Adaptive Strategies Building Resilience to Climate Variability in Argentina, Canada and Colombia

2016 ◽  
pp. 225-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Mussetta ◽  
Sandra Turbay ◽  
Amber J. Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Adaptive Strategies ◽  
Building Resilience

scholarly journals To Examine Coping Adaptive Strategies Used by Households and Make Policy Recommendations for Addressing Future Climate Change Impacts on Livelihoods in Kapsokwony Division, Mt. Elgon Sub-County, Bungoma County, Kenya

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-269
Author(s):  
Sindani Bon Bonzemo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Adaptive Strategies ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Climate Resilience ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Economic Development

Long and short term changes in climate are disproportionately affecting all parts of the world in equal measure. The most impacted by vagaries of climate change are the most vulnerable and the poor who live in the developing world. Climate change and climate variability impacts the smallholder farmers though they continue to apply traditional technologies in order to cope with climate change vulnerability. In most of the parts the world over, coping strategies are lacking especially in the African States. Trans-disciplinary research approach was used to analyze the perception of community’s’ responses to climate change and climate variability at the household level. The purpose of this study was to build new transformation knowledge by integrating the traditional and the modern adaptive technologies in order to transform lives of the indigenous communities in the study area. This paper therefore explores and highlights the existing and modern technologies which can be employed by farmers to counteract the impacts of climate change and climate variability. Primary data was collected through in-depth and informant interviews together with Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) and a structured questionnaire administered to 384 household heads in twelve sub-locations in the study area (Kapsokwony Division) formed the basis of these policy recommendations. Secondary data constituting rainfall and temperature parameters was collected from Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD). The long and short term integrated adaptive strategies and policy recommendations generated and developed by all the actors including those from the academia and the traditional communities during the research are meant to build climate resilience and adaptive capacity at local and national levels. A framework that has been developed by this research will help support policy decisions in conservation agriculture and livestock rearing systems, water resource management, change in social behavior, accessing early warning information, promotion of organic farming and human health systems. If fully implemented these policy recommendations will go a long way to bring a paradigm shift that will improve livelihoods and social economic development in the region. These recommendations can be replicated in any other region of the world to bring about desired changes to a people impacted by climate change. The research study achieved capacity building, resilience, adaptive learning, change in attitude and behavior, community empowerment, application of transformation knowledge as well as climate change awareness amongst area residents. The new societal knowledge was used to elucidate long term policies and adaptive strategies to enhance climate resilience, help eliminate poverty levels, improve livelihoods and sustain social economic development. The study recommends collaboration among stakeholders and integration of various sources of knowledge in addressing climate change and climate variability among residents in Kapsokwony Sub-county. Further research should be carried out in the future to corroborate these findings.

Assessing the impacts of climate variability - a study of institutional archival data spanning 1700-1947 (British Colonial Period) pertaining to semi-arid tracts of peninsular India

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ranjini Ray ◽  
Atreyee Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Adaptive Strategies ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Peninsular India ◽  
Enso Events ◽  
Tree Ring Data ◽  
British Colonial ◽  
Climate Disasters ◽  
Semi Arid

<p>Climate disasters such as droughts and floods are becoming very important in 21<sup>st</sup> century India especially in the semi-arid tracts of rain-shadow regions of peninsular India – stretching from Maharashtra in the west to Tamil Nadu in the south. The role of climate variability in these climate disasters and the climate forcings working behind these needs a special attention. Here we present new data, pertaining to climate disasters, impacts and adaptive strategies, from a review of 60 volumes of archival institutional documents from the British Colonial Period pertaining to administration of districts of peninsular India. The documents span ~ 220 years (1729-1947 AD) and encompass the two phases of the British colonial period, the Company period (before 1858) and the Crown period (1858-1947) respectively. We found archival institutional documents to be excellent archives for reconstructing a chronology of climate disasters, studying the effects of these disasters and assessing the efficacy of adaptive strategies and policies at local scales, often at the level of districts (<30 kms). Vivid accounts describe impacts of climate disasters e.g crop failure, price hike, farmer migration, riot, starvation, epidemic diseases, death during droughts, and colossal destruction, migration and death due to heavy rainfall (and associated floods). Farmers being the most affected group. In 19<sup>th</sup> century famines due to droughts continued to occur every 5-10 years if the rainfall fell below 14% of the average annual rainfall, consistent with decadal and sub-decadal modes of rainfall variability. This data is comparable with the tree ring data found in this area. Climate variability is to some extent at par with ENSO events but land atmosphere interaction especially due to anthropogenic activities such as deforestation can be a major climate forcing that acted in this area. During the Crown period protective measures were very similar even though governance changed. But British government had to change their policies when sudden huge fall in rainfall occurred in 1876 and 1899 causing major famines (Great Famine 1876-1877, Indian Famine1899-1900). Formation of Famine Codes and Famine Commissions (1880-1901) after these two major famines made situation better, changes were done in grass root level. We see no major famine caused by droughts in peninsular India after that.</p>

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