Transcript Piloting Community-Based Adaptation Activities: Early Experiences

Piloting Community-Based
Adaptation Activities:
Early Experiences in
Bangladesh
Angie Dazé and Ahsan Uddin Ahmed
Adaptation Day at CoP11
Sunday, December 4, 2005
The Reducing Vulnerability to
Climate Change (RVCC) Project
 Project Goal: To increase capacity of communities in the
southwest region of Bangladesh to adapt to the adverse
effects of climate change
 Funding provided by the Canada Climate Change
Development Fund (CCCDF) at CIDA
 Managed by CARE Canada and implemented by CARE
Bangladesh through local partner organizations
 Duration: January 2002- January 2006
 RVCC works in six districts in the southwestern coastal region
of Bangladesh
Assessment of Vulnerability
 Project undertook 78 group vulnerability assessments
 Examined what people are vulnerable to, what aspects of
well-being are affected, and what coping strategies are
currently employed
 Vulnerability contexts were ranked in terms of their impact
on well-being
 Out of the ten elements most frequently identified as
having high or medium impact on well-being, six will be
directly affected by climate change:
Salinity
Flood
Waterlogging
Drought
Wind/storm
Erratic/heavy rainfall
Developing Adaptation Strategies
 Based on findings of
vulnerability assessment,
adaptation strategies were
designed
 Focus on practical solutions
for food and income security
and access to safe water to
increase coping capacity
 Strategies designed to
address current challenges
and development needs in a
way that is sustainable in
the longer term context of
climate change
New ways to cope
 End of project evaluations
showed that project
participants feel that their
coping capacity has increased
 Reliance on drastic coping
strategies such as migrating
for work, selling land and
assets, and eating nontraditional foods was reduced
 People also felt that their
ability to access services and
to participate in local
organizations was increased,
and this supported their ability
to adapt
An Integrated Approach to
Adaptation
 Approach focused on capacity development (for project
participants, local partners, government) and this was
found to facilitate adaptation
 Awareness raising and advocacy efforts have had
positive results in terms of generating interest in climate
change in the region
Working in Partnership
 Working with local partners
increased relevance and
sustainability of adaptation
activities
 Emphasis on creating linkages
with local government leaders
and service providers
 Supportive relationship has been
established which will extend
beyond the life of the project
Final Thoughts
 RVCC piloted an integrated, community-led approach to
reducing environmental vulnerability
 Created an enabling environment for coping with current
challenges, while addressing poverty and developing
adaptive capacity for the future
 Project clearly demonstrates the relevance of climate
change issues to rural development and livelihoods
programming