Download INCREASING CLIMATE RESILIENCE

GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, COSTA RICA
Ecosystem-based Adaptation
© INGMAR ZAHORSKY
In Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica, CI is
implementing the CASCADE project (Central
American Subsistence and Coffee farmer
Adaptation based on Ecosystems), which aims to
assess the vulnerability of smallholder farming
communities to climate change, and to develop
and test EbA strategies to help those communities
cope with climate change. CASCADE also
identifies key organizations that can support
farmers, then strengthens the capacity of those
organizations to implement the most promising
EbA strategies. To amplify the project’s impacts,
CI is promoting the incorporation of EbA
approaches in national and regional adaptation
policies in the three project countries.
As climate change intensifies, the negative
effects on agriculture are becoming more
pronounced, particularly in smallholder farming
communities where increasing temperature
and rainfall variability reduce suitable areas for
agriculture and crop yields, threatening these
communities’ livelihoods and food security.
Conservation International (CI) is implementing
projects to help people adapt through
Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) — the use of
ecosystem services and biodiversity as part of a
broader climate change adaptation strategy.
INCREASING
CLIMATE
RESILIENCE
CASCADE Research Methods
To analyze the impacts of climate change on ecosystem services and
agriculture, CASCADE modeled the impacts of climate change on water
availability, the suitability of 10 crops, forest types, and the distribution of
coffee pollinators. CASCADE also created adaptive capacity maps to identify
areas where farmers have low adaptive capacity, to inform selection of six
landscapes for further research.
CASCADE established field studies comparing the impacts of different
coffee systems on crop productivity and on the provision of ecosystem
services, focusing on coffee agroforestry systems — a key EbA practice.
One study compares the provision of ecosystem services (including
pest and disease regulation; soil conservation; overall coffee production
and yield; and carbon storage) in coffee plantations with different shade
management systems to illuminate the effectiveness of EbA practices in
coping with extreme climatic events.
Expected Project Impact
The CASCADE project will contribute to climate change adaptation and
sustainable development across Central America by:
• identifying and demonstrating cost-effective, accessible, appropriate
and effective EbA strategies that can be widely promoted among
smallholder farmers.
• building capacity of local and national institutions, such as farm
extension services, to promote the adoption of EbA strategies among
smallholder farmers.
• providing decision-makers with information on the costs, benefits
and ability of EbA strategies to provide social, economic and
environmental co-benefits.
• developing guidelines for effective adaptation options for smallholder
farmers and creating an enabling environment for decision-making on
adaptation issues.
• promoting the incorporation of EbA approaches into existing policy
instruments and leveraging other opportunities as they arise.
Principal Investigators:
Celia Harvey: [email protected]
Francisco Alpízar: [email protected]
Project Managers:
Ruth Martínez: [email protected]
Bárbara Viguera: [email protected]
© MANALAHMADKHAN
Learn more at conservation.org/cascade
THE CASCADE PROJECT IN CENTRAL AMERICA
Conservation International is partnering with smallholder farmers to research effective climate
change adaptation practices in Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala. This CASCADE project
aims to to help vulnerable smallholder farmers adapt to climate change by identifying and testing
ecosystem-based adaptation strategies that can help farmers, and building capacity to support the
implementation of those strategies in smallholder farming communities.
Key Climate Vulnerabilities
• Rainfall changes are expected to
be in the range of –22% and +7% by
2100
Key Statistics
•41.4% of population is rural
•At least 2.3 million families depend
on agriculture
•Small-scale farming is characterized
by its high seasonality and low
profitability
• Projection of temperature
changes varies from +1.6°C
to +4.0°C by 2100
• Increases in temperature and
decreases in rainfall could reduce
agricultural yields and areas suitable for
crop production yields in the short term (by
2030), threatening the food security of the
poorest population
•Smallholder productive systems are
highly dependent on natural resources
•Significant contribution of agriculture to GDP
(10%-20% in most Central American countries)
Technical Outcome
Completion of detailed
field work on 300
farms, and over 900
household surveys,
in the three project
countries to
determine:
•how farmers are
being impacted by
climate change
Desired Project Outcome
By the end of this project in 2017,
Ecosystem-based Adaptation
strategies will be implemented
by farmers in critically vulnerable
communities through the effective use of
extension services, and leveraged into national
policies in Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica.
•which adaptation
strategies farmers are using
•which EbA strategies farmers
are using in the field
•barriers to the adoption of EbA
Technical Outcome
CASCADE has held workshops for decision
makers in all three project countries, filling
policymaker-identified information gaps on
climate change impacts and adaptation needs of
smallholder farmers in the region.
Policy Assessment
The project reviewed national, regional
and international programs and
policies in the three project countries,
identifying opportunities and constraints
for integrating EbA into existing policy
frameworks and developing a plan for
leveraging these opportunities in the future.
PHOTOS, LEFT TO RIGHT: © CI/PHOTO BY CI STAFF; © OSCAR GUTIERREZ; © JOSÉ MARIO CÁRDENAS, CATIE STAFF; © MANALAHMADKHAN; © 2010 VLK VOJTECH; © ALEXIS PÉREZ, CATIE STAFF
GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, COSTA RICA
Ecosystem-based Adaptation
In Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica, CI is
implementing the CASCADE project (Central
American Subsistence and Coffee farmer
Adaptation based on Ecosystems), which aims to
assess the vulnerability of smallholder farming
communities to climate change, and to develop
and test EbA strategies to help those communities
cope with climate change. CASCADE also
identifies key organizations that can support
farmers, then strengthens the capacity of those
organizations to implement the most promising
EbA strategies. To amplify the project’s impacts,
CI is promoting the incorporation of EbA
approaches in national and regional adaptation
policies in the three project countries.
As climate change intensifies, the negative
effects on agriculture are becoming more
pronounced, particularly in smallholder farming
communities where increasing temperature
and rainfall variability reduce suitable areas for
agriculture and crop yields, threatening these
communities’ livelihoods and food security.
Conservation International (CI) is implementing
projects to help people adapt through
Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) — the use of
ecosystem services and biodiversity as part of a
broader climate change adaptation strategy.
INCREASING
CLIMATE
RESILIENCE
© INGMAR ZAHORSKY
CASCADE Research Methods
Expected Project Impact
To analyze the impacts of climate change on ecosystem services and
agriculture, CASCADE modeled the impacts of climate change on water
availability, the suitability of 10 crops, forest types, and the distribution of
coffee pollinators. CASCADE also created adaptive capacity maps to identify
areas where farmers have low adaptive capacity, to inform selection of six
landscapes for further research.
The CASCADE project will contribute to climate change adaptation and
sustainable development across Central America by:
• identifying and demonstrating cost-effective, accessible, appropriate
and effective EbA strategies that can be widely promoted among
smallholder farmers.
CASCADE established field studies comparing the impacts of different
coffee systems on crop productivity and on the provision of ecosystem
services, focusing on coffee agroforestry systems — a key EbA practice.
One study compares the provision of ecosystem services (including
pest and disease regulation; soil conservation; overall coffee production
and yield; and carbon storage) in coffee plantations with different shade
management systems to illuminate the effectiveness of EbA practices in
coping with extreme climatic events.
• building capacity of local and national institutions, such as farm
extension services, to promote the adoption of EbA strategies among
smallholder farmers.
• providing decision-makers with information on the costs, benefits
and ability of EbA strategies to provide social, economic and
environmental co-benefits.
• developing guidelines for effective adaptation options for smallholder
farmers and creating an enabling environment for decision-making on
adaptation issues.
• promoting the incorporation of EbA approaches into existing policy
instruments and leveraging other opportunities as they arise.
Principal Investigators:
Project Managers:
Celia Harvey: [email protected]
Ruth Martínez: [email protected]
Francisco Alpízar: [email protected]
Bárbara Viguera: [email protected]
© MANALAHMADKHAN
Learn more at conservation.org/cascade