as aresponse to climate change. However, thedifference is that CBA work attempts tofactor in the potential impact of climatechange on livelihoods and vulnerability todisasters by using local and scientificknowledge of climate change and its likelyeffects.

CBA may start by identifying commu-nities in poor countries that are mostvulnerable to climate change, or thesecommunities may themselves ask for assis-tance (Kelman et al., this issue). It may alsofollow on from work with communities tocope with a disaster, such as severe flood-ing. International development NGOs anddonors funding CBA usually work throughlocal partners, such as local NGOs orcommunity groups which already have thetrust of local communities.

Incorporating climate change informationCBA work needs to incorporate informa-tion on climate change and its impacts intoplanning processes. This includes: scientific information (e.g. long-termpredictions from climate change models,seasonal forecasts, information on trendsbased on data collected at nearby weatherstations); as well as local knowledge about trends andchanges experienced by communities at alocal level and strategies these communi-ties have used in the past to cope withsimilar shocks or gradual climatic changes.

Both these sources contribute to anunderstanding of risk. Climate changescience cannot say for certain, for example,how much rainfall a particular area willreceive over any given time but it can givesome guidance on the probability that rain-fall will increase or decrease and to what

1 For example, funds have been established to support adaptation activities under theUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its KyotoProtocol such as the Adaptation Fund, and the World Banks Pilot Program for ClimateResilience (PPCR). While such international funds are not always aimed specifically atcommunity-based adaptation (CBA), some of them, such as the Adaptation Fund, aretrying to target the most vulnerable communities.


Moveable cooking stove designed to cope with floods, 2007, near Khulna, Bangladesh.

Phot

o: T

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extent. CBA builds in this notion of riskand uncertainty into activities, with the aimof building communities resilience to bothcurrent climate variability and futureclimate change.

Drawing on participatory disaster riskreduction approachesThe lessons from disaster risk reduction(DRR) work are of tremendous value forclimate change adaptation, because climatechange is likely to change the magnitude,frequency, and timing of extreme eventssuch as flooding, landslides, and storms, aswell as generate new disaster events.

Disaster risk reduction is likely to be theentry point for communities suffering fromsevere shocks as a result of short-termclimate variability (Christian Aid, 2009).Many of the papers in this issue use aparticipatory DRR framework (e.g. Tanneret al., Warrick, and Gaillard and Maceda).Although different approaches and frame-works for participatory DRR exist, allinvolve working with local people to under-stand the types of hazards they face (e.g.earthquakes, droughts, floods, pests anddiseases, human diseases), the factorswhich make them vulnerable to thesehazards, and their causes. These togethergive an indication of how at risk commu-nities are and which groups are mostvulnerable. They also help communitiesconsider what capacities they have forreducing vulnerability, and aim toempower communities to take actionthemselves to reduce the risks they face.

Many organisations working with localcommunities to reduce poverty and disas-ter risks are now trying to incorporate theeffects of climate change into their workwith communities. Kelman and Mercer(this issue), for example, describe a disas-ter risk reduction framework developedwith communities to facilitate DRR plan-

ning in small island developing states(SIDS), such as Papua New Guinea. Theythen show how the framework can beadapted to take into account the likelyeffects of climate change by drawing onexternal scientific information such asdownscaled climate projections and satel-lite images, as well as local knowledge ofhazards and vulnerabilities. Taking intoaccount these longer-term impacts is oneof the key differences between DRR andclimate change adaptation.

Livelihoods, DRR, and climate changeIn practice, all disaster risk reduction anddevelopment work should take into accountclimate change impacts if developmentgains are to be sustained in the future.Whilst development agencies may differen-tiate between DRR, climate change adap-tation, and poverty alleviation, at thehousehold level the issues converge into onecomplex interrelated problem which boilsdown to the same thing the security andwellbeing of peoples lives, livelihoods, andassets (Oxley, 2009).2 There is increasingrecognition that, for many communitiesfacing frequent hazards, poverty, disasters,and climate change adaptation are closelylinked and cannot be viewed in isolationfrom one another.3

This points towards the need to findpractical ways of integrating DRR, liveli-hoods, and climate change adaptation.Christian Aid, for example, has developeda climate risk cycle management approachto development planning which builds onthe expertise and experience of existingDRR and livelihoods programmes, usingexisting tools wherever possible. In themodel, predictable risks are anticipated,long- and short-term risk reduction activ-ities are integrated into livelihood develop-ment, and the time spent in emergency orrehabilitation is minimised (Figure 1).

2 ESRC-funded seminar, Integrating Approaches: Sustainable Livelihoods, Disaster RiskReduction and Climate Change Adaptation, December 2009, organised by PracticalAction (www.practicalaction.org.uk). See: http://community.eldis.org/.59cc7287/3 Ibid.


These integrated frameworks are stilllargely untested and there are likely to bechallenges in handling the array of factorsto be considered, as well as in encouragingthe different support institutions needed totackle vulnerability to work together.

Participatory methods for CBAMany of the participatory tools used in CBA(see Table 1 for some examples) will befamiliar to DRR and development practi-tioners, but other innovative approaches arebeing developed for communities, develop-ment workers, and scientists to co-learnabout climate change and adaptation, aswell as for working with particular groupssuch as children (Tanner et al., this issue).

Co-learning about climate change Whilst local people are extremely aware ofchanges in their environment, they oftenhave little knowledge of the global causesand effects of climate change. The papersin this issue describe a wide variety ofparticipatory tools to help communitiesunderstand climate change and theimpacts it may have. Many use co-learningapproaches, drawing on both local andexternal scientific knowledge. Communi-cation about climate change should be inthe first language of the communityapproached and in terms it can under-stand.

In Ghana, for example, communitiesdeveloped mental models showing drivers

Figure 1: Climate risk cycle management

Source: Christian Aid (2009a)


and effects of climate change (Tschakertand Sagoe, this issue). During this process,they reinforced and expanded their ownknowledge of climate change, with theinput of external agents. In Indonesia,Climate Field Schools followed a partici-patory learning by doing approach to helpfarmers increase their knowledge ofclimate change and observe climaticparameters themselves, such as rainfall, tohelp guide farming activities (Christian

Aid, this issue). Sherwood and Bentley (thisissue) describe a similar process in theAndes.

Children can be very effective commu-nicators of climate change causes andeffects. They often have a better under-standing of the science of climate changeprocesses than adults in the community,through school lessons, and can draw outthe implications for local livelihoods. Plush(this issue) shows how videos, produced in

4 Storian means to chat, yarn, swap stories and is an umbrella term indicating semi-structured interview, informal interview, and opportunistic discussion as part ofobservation. See Warrick, this issue.

Table 1: Some examples of participatory tools used in CBA

PARTICIPATORYTOOL/APPROACH

Mental models

Seasonal calendars

Timelines

Community mapping andmodelling

Transect walks

Ranking

Dream maps and drawings

Theatre, poems, songs

Participatory video

Stakeholder analysis

Key informant discussions(e.g. storian)4

USES

Drivers and effects of climate change

Seasonality and links with livelihoods Can be combined with timelines to show perceived changes in seasonality

over time

Hazards and events Trends in climate, e.g. temperature and rainfall

Resources Types and causes of risks and threats Extent of vulnerable areas Vulnerable households and individuals Planning DRR/CC adaptation measures

Vulnerability/risks Land use Resources

Vulnerabilities and hazards Coping and DRR strategies, e.g. water management options, crop varieties

Vision of community or farm and how to achieve

Awareness raising of risks and risk reduction measures Advocacy

Awareness raising Farmer to farmer communication Advocacy

Institutions, relationships, power

In-depth discussion of vulnerability, livelihood sources


a participatory way by children, can be apowerful means of raising awareness ofclimate change and its impacts, especiallywhere literacy rates in the community arelow. In this case, the children were firsttaught about climate change using locallyavailable materials (although Plush notesthat there is a severe lack of material thatis not too technical, or related to the urbanmitigation context). They then used thisknowledge to develop questions and carryout filmed interviews with other commu-nity members, to give a clear picture of theimpacts of climate change at the local level.

Although it is important for communi-ties to understand the drivers andprocesses of climate change, Warrick (thisissue) warns of the dangers of disempow-ering communities, giving them a sensethat they cannot take action to deal withclimate change, even though they haveoften been dealing with highly variableclimates for many years. To avoid this, shesuggests discussing climate change in thecontext of how people have alreadyresponded to climate stress, how this haschanged over time, and on communitiesown capacities to adapt.

Local knowledge about climate change Several papers in this issue look at ways inwhich familiar participatory tools can beadapted to document local knowledgeabout climate changes. For example, raincalendars were used in Malawi to analysechanges in rainfall over the past five years(Awuor and Hammill, this issue) whilstseasonal analysis charts showed changes inthe seasons in West Bengal, India over asimilar timescale (Christian Aid, this issue).Climate timelines in Sudan were used torecord extreme weather events andtemperature trends over the past 30 years(Christian Aid, this issue).

In the absence of historical localweather data, the memories of oldercommunity members are often the onlysource of information on climate trends(Berger et al., this issue). Where scientific

data are unlikely to be available, one wayforward may be to strengthen local peoplesability to collect their own data (Sherwoodand Bentley, this issue).

Using scientific climate change dataThe science of climate change and predic-tions regarding future changes have a keyrole to play in adapting to climate change.Finding ways of making scientific dataaccessible to communities is crucial if theyare to adapt and remain in control of theCBA process. There are potentially manydifferent kinds of information that wouldbe useful for community planning, such asremote sensing observations, satellitepictures, downscaled climate scenarios,and seasonal and long-range weather fore-casts. Where these are available, commu-nities need to learn how to interpret them.Christian Aid (this issue), for example,describe how participatory climate forecastworkshops were held in Zimbabwe, inwhich forecasts for the coming season,expressed in terms of probabilities ratherthan firm predictions. were explained tofarmers, and then downscaled usingfarmers own historical rainfall data.

Integrating local and scientific knowledgeMany of the papers in this issue considerhow to integrate scientific and local knowl-edge so as to build on the strengths of each.Although this can present challenges (seelater), several papers suggest ways of bridg-ing the gap between local communities andscientists (e.g. Gaillard and Maceda).

Identifying and planning adaptationactivitiesParticipatory ways of documenting, priori-tising, and sharing risk reduction andadaptation approaches are important ifCBA is to fit with community priorities,and build on existing practices or thoseused in the past, for example traditionalrice varieties which have better salinitytolerance than more recent varieties(Berger et al., this issue). Commonly


mentioned on-farm adaptation optionsinclude diversification of the crops grown,changes in farming practices, better watermanagement, and food storage. In extremecases, for example, where droughts arelikely to be of such magnitude that cropscan no longer survive, then alternativelivelihood strategies, or even migrationmay need to be explored.

There is much scope for approacheswhich encourage the sharing of adaptationpractices. Sherwood and Bentley (thisissue), for example, describe an approachto climate change adaptation in the Andes,in which farmers learn through visits toother farms and through experimentation.As farmers learn and take action at thefarm level, the focus shifts to collectiveactions, such as sharing responsibility forcollecting weather data, and implementingsoil and water conservation measures.

Baumhardt (this issue) describes how

farmers made videos of the adaptationactivities they found most useful, whichwere then screened in nearby villages withwhich they did not have contact. Whilst thevideos were an important communicationtool for raising awareness of adaptationoptions, there are likely to be differences inabilities to adopt adaptation measures, andadditional support will often be needed iflocal people are to make these changes.

Molina et al. (this issue) describe howchildren in the Philippines developedtheatres, songs, and dances to communi-cate the potentially destructive impacts ofhazards such as flooding and river bankerosion, and were effective advocates forrisk reduction activities, such as tree plant-ing.

Gaillard and Maceda (this issue)describe how communities in a flood-pronepart of the Philippines created extraordi-narily detailed, scaled three-dimensional

Children take a class on the environment, 2007, near Khulna, Bangladesh.

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Mphunga villagers filmmaking training. Mphunga village, Salima district, Malawi July 21st 2008. SeeBaumhardt et al., this issue.

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Children mixing cement for school retaining wall, Potrerillos, El Salvador. See Molina et al., this issue.


models of their area, made from localmaterials such as cartons and paper, whichthey used for disaster risk reduction plan-ning. They used the models to identifyimportant areas for livelihoods, e.g. fishingand hunting grounds, areas prone to differ-ent types of flooding (river, tidal), differenthouseholds, the material of their house(which affects how robust the houses are),household inhabitants, and the mostvulnerable people in the community, e.g.

young children, elderly people, pregnantwomen, and those with disabilities. Theythen identified local resources to deal withhazards, e.g. boats, vehicles, and thenplanned disaster risk reduction activities,e.g. meeting points, evacuation routes, andshelters. The information from thesemodels can also be input into GIS systemsfor use by local government or scientists(subject to the communities permission),and can easily be updated.

Women queue for drinking water from a filtered tank in area where salinisation is increasing due to sea-level rise.

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Lessons and challenges in community-based adaptationAlthough CBA is a very recent develop-ment, a number of lessons and challengesare already emerging, around the avail-ability and credibility of climate changeinformation and data, the quality of partic-ipatory processes in CBA, scaling up, andmonitoring and evaluation.

Issues around knowledge Good information on which to base climatechange adaptation is vital, but it is notalways available, accessible, or credible.

Scientific data Christian Aid (this issue) highlight the diffi-culties communities often experience inaccessing climate change data that they canuse in planning. Whilst climate models canhelp identify which parts of the world aremore likely to be physically vulnerable (seeAnnex 1), these predictions are often at ageographic resolution or timescale whichare of little use to local communities. Betterclimate change models, which can makepredictions that are more relevant forcommunities, are urgently needed.

There are also problems with weatherforecasts. Meteorological stations are oftenwoefully under-resourced and under-staffed, data are not computerised, anddata which would be useful for farmers arenot collected. Jennings and McGrath(2009), for example, point out that the vastmajority of analyses of meteorologicalrecords and climate model data focus onmean annual temperature and precipita-tion change rather than the timing of rainsand intra-seasonal rainfall patterns, whichare of much more interest to farmers.

Where data are available, communitiesare often not able to access them, forexample, because they lack Internet access,or the data are not passed from meteoro-logical departments to other governmentdepartments which can make use of them,such as agriculture. Finally, communitiesoften have little confidence in the data.

Access to reliable, appropriate forecasts isessential in meeting the challenge ofgreater unpredictability and increasedhazard events, and meteorological depart-ments need to be strengthened to meet thisneed. Ideally, scientific data should be veri-fied against local data, so that the scientificinformation has credibility with users(Christian Aid, this issue).

Local knowledgeWhilst communities often have little confi-dence in the reliability of information fromscientists, scientists are often equally reluc-tant to trust local knowledge, which theyregard as subjective and lacking in rigour(Gaillard and Maceda, this issue).However, in the absence of weather recordsand climate change data, CBA may belargely dependent on local knowledge ofpast climate trends for forecasting futuretrends.

Gill (1991) compared rainfall patternsrecorded by Nepali farmers using rainfallcalendars with the real data recorded atthe nearby weather station, and found aremarkably good fit when comparingmodal rainfall. A more recent study wasable to match farmer perceptions of chang-ing timing and character of seasons againstmeteorological records and get a fit goodenough to show that farmer analysis needsto be taken seriously (McGrath, pers.comm.). However, several authors (e.g.Warrick) note that, when analysing longer-term trends with communities, morerecent events tend to overshadow moredistant ones, and this needs to be takeninto account when trying to extrapolatefrom past trends.

Many communities use traditionalsystems to forecast the coming season.Sherwood and Bentley (this issue) describehow farmers use wind patterns, cloudformations, the position of rainbows, andanimal behaviour to predict the comingseason. Berger et al. (this issue) describes atraditional weather forecasting systemcalled Litha, based on lunar cycles, and


used by communities in southern coastalin Sri Lanka to predict rainfall patterns,and the best time to plant crops. However,there are fears that these traditionalsystems will become less effective asclimate change impacts increase. Berger etal. observe that in recent years, the Lithasystem has been falling out of use, althoughwhether this is because it is less effective orbecause scientific weather forecasts aremore reliable is unclear, and this wouldmerit further investigation.

Issues around participation CBA activities demonstrate a variety oftypes and degrees of participation (seeTable 1 for one typology). Participatorytools are sometimes used as a way ofcollecting local information about vulnera-bility and climate change to be used andanalysed by outsiders (e.g. the casedescribed by Wong, this issue). Often thepriorities and interests of outsiders over-ride those of communities, and there is stilla lot of doing to communities, rather thancommunities taking charge. Experiencefrom many different fields, including thoserelevant to climate change adaptation, suchas natural resource management and soiland water conservation, shows that if adap-tation is to be effective and sustainable, itmust draw on the knowledge and prioritiesof local people, build on their capacities,and empower them to make changes them-selves. In this overview, we have arguedthat communities, scientists, and develop-ment workers need to learn, analyse, andplan action in partnership, but thatcommunities need to be in the driving seat.

This has wide-reaching implications forprofessional behaviour, attitudes, andmindsets, and for institutional cultures andstructures. Sherwood and Bentley (thisissue), for example, point out that people-centred, community-based issues are inconflict with dominant professional behav-iour and with dominant institutionaldesigns. Outsiders are facilitators and co-learners, not teachers or experts. Partici-

patory processes need time to develop andthey need flexible funding. They do not fitwith the pre-determined calendars,budgets, and outputs demanded by govern-ment and other organisations.

The way in which adaptation activitiesare funded may be of help here. Poornations argue that, as wealthy nations havecaused the problems of climate change, anyinternational funding streams for adapta-tion activities should be used as recipientcountries and communities see fit, and thatsuch funding should be more stable andlong-term than development funding,which is subject to the conditions andpriorities of donors. This provides anopportunity for flexible, long-term fundingof participatory community-based adapta-tion processes.

In the rush to go to scale to respond toclimate change adaptation and to spendnewly available funds, there is a dangerthat, as with PRA in the 1990s, participa-tory CBA approaches will be abused andmisused. At the end of this issue, inReflections on practical ethics for partici-patory community-based adaptation, wehave reproduced a statement by a group ofpractitioners called Sharing our concerns(Absalom et al.), which was published inPLA (then PLA Notes) in 1994. This state-ment is essentially an ethical code forparticipatory practitioners, and with a fewamendments, it has stood the test of time.We have also included here an extractfrom an article in a more recent issue, PLA54 (Rambaldi et al., 2006) on practicalethics for participatory development prac-titioners.

Honest critical reflection of the sortexemplified by Warrick (this issue) isessential if CBA practitioners are to learnfrom each others experiences. For example,what happens when, as Warrick cautions,climate change is not seen as a priority incommunities, where a highly variableclimate is regarded as normal, or whereclimate change impacts are not yet evident,even though scientists are confident that


there will be serious impacts? Whathappens when an external organisationsfocus and funding does not match the prior-ities raised by communities? Without theflexibility to address communities realconcerns, it is difficult for the process ofadaptation to be community-driven.

Difficulties with the concept of communityWhilst CBA focuses on the community, itis very important to be aware of differencesin priorities, needs, vulnerability, andcapacities within communities. Tanner etal., for example, show that there aremarked differences in perceptions of the

Table 2: A typology of participation5

Table 2: Types of participation

Type of participation

Passive participation

Participation ininformation giving

Participation byconsultation

Participation formaterial incentives

Functionalparticipation

Interactiveparticipation

Self-mobilisation

Characteristics

People participate by being told what is going to happen or has alreadyhappened. It is a unilateral announcement by an administration or projectmanagement without listening to peoples responses. The information beingshared belongs only to external professionals.

People participate by answering questions posed by extractive researchers usingquestionnaire surveys or similar approaches. People do not have the opportunityto influence proceedings as the findings of the research are neither shared norchecked for accuracy.

People participate by being consulted, and external people listen to views. Theseexternal professionals define both problems and solutions, and may modify thesein the light of peoples responses. Such a consultative process does not concedeany share in decision-making, and professionals are under no obligation to takeon board peoples views.

People participate by providing resources, for example labour, in return for food,cash, or other material incentives. Much on-farm research falls into this categoryas farmers provide the fields but are not involved in the experimentation or theprocess of learning. It is very common to see this called participation, yet peoplehave no stake in prolonging activities when the incentives end.

People participate by forming groups to meet predetermined objectives related tothe project, which can involve the development or promotion of externallyinitiated social organisation. Such involvement does not tend to be at early stagesof project cycles or planning, but rather after major decisions have been made.These institutions tend to be dependent on external initiators and facilitators, butmay become self-dependent.

People participate in joint analysis, which leads to action plans and the formationof new local institutions or the strengthening of existing ones. It tends to involveinterdisciplinary methodologies that seek multiple perspectives and make use ofsystematic and structured learning processes. These groups take control over localdecisions and so people have a stake in maintaining structures or practices.

People participate by taking initiatives independent of external institutions tochange systems. They develop contacts with external institutions for resources andtechnical advice they need, but retain control over how resources are used. Suchself-initiated mobilisation and collective action may or may not challenge existinginequitable distributions of wealth and power.

5 Table sourced from Pretty et al. (1995), who adapted it from Adnan et al. (1992).


importance of different hazards by age andgender in the Philippines. Men, as thefarmers in these communities, highlightedagricultural hazards such as pests anddrought, whilst women were concernedwith social hazards (gambling, drugs), andchildren had the most awareness of envi-ronmentally unsound livelihood practicesand global environmental problems.

Different sections of the communityalso vary in their capacity to undertakeadaptation activities. Women are particu-larly badly affected by the combination ofclimatic and environmental stresses, buttheir particular needs and wishes for adap-tation are less likely to be heard or actedupon (Jennings and McGrath, 2009) (seeBox 4). Children are affected by bothcurrent and future climate change impacts,yet their voices are rarely heard or consid-ered in climate change adaptation activi-ties (Plush, this issue).

In many National AdaptationProgrammes of Action (NAPAs), agricul-ture and forestry feature heavily as priorityprojects. However, McGrath and Jennings(2009) point out that, in Malawi, womenprioritised a crche, family planning, accessto loans, credit, training, and free health-care over support for agriculture. Theyargued that without childcare and supportto start up small enterprises, they could notmake adaptation changes.

Wong (this issue) highlights the

dangers of ignoring intra-communitypower differentials when planning adapta-tion activities. Local chiefs ensured thattheir family members were included ascommunity representatives, excluding thevoices and interests of poorer farmers fromdecision-making processes. Even thoughthe project made special efforts to ensuregender balance, planned adaptation activ-ities were both poverty insensitive andserved to reinforce existing power inequal-ities.

Many articles in this issue use partici-patory approaches in a differentiated wayto capture the perspectives of differentgroups. Some make particular efforts toensure that more vulnerable households,and vulnerable individuals within house-holds, are included, for example, the partic-ipatory modelling process described byGaillard and Maceda, giving the opportu-nity to ensure that the voices of thosepeople are heard. Less is said, however,about analysing power relations withincommunities, and how differences in needsand priorities can be reconciled. We needto keep asking: Who benefits? Who loses?Who is empowered? Who is disempow-ered?6

Monitoring and evaluationMonitoring and evaluation (M&E) of CBAactivities will also be a challenge. GoodCBA should be truly participatory and

6 See Reflections on practical ethics for participatory community-based adaptation, thisissue. Source: Rambaldi et al., 2006.

Climate change impacts have different effects on women and on men and have been well attested in manyplaces. The need to find water as well as firewood and fodder is a well-known reason for girls to be kept outof school, and male migration has been linked to the spread of HIV and AIDS.

In Nepal, increasing crop failure has increased the strategy of men migrating. Women are left alone tolook after families yet with the least access to resources to be able to adapt. They have less access tocultivable land to grow food and have to find water, wood, and fodder. Any worsening of livelihood optionshas to be made up in physical labour, one of the few resources women control. So to compensate for thedecline in food production, women are doing more daily waged labour. This is often extremely onerous such as portering construction materials and badly paid women are paid only three-quarters of what aman would earn for the same work.

Box 4: Looking within the community

Source: S. Jennings and J. McGrath (2009).


devolve much of the decision-makingdown to the community level, but thismakes any centralised reporting or evalu-ation activities more difficult to coordinate.This is an important issue, because it is theresponsibility of industrialised nations tohelp poor countries adapt to climatechange, so some means of evaluating theeffectiveness of funded CBA programmesis required. But any move towardscentralised tracking and evaluatingsystems must be sure not to lose sight of theneed to facilitate genuine participatoryprocesses that empower communities toadapt to climate change in ways whichaddress locally identified priorities.

Policies and institutions for CBAWhilst CBA is focused on the communitylevel, it cannot be carried out in isolationfrom events and activities occurring atother levels, for example: CBA is affected by the services andsupport available (or more often not avail-able) at district and national levels, forexample, long-range weather forecasts,downscaled climate scenarios, satelliteimages, information on weather forecast-ing, and agricultural and other extensionservices, and the ability of support organi-sations to integrate their activities. Some adaptation activities have spill-overeffects on other communities, for example,

Houses raised on plinths to try and keep them above flood levels, 2007, near Khulna, Bangladesh.

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if one community builds a dam to copewith drought, this will affect communitieslower down the river. Wong (this issue), forexample, describes how communitiesparticipated in transboundary river watergovernance in Burkina Faso and Ghana,which allowed for coordination andadvance warning over the flow of water. Policy makers at district, national, andinternational levels need to know howcommunities are being affected by climatechange, and to understand and respond tocommunities priorities and needs. Thismight be through participation in invitedspaces, such as through participatoryscenario development workshops (Bizikovaet al. this issue)7, or through advocacy bycommunities (e.g. Plush describes howvideos produced by children influencedpolicy makers in Nepal), or by communi-ties organising and putting pressure onpowerful local actors (Dodman, Mitlin, andRayos, unpublished abstract).

Some CBA approaches explicitly buildin a multi-level approach. Action Aid, forexample, uses participatory vulnerabilityanalysis (PVA), which starts by assessingvulnerability at the community level, butthis feeds into the district, national, andinternational levels. They argue that thereare multiple determinants/causes ofvulnerability, and many of these fall outsideindividuals or communities. Hence analy-sis of vulnerability must go beyond theindividual to micro- and macro-level polit-ical processes. Similarly, Practical Actionhave been developing a framework forunderstanding, analysing, and addressingthe multiple factors lack of resources;fragile livelihoods; hazards; climatechange; political marginalisation; and,weak institutional support mechanisms that contribute to vulnerability in an inte-grated and holistic manner (Pasteur,2009).

ConclusionThe theory and practice of CBA are still intheir infancy. Both are likely to grow veryrapidly, however, as needs increase as aresult of intensifying climate changeimpacts and as interest in and support foradaptation grows at national and interna-tional levels.

Although funding is increasingly avail-able for adaptation activities, simplyproviding poor country governments withmore money does not mean that it willreach the poor and those who are mostvulnerable to climate change, let aloneincrease their ability to adapt. Suchcommunities are often marginalised,remote, and receive limited services andlittle support from their governments evenwhen they are able to articulate whatsupport they need. Reaching thesehundreds of millions of people andsupporting their genuine participation inany decision-making about resource allo-cation for CBA will be an immense chal-lenge for any international or nationalprogramme or funding mechanism focus-ing on adaptation.

Whilst CBA initiatives are increasing innumber and information sharing on theseactivities is developing, translating theseactivities and documentation intoimproved policy responses and scaled upCBA initiatives worldwide remains a chal-lenge. Power structures are at the heart ofclimate change vulnerability and it isimportant to find ways to allow poorvulnerable people to influence policy andbe heard in key policy arenas, such as theUNFCCC negotiations.

To be successful, community-basedadaptation programmes will need toensure that communities are able toparticipate in identifying priorities, bothlocal and regional, and in planning, imple-menting, monitoring, and reviewing adap-

7 Participatory scenario development workshops engage those most directly concerned(e.g. community members, local officals) in discussions about how the future maydevelop, and about possible adaptation pathways, and their pros and cons. Theconclusions may feed into local, district, and national planning.


tation. Such programmes should providesupport and link communities to relevantdecision-making institutions. They willalso need to build the capacity of localorganisations and local governments toenable them to effectively take part in deci-sion-making processes.9

CBA draws on a number of differentfields, including disaster relief work,community development work, andclimate science. These different areas ofknowledge and expertise often employdifferent languages and concepts, andthere is still much work to be done indeveloping a common understanding andlanguage, and sharing experiences andgood practice.

Continuing to document CBAprocesses in an honest and critical way isvery important, both to improve practiceand to share experience in little-docu-mented areas, such as incorporatingclimate change adaptation into healthpolicy. You will find a list of resources onCBA, including websites, later in this issue.Other important opportunities for experi-ence-sharing include the InternationalConferences on Community-Based Adap-tation (see Box 3), and the two-day Devel-

opment and Climate Days event, held eachyear during the Conference of Parties(COP) to the UNFCCC. This event has adedicated CBA session to share informa-tion on CBA with negotiators andobservers at the international climatechange negotiations.10 CBA practitionerscan also benefit from the rich literaturethat is available on participation.11

Final thoughtsWe face increasing pressure to meet themyriad challenges that a changing climatepresents. As this new community of prac-tice emerges and matures, the ethics andquality of participatory processes will becentral to the success of community-basedadaptation to climate change and thereare both opportunities and dangers. AsAbsalom et al. wrote in 1994,

The opportunities are to initiate and sustainprocesses of change: empowering disadvan-taged people and communities, transformingorganisations, and reorienting individuals.The dangers come from demanding too much,in a top-down mode, too fast, with too littleunderstanding of participatory developmentand its implications.

8 The second and third conferences were run by the Bangladesh Centre for AdvancedStudies. See www.bcas.net for more information. See www.iied.org for moreinformation on the forthcoming 4th CBA conference in Tanzania.9 ESRC-funded seminar, Integrating Approaches: Sustainable Livelihoods, Disaster RiskReduction and Climate Change Adaptation, December 2009, organised by PracticalAction (www.practicalaction.org.uk). See: http://community.eldis.org/.59cc728710 These events are run by the International Institute for Environment and Development.For more information see: http://tinyurl.com/iied-COP15-d-c. Full URL:www.iied.org/climate-change/key-issues/climate-negotiations-capacity-building/cop15-development-and-climate-days11 See, for example, www.planotes.org for back issues of Participatory Learning andAction. Recent issues include PLA 54: Mapping for change: practice, technologies, andcommunication, and PLA 55: Practical tools for community conservation in southernAfrica. PLA 50: Critical reflections, future directions looks at participation in a wide rangeof different fields, as well as focusing on good participatory practice and ethics. IIEDsParticipatory Learning and Action: A Trainers Guide is also an invaluable resource onparticipatory approaches, processes, and methods.

The second and third International Conferences on Community-Based Adaptation were held in Dhaka,Bangladesh, in February 2007 and February 2009. This will become an annual event at which practitioners,policy makers and researchers can share information on methodologies for CBA, upscaling CBA,communicating CBA, CBA in different ecosystems, funding for CBA etc. The next will be held in Dar esSalaam, Tanzania in February 2010. The conferences involve field visits to CBA projects in differentecosystems and regions so people can see CBA activities on the ground.8

Box 3: Sharing information on CBA


CONTACT DETAILSHannah ReidSenior ResearcherClimate Change GroupInternational Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)3 Endsleigh StreetLondon WC1H 0DDUKEmail: [email protected]

Mozaharul AlamProject ManagerUnited Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)Regional Office of the Asia and Pacific (ROAP)BangkokThailandEmail: [email protected]

Rachel BergerPractical ActionThe Schumacher Centre for Technology and DevelopmentBourton on DunsmoreRUGBYCV23 9QZUKEmail: [email protected]

Terry CannonVisiting FellowClimate Change GroupInternational Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)3 Endsleigh StreetLondon WC1H 0DDUKEmail: [email protected]

Saleemul Huq Senior FellowClimate Change Group International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)3 Endsleigh StreetLondon WC1H 0DDUKEmail: [email protected]

Angela MilliganCo-EditorParticipatory Learning and Action seriesInternational Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) 3 Endsleigh StreetLondon WC1H 0DDUKEmail: [email protected]

As we move forward with community-based adaptation to climate change, wehope that this issue of Participatory Learn-ing and Action will contribute to learningand experience sharing around CBA andhelp to promote good participatory practice.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSSpecial thanks to Holly Ashley for her careful reading of this overview,many helpful suggestions, and support during the writing process.Thanks also to Michel Pimbert for insights around the quality ofparticipation.

REFERENCESAbsalom, E. et al., (1995). Sharing our concerns and looking to the

future. In PLA Notes 22, February 1995. IIED: London. Online:www.planotes.org/documents/plan_02201.PDF

Action Aid International (2005). Participatory vulnerability analysis: astep-by-step guide for field staff, Action Aid International

Adnan, S., A. Barren, S.M. Nurul Alam, and A. Brustinow (1992).People's participation: NGOs and the flood action plan. Researchand Advisory Services: Dhaka, Bangladesh

Anuchiracheeva, S. and T. Pinkaew (2009). Case Jasmine Rice in theWeeping Plain: Adapting Rice Farming to Climate Change inNortheast Thailand. Oxfam Disaster Risk Reduction and ClimateChange Adaptation Resources, Oxfam GB

Chambers, R., N. Kenton and H. Ashley (2004). Participatory Learningand Action 50 Critical reflections, future directions. IIED: London.Online: www.planotes.org/documents/plan_05003.pdf

Christian Aid (2009a). Module I: Framework and Approach.Christian Aid Adaptation Toolkit: Integrating adaptation toclimate change into secure livelihoods, p.13. Christian Aid: UK

Christian Aid (2009b). Module II: Developing a climate changeanalysis. Christian Aid Adaptation Toolkit: Integrating adaptationto climate change into secure livelihoods. Christian Aid: UK

Corbett, J., G. Rambaldi, P.K. Kyem, D. Weiner, R. Olson, J. Muchemi,M. McCall, and R. Chambers (2006). Overview: mapping forchange the emergence of a new practice. Participatory Learningand Action 54 Mapping for Change: practice, technologies andcommunications. IIED: London and CTA: Wageningen. Online:www.planotes.org/pla_backissues/54.html

Gill, G. (1991). But how does it compare with the REAL data? In PLANotes 14, IIED: London. Online:www.planotes.org/pla_backissues/14.html#AB1

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2007). FourthAssessment Report, United Nations

Jennings, S. and J. McGrath (2009). What Happened to the Seasons?Oxfam GB Research Report: UK

Pasteur K., (2009). Practical Actions Vulnerability to ResilienceFramework to be presented at Frameworks for Integration:challenges and opportunities for bringing together Disaster RiskReduction, Climate Change Adaptation, and SustainableLivelihoods, 4th Livelihoods Seminar ito be held in December2009. http://community.eldis.org/.59cc7287/

Pretty, J., I. Guijt, J. Thompson, and I. Scoones (1995). ParticipatoryLearning and Action: a trainers guide. IIED ParticipatoryMethodology Series, IIED: London

Rambaldi, G., R. Chambers, M. McCall and J. Fox (2006). Practicalethics for PGIS practitioners, facilitators, technology intermediariesand researchers. In Participatory Learning and Action 54Mapping for Change: practice, technologies andcommunications. IIED: London and CTA: Wageningen. Online:www.planotes.org/pla_backissues/54.html


Annex 1: Predicted impacts of climate change, vulnerability, and adaptive capacity byregion

Region

Africa

Asia

Likely regional impacts of climate change

By 2020, between 75 million and 250 millionpeople are projected to be exposed to increasedwater stress due to climate change. Coupled withincreased demand, this will adversely affectlivelihoods and exacerbate water-related problems.

Agricultural production, including access to food, inmany African countries and regions is projected to beseverely compromised by climate variability andchange. The area suitable for agriculture, the lengthof growing seasons and yield potential, particularlyalong the margins of semi-arid and arid areas, areexpected to decrease. This would further adverselyaffect food security and exacerbate malnutrition inthe continent. In some countries, yields from rain-fedagriculture could be reduced by up to 50% by 2020.

Local food supplies are projected to be negativelyaffected by decreasing fisheries resources in largelakes due to rising water temperatures, which may beexacerbated by continued overfishing.

Towards the end of the 21st century, projected sea-level rise will affect low-lying coastal areas with largepopulations. The cost of adaptation could amount toat least 5-10% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).Mangroves and coral reefs are projected to be furtherdegraded, with additional consequences for fisheriesand tourism.

Glacier melt in the Himalayas is projected toincrease flooding, rock avalanches from destabilisedslopes, and to affect water resources within the nexttwo to three decades. This will be followed bydecreased river flows as the glaciers recede.

Freshwater availability in Central, South, East, andSouth-East Asia, particularly in large river basins, isprojected to decrease due to climate change which,along with population growth and increasingdemand arising from higher standards of living, couldadversely affect more than a billion people by the2050s.

Coastal areas, especially heavily populatedmegadelta regions in South, East and South-EastAsia, will be at greatest risk due to increased floodingfrom the sea and, in some megadeltas, flooding fromthe rivers.

Vulnerability, adaptive capacity

Most vulnerable due to multiplestresses and low adaptive capacityis low due to low GDP per capita,widespread poverty (the number ofpoor grew over the 1990s),inequitable land distribution, andlow education levels. There is alsoan absence of safety nets,particularly after harvest failures.

More than one quarter of thepopulation lives within 100 km ofthe coast and most of Africaslargest cities are along coastsvulnerable to sea-level rise, coastalerosion, and extreme events.

Individual coping strategies fordesertification are already strained,leading to deepening poverty.

Dependence on rain-fedagriculture is high.

Adaptive capacity is likely to begreatest in countries with civil order,political openness, and soundeconomic management. Someadaptation to current climatevariability is taking place; however,this may be insufficient for futurechanges in climate.

Adaptive capacity varies betweencountries depending on socialstructure, culture, economic capacity,and level of environmentaldegradation.

As a region, poverty in both ruraland urban areas has decreased inAsia.

Capacity is increasing in someparts of Asia (for example, thesuccess of early warning systems forextreme weather events inBangladesh), but is still restraineddue to poor resource bases,inequalities in income, weakinstitutions, and limited technology.


Annex 1 (continued): Predicted impacts of climate change, vulnerability, and adaptivecapacity by region

Region

Asia(continued)

Latin America

Likely regional impacts of climate change

Climate change is projected to impinge on thesustainable development of most developingcountries of Asia, as it compounds the pressures onnatural resources and the environment associatedwith rapid urbanisation, industrialisation, andeconomic development.

It is projected that crop yields could increase byup to 20% in East and South-East Asia while theycould decrease up to 30% in Central and South Asiaby the mid-21st century. Taken together, andconsidering the influence of rapid populationgrowth and urbanisation, the risk of hunger isprojected to remain very high in several developingcountries.

Endemic morbidity and mortality due todiarrhoeal disease primarily associated with floodsand droughts are expected to rise in East, Southand South-East Asia due to projected changes inthe hydrological cycle associated with globalwarming.

Increases in coastal water temperature wouldexacerbate the abundance and/or toxicity ofcholera in South Asia.

By mid-century, increases in temperature andassociated decreases in soil water are projected tolead to gradual replacement of tropical forest bysavannah in eastern Amazonia. Semi-aridvegetation will tend to be replaced by arid-landvegetation. There is a risk of significant biodiversityloss through species extinction in many areas oftropical Latin America.

In drier areas, climate change is expected to leadto salination and desertification of agricultural land.Productivity of some important crops is projected todecrease and livestock productivity to decline, withadverse consequences for food security. Intemperate zones soya bean yields are projected toincrease.

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