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Mekong farmers take part in climate adaptation planning

Submitted by Vanessa on 28th September 2012
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Climate adaptation planning cannot take a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, and must

How do we scale up adaptation actions in agriculture, but ensure that they meet farmers' needs, are effective, and cost-efficient? A research project led by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in the Greater Mekong sub-region is finding new ways to connect local priorities, to Government plans and resources. In four sites across Viet Nam and Lao PDR, farmers themselves are examining climate change adaptation priorities and costs within agriculture systems.

Caitlin Corner-Doloff, a CIAT researcher, explains: A new perspective on adaptation prioritisation and costing in the Mekong region. The story was published by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), which is also funding the project via Sumernet, the Sustainable Mekong Research Network.

Rural communities get 'hands-on' with climate adaptation planning

Submitted by Vanessa on 8th May 2012
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Asking farmers what really matters to them helps frame a discussion about climat

by Chase Sova

Understanding the cost associated with climate change adaptation interventions in agriculture is important for mobilizing support and providing timely resources to improve resilience and adaptive capacities of small scale producers.  In the latest CGIAR Climate working paper, Community-Based Adaptation Costing: An integrated framework for the participatory costing of community-based adaptations to climate change in agriculture (PDF), we see that the economic analysis of climate interventions is more than a game of numbers.  Read more »

Adaptation or Development?

Submitted by Vanessa on 21st November 2011
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The Muhoroni Sugar Factory is an unmistakable feature of Othidhe's skyline. Phot

Guest post by Chase Sova (CIAT).

When we think of climate change adaptation in agriculture the first thing that comes to mind is improved crop varieties. Water harvesting and irrigation schemes may also be high on our list. Perhaps too is crop diversification. But on a recent trip to western Kenya, one agricultural community reminded us that sometimes the interventions that can most improve the adaptive capacities of small-scale farmers may not occur on or even near the farm.

Othidhe is a small agricultural community in Kenya’s Nyando Basin (click for map) set against the backdrop of the eastern branch of Africa’s Great Rift Valley. A settlement community, Othidhe was founded shortly after Kenya’s independence in 1963 and is the product of a targeted land reform program. The settlers in Othidhe received ten hectares of land from the government with the explicit purpose of developing the region in to a sugarcane production zone. Today, vast fields of sugarcane dominate the treeless landscape (clear-cut over several decades to expand cane production) disturbed only by the smoky stacks of the Muhoroni Sugar Factory. Read more »

What really matters to people experiencing climate change effects?

Submitted by Cecilia on 15th September 2011
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Guest Blog by: Chase Sova, visiting researcher on 'Adaptive Capacity under Progressive Climate Change', CCAFS. 

Choosing the best climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in agriculture can be a challenging task for decision makers and farmers alike. Given the many options available, it is important that scarce resources are used to support measures that are both cost effective and reflect the needs of communities vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In July, the CGIAR Climate program (CCAFS) joined forces with Oxford University and ViAgroforestry to pilot a new way of identifying community appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies and determining their associated costs and benefits. The approach is built on a novel cost-benefit framework called Social Return on Investment (SROI). Read more »

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