Transcript Slide 1

Strategies for Adapting to Climate
Change in Rural SSA: Targeting the
Poor
Doug Merrey
FANRPAN Regional Dialogue
2 September 2008, Lilongwe, Malawi
Outline
 Overview (adapted from Jerry Nelson, IFPRI)
 Climate change and variability—impacts on the poor
 Adaptation strategies
 Project goals
 Outcome of Kickoff Workshop
 Roles of FANRPAN and ASARECA
 Conclusions
Impacts and Vulnerability to Climate
Change & Variability

Rich countries emit majority of GHGs

Poor countries are more vulnerable
 Geography (hotter, less rain, more variation)
 Greater dependence on agriculture and natural resources
 Limited infrastructure and low-input agriculture
 Low income, poverty and malnutrition
 Inadequate complementary services, like health and
education
 Weak institutions
 Thus, lower adaptive capacity (less resilience)
 Location matters!
Page 3
Much Adaptation Policy is Extension
of Good Development Policy
 Promote growth and diversification
 Invest in research and development,
education and health
 Improve international trade system
 Enhance resilience to disasters and
improving disaster management
 Promote risk-sharing, including social
safety nets, weather insurance
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Types of Adaptation
 Autonomous or spontaneous adaptations
 Response to observed/anticipated climate
change without intervention by a public agency
 Initiatives by private actors rather than
governments, triggered by market or welfare
changes induced by actual or anticipated climate
change
 Policy-driven or planned adaptation
 Proactive response
 Result of deliberate policy decision on the part of
public agencies
Page 5
Adaptation Responses and Issues
Type of
response
Autonomous
Policy-driven
Short run
• Crop choice, crop area,
planting dates
• Risk-pooling insurance
• Improved forecasting
• Policy reform
• Technology
dissemination
Long run
• Private investment (on-farm
irrigation)
• Private crop research
• Relocation
• Public investment
(water storage, roads,
info infrastructure)
• Public crop research
Issues
• Adaptive capacity of poor
• Social safety nets
• Uncertain returns to
investment
• Targeting
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Effective Adaptation Policy Strategies
 Must go beyond good development policy to explicitly target
the impacts of climate change, particularly on the poor
 Requires spatially targeted adaptation
 Market signals
 essential factor in determining the responses to a
changing environment
 but involves potentially expensive time lags and overlooks
equity
 Climate change adaptation must therefore be proactive, not
merely reactive
Page 7
Why does location
matter?
Where do the global climate models agree
(yellow/green) and disagree (blue/red)
Low emissions scenario
High agreement southern
& eastern Africa
Change in Precipitation 2000 - 2050
(mm/month) June, high emissions scenario
Black – no
change
Yellow –
decrease in
mean
Blue/green –
increase in
mean
A lot of
yellow!
Decreasing
mean
rainfall
Project Goals
 Assess where should adaptation
policies/programs be targeted
 Identify what kinds of adaptations might be
cost-effective and pro-poor
 Propose methods and tools for policymakers to evaluate options
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Planned Project Products
 Global change scenarios
 Changes in climate, land use, socio-economic
factors, and alternative policies
 Typology of production systems
 Integrates biophysical and socio-economic factors
 Household-level impact and response matrix
 Micro-level adaptation case studies
 Policy decision framework tools
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FANRPAN Hosted
Kick-off Workshop 23-25 June 2008
Outcomes
 Identified large number of related projects—
agreed to cooperate and build synergies
 Data base of projects, institutions, individuals
working on adaptation to climate change
 Commitment of partners present to collaborate
 IFPRI, FANRPAN, ASARECA, two German partners
(PIK, ZALF), represented governments, African
research institutions
 Work plan agreed
 Ideas contributing to project implementation
Indicative List of Suggestions
Agriculture in a wider socio-economic context
 Economic diversification = adaptation strategy
Target and sensitize wide spectrum of
stakeholders & decision makers
Participatory pro-active approach with policy
makers
Regional focus (SADC, COMESA) makes more
sense than purely national approach
Capacity building and practical adaptive
strategies will be more valuable than academic
publications
Roles—FANRPAN & ASARECA
 Facilitate access to data, linkages of
international with regional scientists
 Networking function critical given growing
number of projects and activities
 Assist in design of socio-economic scenarios
 Organize workshops and consultations with key
decision makers
 Policy dialogues as results emerge
 Facilitate linking regional students with capacity
building opportunities
 See PhD opportunity at www.fanrpan.org
Conclusion
o Project provides opportunity to build regional
linkages and capacity
 Our strength is capacity to bring researchers together
with regional stakeholders, decision makers
 Partnership with ASARECA a valuable opportunity
with future potential benefits for region
o Measures to strengthening capacity for
adaptation to climate variability and change is
usually good developmental policy
 But as a recent Norwegian review of its Malawi
projects show, there are implications: need to
diversify – diversify – diversify
From David Grey
Variability - Annual rainfall in Kenya during 1956 – 1982
3.0
10.0
1.0
5.0
0.0
-1.0
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
0.0
1979
Real GDP growth (%)
2.0
-2.0
-5.0
-3.0
Real GDP grow th (%)
Variability in Rainfall (Meter)
-10.0
-4.0
Years
Correlation between GDP and Rainfall in Zimbabwe
Mozambique flood
Variability in Rainfall (Meter)
15.0
Thank you!
Credit: Gilberto Ricardo
Cattle drinking water in the Shinguedzi River, competition for water
resources with wildlife in the Limpopo National Park (Mozamique)