Download A PRIMER ON CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN THE

A PRIMER ON CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
IN THE DRYLANDS OF AFRICA
Background Paper for the 3rd African Drought
Adaptation Forum
of
The African Drought Risk and Development Network
17 – 19 September, 2008, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Table of Contents
List of Acronyms………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………...4
2. The African Drought Risk and Development Network (ADDN)……………………………….. 5
3. Conceptualization of climate change and related concepts………………………………………5
4. Impacts of climate change on Sub-Saharan Africa…………………………………………….....8
4.1 Implications of climate change for the drylands of Africa ……………………………….….…...9
4.2 Impacts of climate change on African development ………………………….………………....9
4.3 Implications of climate change for development policies in
the dry lands of Africa in terms of rainfall variability…………...…………………………………..12
5. Adaptation options for the African drylands ……………………………………………………13
5.1 Current experiences and lessons on adaptation ………………………………………………...14
5.2 Prerequisites for successful climate change adaptation……………………………………….... 17
6. Recommendations…………………………………………………………………………….....18
7. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………... 18
8. References………………………………………………………………………………………19
Annex:
Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) and its Linkage to
Adaptation and Drought Risk Reduction in Africa …………………………………………….21-23
List of Boxes
Box 1: Adaptation options identified under the Assessments of Impacts…………………………..15
Box 2: North Africa: Rehabilitating and improving rangelands;
Community-based rangeland management in Sudan ………………………………………………15
Box 3: West Africa: Afforestation through vegetative propagation;
Growing acacia albida in Burkina Faso……………………………………………………..…… ….16
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List of Acronyms
ADAF
ADDF :
ADDN:
AIACC:
AU:
CBNRM
DFID:
HFA:
IISD:
IPCC:
ISDR:
IUCN:
NAPAs:
UN:
UNDAF:
UNDP-DDC:
UNDP:
UNECA
UNFCCC:
African Drought Adaptation Forum
African Drought and Development Forum
African Drought Risk and Development Network
Assessments of Impacts and Adaptations to Climate Change
African Union
Community Based Natural Resource Management
Department for International Development
Hyogo Framework for Action
International Institute for Sustainable Development
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
International Union for the Conservation of Nature
National Adaptation Plans of Action
United Nations
United Nations Development Assistance Framework
United Nations Development Programme’s Drylands Development
Centre
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
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1. Introduction
Home to over two billion people living in some 100 countries, drylands cover almost 40 per
cent of the world’s land area. While not as arid as deserts, drylands are characterized by their
limited water supply, low and highly variable rainfall, and recurrent drought (IUCN, 2003). It
is estimated that 43% of land area in Africa falls within the drylands. It is estimated that 45
% of the population or approximately 325 million people in Africa live in these areas
(UNSO, 2002). Many African countries suffer from desertification and frequent
reoccurrence of drought. Many are also among the least developed groups as classified by
the United Nations (UN) with a low to medium Human Development Index.
In spite of the variable and extreme environmental conditions of drylands, these ecosystems
have supported human populations for thousands of years. Today, some of the world’s
largest urban centres are located in these regions and an estimated one billion people depend
on rural drylands for their livelihoods. Rural drylands consist primarily of rangelands, which
support domestic livestock production; rain fed and irrigated agricultural lands, which
produce major food crops; and woodlands, which are an important source of biomass for
wood fuel and construction.
Inhabitants of drylands have learned to cope with unreliable rainfall and the threat of
recurrent drought through practices including surplus accumulation, shifting cultivation, and
pastoral mobility. However, amid widespread poverty and increased human pressure on the
fragile resource base, these coping strategies are becoming insufficient in reducing people’s
vulnerability. Unsustainable farming, grazing and wood fuel gathering have led to dryland
degradation and desertification. Fuelled by poorly conceived policies, ineffective governance,
and poor land management, desertification processes already affects some 70 per cent of the
world’s drylands. According to the 1997 UNDP Human Development report, poverty is
worse in drier zones than it is in wetter zones. For example, for 10 countries of the Sahel
Region in Africa, the Human Poverty Index was 25% in the humid areas and 61% for arid
zones.
Climate change will likely exacerbate this trend, as increasing temperatures will bring drier
conditions and shorter, more intense rainfall events, and greater seasonal and inter-annual
rainfall variability will likely lead to larger swings in food production. In addition to these
direct effects, increase storm intensity is expected to accelerate runoff and soil erosion.
Reducing the vulnerability of dryland communities to climate change will require measures
that diversify livelihood options, reduce pressure on natural resources, and restore and
protect dryland ecosystems through sustainable management practices. Examples of such
measures are already in use in communities around the world, and can offer guidance to the
adaptation processes of dryland countries (IUCN, 2003). Some examples are provided in
this paper including experiences from Burkina Faso and Sudan.
This Primer seeks to highlight the challenges facing the drylands in Sub-Saharan Africa with
the projected impacts of climate change; including on ecosystems, water availability, and
agriculture, and discusses the various practical adaptation measures including policies which
will build the resilience of communities to climate change. These discussions will also look at
the various related concepts of climate change, including climate variability, risks, adaptation
etc; and also highlight case studies of viable adaptation measures adopted by dryland
communities.
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2. The African Drought Risk and Development Network (ADDN)
The African Drought Risk and Development Network (ADDN) is sponsored by United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Dryland Development Centre and United
Nations’ International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) and recognizes the need for
exchange of experience on managing the risk of drought in various sub regions of Africa. .
The 2nd African Drought Risk Adaptation Forum (ADAF2) of the ADDN focused on the
Greater Horn of Africa due to the food-crisis triggered by drought in 2006. The 3rd African
Drought Adaptation Forum to be held from the 17th to 19th September, 2008 will focus on
the significance of climate change to the development of drylands in Africa, and the
practicability of adaptation to the drylands of Sub-Saharan Africa. The Forum also seeks to
build partnerships with existing African Networks working on drought risk reduction-related
areas including on food security, climate change, and water resource management, among
others.
The anticipated outputs of the Third Forum include a better understanding and appreciation
of climate change implications on drought risk and its management in Africa, an enhanced
awareness of the necessary drought adaptation interventions, and of existing/emerging
initiatives in the region to support adaptation to drought risks and disasters. Through
potential linkages with other drought-related Networks, the Forum will seek to incorporate
diverse expert views on drought risk reduction by sharing and exchanging knowledge ideas
and best practices.
3. Conceptualization of climate change and related concepts
Terminologies used to define climate change and related concepts often vary from one
practitioner to the other and interpretations also vary over time. The term climate change is
often used to include the occurrence of medium term changes in weather patterns, increased
climate variability and more frequent climatic extremes (i.e. droughts and floods). However,
distinctions should be made between the different terms.
3.1 Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an authoritative voice on climate
change issues, refers to climate change as any change in climate over time, whether due to natural
variability or as a result of human activity (IPCC,2007). The United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Article 1, however, makes a distinction between
climate change attributable to human activities altering the atmospheric composition, and
climate variability attributable to natural causes.
3.2 Climate variability
Climate variability refers to variations in the mean state and other statistics (such as standard
deviations, the occurrence of extremes, etc.) of the climate on all temporal and spatial scales
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beyond that of individual weather events. Variability may be due to natural internal processes
within the climate system (internal variability), or to variations in natural or anthropogenic
external forcing (external variability) (IPCC,2007). In climate change terminology, tackling
climate change by limiting greenhouse gas emissions is known as mitigation.
3.3 Risk
In order to effectively deal with the potential impacts of climate change and enable
communities to adapt, it is important to understand the various concepts that are part of the
discussions. Risk is defined in different ways; ISDR defines risk as comprising biophysical as
well as social vulnerability components (UN-ISDR, 2006), but the IPCC definition does not
explicitly include social vulnerability. Other climate change definitions do consider
vulnerability a part of risk. No doubt, the integration of the two approaches is desirable if we
are to address the numerous threats that human systems face as a result of both climate
variability and change.
Global trends indicate that at present it is growing vulnerability that is driving the increase in
disaster risk. As the effects of climate change become increasingly felt, it will be essential to
assess vulnerability as an integral part of the causality of risk and to recognize that addressing
vulnerability will lead to an effective, holistic risk management strategy for practitioners from
both disciplines (UN-ISDR, 2006).
3.4 Hazard or disaster?
When assessing climate change risks, hazards or the adverse impacts resulting from climate
change should be considered. Each hazard is characterized by its location, intensity,
frequency and probability. It is important to realize that natural hazards do not necessarily
lead to disasters. Drought does not have to result in, for example, widespread famine. A
natural hazard only becomes a disaster when it hits vulnerable people who are unable to
cope with its effects. While the natural hazards resulting from climate change and increased
climatic variability act as a trigger for a disaster to occur, the underlying causes are found in
people’s vulnerability.
3.5 Vulnerability
Vulnerability plays a crucial role in assessing and managing the risks related to climate
change. Social, economic, and political factors together result in limited ‘entitlements’,
leading to an inability to cope and therefore vulnerability to the effects of a trigger such as
drought. To integrate natural or environmental variables in the concept of vulnerability
requires a careful distinction between natural factors as causes of vulnerability and natural
factors that act as trigger events for vulnerability. Vulnerability has an internal side-exposure
to risk (location)-and an external side which consists of the inability to cope without a
damaging loss and the limited potential for recovery (Watts et al., 1993).
In relation to this, the two other dimensions of vulnerability that need to be considered are
sensitivity and resilience. Sensitivity relates to the intensity by which the shocks are experienced,
whereas resilience refers to the capacity to bounce back to a ‘normal’ state after a disaster.
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When addressing vulnerability it is important to distinguish between individual and collective
vulnerability. Individual vulnerability can be determined by ‘access to resources and the
diversity of income sources, as well as by social status of individuals or households within a
community.’ Collective vulnerability of a nation, region or community can be determined by
‘institutional and market structures, such as the prevalence of informal and formal social
security and insurance, and by infrastructure and income’ (Adger, 1999).
The IPCC focuses on the collective interpretation of vulnerability and defines it as ‘the
degree, to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate
change, including climate variability and extremes.’ In addition, ISDR defines vulnerability as
the conditions determined by physical, social, economic and environmental factors or
processes, which increase the susceptibility of a community to the impact of hazards (UNISDR, 2006). Vulnerability is therefore a function of character, magnitude and rate of climate
variation to which a system is exposed, its sensitivity, and it’s adaptive capacity.
3.6 Resilience/Resilient
Resilience refers to the capacity of a system, community or society potentially exposed to
hazards to adapt, by resisting or changing in order to reach and maintain an acceptable level
of functioning and structure. This is determined by the degree to which the social system is
capable of organizing itself to increase its capacity for learning from past disasters for better
future protection and to improve risk reduction measures (ISDR, 2006).
3.7 Adaptation or coping?
Put simplistically, whereas mitigation refers to tackling the anthropogenic causes of climate
changes, adaptation focuses on tackling the effects more specifically. IPPC defines adaptive
capacity as the ability of a system to adjust to climate change (including climate variability
and extremes) to moderate potential damages, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope
with the consequences. The IPCC (2001) refers to adaptation as ‘adjustment in natural or
human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which
moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.’
Although both concepts are often used interchangeably, a distinction can be made between
adaptation and coping. Whether a certain response can be labeled as coping or adapting depend
on the intensity, timing, effectiveness and sustainability of the response and most of all on
the reason why the household adopts this particular response (motivation) (Geest et al.,
2004). Coping can be defined as ‘a short term response to an immediate and inhabitable
decline in access to food’ (Davies, 1993). Coping strategies generally follow a time sequence
and often include three different behavioral elements in a situation of high climate risk:
insurance function type activities (prepare for bad times), coping (actually deal with the
disaster when it occurs) and recovery (trying to rebuild after a disaster). When coping
strategies are permanently incorporated into the normal activity patterns, they can be
regarded as adaptation: permanent changes in environmentally conditioned livelihoods.
Adaptation should be seen as a follow-up to mitigation with long lasting effects that are
sustainable.
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4. Impacts of Climate Change on Sub-Saharan Africa
The fourth African assessment report on climate change released by IPCC in November
2007 highlights major issues related to potential impacts as a result of climate change. It
indicates that Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change and climate
variability. This is a result of the interaction of ‘multiple stresses’ including land degradation
and desertification, declining run-off from water catchments, high dependence on
subsistence agriculture, HIV/AIDS prevalence, inadequate government mechanisms and
rapid population growth occurring at various levels, and low adaptive capacity due to factors
such as extreme poverty, frequent natural disasters i.e. droughts and floods, and rainfalldependent agriculture (Boko et al., 2007).
Agriculture is by far the most important economic activity in sub-Saharan Africa. It is still
the main source of income and livelihood in this region. A large section of the population
are involved in subsistence agriculture for there daily survival. In sub-Saharan Africa the arid
and semi arid regions are among the harshest and most vulnerable production environments
in the world. The risk of climate change will only exacerbate the situation (Verhagen et al.,
1999). Climate-sensitive sectors in Africa will be the most affected by potential impacts of
climate change. Agricultural production and food security (including access to food) in many
African countries and regions will be severely impacted with the increasing risk of climate
change.
Simply put, agricultural production is sensitive to climate because it depends, for its
production process, on heat for energy and on water, both climate-related variables. Too
much heat and too much water—or too little—will hamper growing conditions. There is an
optimal range of climate within which production is maximized. In a controlled
environment the effects of climate change will not have a negative impact on production,
but when dealing with livestock, irrigated agriculture and rain fed agriculture, climate change,
leading to variable rains will have a detrimental impact on farmer’s production capacity
(Dinar et al., 1998). This relationship between production and temperature is illustrated in
Figure 1 below.
Figure 1. Climate-agriculture production relationship
For instance, a number of countries in Africa already face semi-arid conditions that make
agriculture challenging, and climate change will be likely to reduce the length of growing
season as well as force large regions of marginal agriculture out of production. Some
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agricultural systems are vulnerable to projected impacts of climate change, including maize
and sorghum-based systems that are reliant on rainfall. There is therefore a need to
introduce alternative crop varieties in the drylands that are drought-resistant. Projected
reductions in yield in some countries could be as much as 50% by 2020 (IPCC, 2007).
According to a 1996 Food and Agriculture Organization study, Africa's food supply would
need to quadruple by 2050 to meet people's basic caloric needs, even under the lowest and
most optimistic population projections (IPCC, 2007). The current world food crisis directly
threatens food security in Africa, and particularly the drylands which is most vulnerable to
recurrent drought events.
Figure 2 shows the change in agriculture output potential due to climate change from 20002080 using 2000 as a baseline (Cline, 2007). This image predicts a huge drop in agriculture
production potential across the board with Africa being the hardest hit.
Figure 2. Change in Agriculture Output Potential Due to Climate Change,
2000-2080
Climate change will also aggravate the water stress currently faced by some countries, while
other countries that currently do not experience water stress will become at risk of water
stress. The rainy season is crucial for agricultural production: it is during this period that
conditions determine whether there are going to be food shortages or not. Climate change is
confronting dryland Africa with lower and more variable precipitation, higher temperatures
and higher evaporation. This may result in even higher risk for crop production, with the
ultimate consequence being a decrease in food availability (Verhager, et al, 1999). 25% of
Africa’s population (about 200 million people) currently experience high water stress. The
population at risk of increased water stress in Africa is projected to be between 75-250
million and 350-600 million people by the 2020s and 2050s, respectively. Increase in
drought occurrence will therefore exacerbate water shortages in the continent and as a result
impacting the livelihoods of the most vulnerable communities.
Figure 3 shows average rainfall in the Sahel steadily declined from the period of 1960- 1990
with significant variation throughout. This has put increased pressure on farmers to produce
with increasingly less water. This is a common trend; in fact all West African dryland rainfall
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data from the period of 1960-1990 show a rather dramatic decline in average rainfall
conditions (Put et al., 2001).
Figure 3. Annual and smoothed standardized Sahelian precipitation index for the period
1901 to 1992 (Halpert et al., 1993).
Changes in a variety of ecosystems are already being detected, particularly in southern
African ecosystems, at a faster rate than anticipated. Climate change, interacting with human
drivers such as deforestation and forest fires, are a threat to Africa’s forest ecosystems. The
species sensitivity of African mammals in 141 national parks in sub-Saharan Africa was
assessed using two climate change scenarios, and applying a simple IUCN Red List
assessment of potential range loss (Thuiller, 2006). Assuming no migration of species, 1015% of the species were projected to fall within the IUCN Critically Endangered or Extinct
categories by 2050, increasing to 25-40% of species by 2080. Changes in grasslands and
marine ecosystems are also noticeable. It is estimated that, by the 2080s, the proportion of
arid and semi-arid lands in Africa is likely to increase by 5-8% (IPCC, 2007).
The dryland is a habitat for many of the wildlife (both animal and plant) species in Africa
and is a source of revenue for many countries. The projected scenario casts a gloom picture
of the future of tourism. The loss of wildlife species will impact on ecotourism activities, the
availability of building materials, food, medicines, and exacerbate natural resource
degradation and with a resultant impact on livelihoods.
One-third of the people in Africa live in drought-prone areas, and are vulnerable to the
impacts of droughts (World Water Forum, 2000). In Africa, for example, several million
people regularly suffer impacts from droughts and floods. These impacts are often further
exacerbated by health problems, particularly diarrhea, cholera and malaria. During the mid1980s the economic losses from droughts totaled several hundred million U.S. dollars
(Tarhule and Lamb, 2003). Climate change is projected to exacerbate drought occurrences
and as a result increasing the vulnerability of the dryland populations.
4.1 Implications of climate change for the drylands of Africa
The most vulnerable communities to the impacts of climate change inhabit the dryland areas.
For instance, the pastoralists inhabiting drylands have been able to survive the harsh
environments of the drylands by practicing various sustainable livelihood approaches
including seasonal movements, keeping livestock among others. However, with the threats
of changes in climate, they may be forced to consider other livelihood options, including
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migration, in order to cope with the extreme changes. During the 2nd African Drought
Adaptation Forum, the need for policy and good practices on livestock and pastoralism was
discussed. The 3rd Drought Adaptation Forum will provide an opportunity for the
participants to discuss further the importance of pastoralism as an adaptation option in the
face of climate change.
A new factor to consider is the risk of climate change being a security issue in the African
drylands. With changes in rainfall patterns and increased magnitude and severity of drought
occurrences, pastoral communities will be forced to migrate into dryland agricultural areas,
potentially resulting in conflicts. Existing pressure points between farmers and pastoralists
could erupt into conflict as the diminution of available water threatens livelihoods of both
groups. For instance climate change, interacting with other complex factors could be one of
the causes of the Darfur crises in Sudan. According to renowned economist, Jeffrey Sachs,
the deadly carnage in Darfur, for example, which is almost always discussed in political and
military terms, has roots in an ecological crisis directly arising from climate shocks.
Furthermore, trans-boundary conflicts are likely to occur with the threat of climate change.
Trans-boundary movements in search of pasture and water are very common in East and
West Africa during periods of prolonged droughts. The dryland communities however will
be increasingly forced to move regularly into neighboring countries, resulting in conflicts
over access to natural resources. The traditional conflict resolution mechanisms are often no
longer effective due to cultural and societal breakdowns. This is an important factor to
consider when dealing with natural resource use conflicts.
4.2 Impacts of climate change on African development
Climate change may affect development directly through changes in precipitation,
evaporation and hydrology, sea-level rise, and changes in the occurrence of extreme weather
events (floods, droughts, storms) that impact on primary food production, ecosystem
function , including environmental service flows, public health and poverty. Climate change
will also affect development indirectly through slowing or bringing greater volatility to
national GDP and economic growth, in countries highly dependent on agriculture.
It is anticipated that a given change in climate will result in more adverse socio-economic
impacts in Africa than in other parts of the world. This relates to several factors related to
the vulnerability of society and the sensitivity of the environment. Important factors here are
high dependency on biomass including fuel wood, high dependency on agriculture and forest
sectors, restricted population mobility, poor health facilities, high population growth rates,
and low material standards. Also, poor governance and the inability of governments to deal
effectively with the negative impacts of climate change (i.e. absence of adequate policies and
implementing institutions) hamper the identification and implementation of appropriate
policy interventions which reduce vulnerability and enhance adaptation.
Countries in Africa tend to have a much higher share of their economy dependent on
climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture than is the case on other continents. Developing
countries in general have a low institutional and financial capacity to adapt to changes. Thus,
it seems obvious that improved adaptation capability will be of higher priority than GHG
emission reductions among African countries (The World Bank, 1998).
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4.3 Implications of climate change for development policies in the drylands of Africa
in terms of rainfall variability.
Various African governments realize the challenge posed by climate change to the
achievement of their countries’ development plans. For example, the Rwanda’s United
Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for the year 2008-2012 reports that
recurrent droughts and volatile climatic conditions in recent years indicate that climate
change could further increase the pressure on agriculture resulting in increased poverty. In
Uganda’s UNDAF for the year 2006-2010, the UNDP country programme outputs include
developing and implementing adaptation and mitigation measures to climate change.
Adaptation to climate change has been the most pressing climate change policy challenge
facing many African countries. There are two main types of adaptation: reactive, which are
measures taken in response to climate change, and preventive measures taken in advance of
climate change to minimize or offset adverse impacts. Suggested adaptation strategies for
Africa concentrate on the reduction of vulnerability to current climatic events, as well as the
inclusion of adaptation policies in planning for long-term sustainable development.
Adaptation measures are relevant for a variety of natural resources and socio-economic
sectors in Africa such as natural ecosystems, agriculture, managed forests, water resources,
coastal zones, energy, and infrastructure.
Preventive adaptation options are considered on the basis of two basic criteria, namely
flexibility and the potential for net benefits. Adaptation options should be implemented now
if they yield net benefits independent of climate change ("no-regrets"). High priority should
be given to the preventive adaptation options that would not be effective if implemented as
reactive policies.
Reduction of vulnerability to climate change is probably a more realistic adaptation policy
for Africa than efforts to reduce GHG emissions. This vulnerability relates to several key
sectors. For example, the dependency on wood fuel constitutes a serious energy
management issue in Africa, often leading to local deforestation. Thus, increasing the range
of substitution possibilities for household energy consumption also represents an adaptation
measure; both adaptation and mitigation measures incorporated in dealing with deforestation
issues. In agriculture, relatively small climatic changes may have profound effects on the
farming capacity.
Climate Change Adaptation is a process of competing goals and processes and uses
information at various levels and in many ways to reduce vulnerability to climate risks.
Adapting to climate change will depend on adjustments and changes at every level - from
community-based to national and international. Capacity to adapt will vary significantly from
country to country, community to community and in particular to the level of development.
In general, the preferred adaptation strategies are actions with multiple economic and
environmental benefits, including for current and future conditions and needs to be based
on sound scientific assessment. The range of measures that can be used to adapt to climate
change is diverse, and includes changes in behavior, structural changes, policy based
responses, technological responses or managerial responses (FAO, 2008).
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Various measures are available to build community resilience to climate change and enable
them to adapt. Agricultural research promoting drought-resistant seeds or climate-adapted
species, or developing new sources of income for farmers can reduce vulnerability to climate
change. The majority of national communication reports (e.g. Sudan, South Africa, and
Ghana) mention the development of more and better heat- and drought-resistant crops as
future adaptation options for agriculture and food security. Improved education for farming
communities will increase mobility, income, and increase material standards and thus reduce
vulnerability to climate change. Likewise, improvements in public health will increase the
population’s resistance to climate change and the impacts of disease vectors spreading into
new areas (World Bank, 1998).
From the discussion, there is need to incorporate or mainstream adaptation measures and
strategies into development plans and policies of countries in Africa due to the factors
exacerbating vulnerability including on pastoralism. The drylands’ vulnerability to climate
change raises the need to incorporate adaptation into drylands development plans and
policies that focus on the livelihoods, and in particular pastoralism, as a major sustainable
livelihood strategy.
5. Adaptation options for the African drylands
Adaptation practices which build the resilience of dryland communities to the impacts of
climate are available and UNFCCC recognizes and supports these adaptation measures for
the developing countries. According to the IPCC 2007 Report, a wide array of adaptation
options is available, but more extensive adaptation than is currently occurring is required to
reduce vulnerability to climate change. There are barriers, limits and costs, which are not
fully understood.
Societies have a long record of managing the impacts of weather- and climate-related events.
Nevertheless, additional adaptation measures will be required to reduce the adverse impacts
of projected climate change and variability, regardless of the scale of mitigation undertaken
over the next two to three decades. Moreover, vulnerability to climate change can be
exacerbated by other stresses including the current climate hazards, poverty and unequal
access to resources, food insecurity, trends in economic globalization, conflict, and incidence
of diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
Some planned adaptation to climate change is already occurring on a limited basis.
Adaptation can reduce vulnerability especially when it is embedded within broader sectoral
initiatives. There is high confidence that there are viable adaptation options that can be
implemented in some sectors at low cost, and/or with high benefit-cost ratios (Boko et al.,
2007).
According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
community-based adaptation can greatly benefit from knowledge of local coping strategies.
The secretariat has developed a local coping strategies database to facilitate the transfer of
long-standing coping strategies and knowledge from communities which have adapted to
specific hazards or climatic conditions, to communities which may just be starting to
experience such conditions as a result of climate change. (http://maindb.unfccc.int/public/adaptation/)
Better climate risk management processes are needed to narrow the ‘adaptation deficit’ with
respect to current climate variability, which can then provide a stronger basis upon which to
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build adaptive capacity. Measures that could be taken now to enhance the capacity for nearand medium-term adaptation (through the next 20 to 30 years) include:

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


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Expanding efforts to promote rainwater harvesting and improved soil management
techniques that decrease soil erosion and increase soil water holding capacity
Improved weed management
Adoption of cultivars or crops that are more drought or heat tolerant
Integration of multi-purpose agroforestry and legume green manure species into
croplands
Tailoring of fertilizer recommendations to high-risk environments
Addressing bottlenecks in seed delivery systems
Introducing supplementary irrigation of high value crops, and
Improving access to long-range weather and seasonal climate forecasting information
The following issues will require attention if the uptake and dissemination of these practices
is to be broad-based and sustained:
 Build the overall capacity of input and output markets, so as to provide incentives for
farmers in high-risk environments to adopt new technologies
 Strengthen linkages between research, extension and NGOs
 Ensure that outreach efforts are sufficiently gender-specific to meet the needs of
women farmers
 Ensure that land tenure and resource ownership policies complementary to the
adoption of the adaptation measures, and support policies that provide local
organizations with governance over resources.
 Reduce barriers to adoption through support for social-fund financing and local credit
systems, and through support for community-based management that can initiate cost
sharing and labor saving measures,
 Support policies that link (or package) production innovations with access to longrange weather and seasonal climate forecasts
5.1 Current experiences and lessons on adaptation
In spite of the potentially low adaptive capacity of Africa, people have developed local
adaptation strategies to face the great climate inter-annual variability and extreme events.
Those communities who have faced harsh environmental conditions over prolonged periods
have consequently been trying, testing, and adopting different types of coping strategies.
An unusually persistent drought may increase people’s vulnerability in the short term, but it
may encourage adaptation in the medium to long term. This reinforces the observation that
local people have perceived, interacted with, and made use of their environment with its
meager natural resources and changing climatic conditions in what could be seen as practical
coping mechanisms. This is particularly true for the drought prone area in the Africa Sahel
region, which is susceptible to frequent climatic hazards.
It is often more important that local communities have early warning systems than access to
relief or development agencies because at the onset of adverse environmental changes the
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critical decisions are made at the household level. Stocking (2003) emphasized the role of
skills and social networks of small-holder farmers in the tropics who have compensated for
their low human and financial capital, and helped them to maintain their sustainable and
productive practices (Osman et al., 2006). Strategies against drought were adopted by
nomadic pastoralists living in the desert margins of Kenya. Specific actions include the
utilization of wild fruits and vegetables in animal feed and long distance movements to areas
less affected by drought.
Box 1: Adaptation options identified under Assessments of Impacts and Adaptations to Climate Change
(AIACC) Project (More information on the AIACC Project available at (http://www.aiaccproject.org/about/about.html))

Adaptation measure to water stresses during droughts and high rainfall variability include:
irrigation water transfer, water harvesting and storage: (in Gambia and South Africa (Nkomo et al,
2005) and in Sudan (Osman et al, 2005)). Measures specifically for agriculture include: planting of
drought resistant varieties of crops, labor migration, changes in farm location, reduction in herd and
farm size, improved water exploitation methods (e.g. Shallow wells), and food storage. Others
include crop and animal diversification, income diversification, selling of assets, early maturing cops,
high yield varieties, herd supplementation and sedentarization, and culling of animals (practiced in
Nigeria and Mali (Dube et al, 2005) and in Sudan (Osman et al, 2005)).

Adaptation measure for heat waves include: heat resistant cultivars; crop management (shorter
season or early maturing crops, shifting time or location, change type of crop, shading both crops
and animals, increase irrigation); and early warning and forecast systems (Adejuwon et al, 2005).
Rural farmers have been practicing coping strategies and tactics, especially in places where
droughts recur, and have developed their own ways of assessing the prospects for favorable
household or village seasonal food production. Home gardens and sheep fattening have
contributed greatly to improving the adaptive capacity of small rural farmers in Kordofan
and Darfur states of Western Sudan (Osman et al, 2006). In many locations food crops have
replaced cash crops, and more resilient crop varieties have been introduced (DFID, 2000).
Tribal and individual movements and migration are identified as adaptation options, e.g. in
Western Africa since they provide for employment and income diversification away from
their farms and reduce their vulnerability to drought (Osman et al, 2006).
2: West and
Africa:Burkina
Afforestation
propagation;
Growing
acacia
albida inby using
InBox
Senegal
Faso,through
localsvegetative
have improved
their
adaptive
capacity
Burkina
Faso
traditional pruning and fertilizing techniques to double tree densities in semi-arid areas.
These
techniques
help in
holding
soils aretogether
reversing
desertification.
Similar
The genus
Acacia comprises
many
species which
importantand
for firewood,
fodder,
tannin, pulpwood,
community-initiated
projects
in
Madagascar
and
Zimbabwe
have
been
acclaimed
successes
shelterbelts, and soil improvement. Species of Acacia are dispersed widely in tropical and subtropical
regions2001).
of Australia, South America, Asia, and Africa. They are often regarded as being quick growing but
(ECA,
short lived, i.e. most live from 12 to 15 years in suitable conditions but many will last much longer.
Virtually all Acacias are propagated from seed. This is a reliable method which, with most commonly
grown species, presents few problems. In the past, the majority of forest trees have been propagated
through the traditional family forestry method, where trees are grown from seeds and propagated sexually.
In the last few years a number of species have been successfully propagated from cuttings and this trend
can be expected to increase. Best results are achieved with cuttings of about 7.5-10 c in length of mature,
current season's growth with the foliage removed from the lower two-thirds of the stem. In Burkina Faso,
for several decades Mossi farmers from Passoré have been using a natural reproduction method for the
Acacia albida tree. The farmers succeeded in getting the plot “colonized” by Acacia albida trees by cutting
the plants roots so that they will propagate. These root-suckers grow and become adult trees within seven
years. Then, the farmers cut the lateral roots of those trees and other root-suckers appear and the process
is continued.
15
Resources required include labour, tools and Acacia seedlings for plantation. A few species of Australian
Acacias have proved to be weed pests in other parts of the world. In South Africa, for example, A.saligna,
A.cyclops, A.melanoxylon, A.mearnsii, and A.decurrens cause serious problems and no natural predators
exist to keep them under control. Therefore, this practice should be replicated with caution. Source:
UNFCCC Database on Local
Coping Strategies http://maindb.unfccc.int/public/adaptation
Other strategies include: diversification of herds and incomes e.g. the introduction of sheep
in place of goats in the Bara province in Western Sudan (Osman et al, 2005); reliance on
forest products as a buffer to climate-induced crop failure in climatically marginal
agricultural areas (Dube et al. 2001); decentralization of local governance of resources i.e. the
Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) approach to promote use of
ecosystems goods and services as apposed to reliance on agriculture (in climatically marginal
areas for agriculture); and manipulation of land use leading to land use conversion (e.g. shift
form livestock farming to game farming in Southern Africa).
Box 3: North Africa: Rehabilitating and improving rangelands; Community-based rangeland
Management in Sudan
In Gireighikh, Bara Province of North Kordofan State Sudan, people’s livelihoods depend on
agropastoralism and transhumance. Recurring droughts, cultivation on marginal lands, and firewood
gathering contributed to increased land degradation. To sustain pastoralism, a UNDP project supported
community-based rangeland rehabilitation, which included the following: Stabilization of sand dunes
through planting of native trees (Acacia), shrubs and grasses (Zornia and Cenchrus); creation of wind-breaks
through planting native trees; training on natural resource management (e.g., range management, grazing
systems, pest management, fodder production). Source: UNFCCC
The resources required include trees/shrubs/grasses, and training capacities and there is no potential
maladaptation with the practice. Non-climate benefits of the practice include improved vegetation cover.
Source: UNFCCC Database on Local Coping Strategies http://maindb.unfccc.int/public/adaptation
However, the fact that the reported number of people killed and affected by climate related
disasters in Africa between 1993-2002 is 136,590,000, and 250,000 people alone during the
Soudano-Sahelian drought of 1968-73 (together with 12 million cattle which died from
starvation), means that somehow traditional adaptation measures were not sufficient to face
climate change (Tarhule and Lamb, 2003)
The 3rd African Drought Adaptation Forum will provide opportunities to participants to
identify adaptation best practices that are able to build the resilience of communities in the
face of climatic shocks, including through the diversification of livelihoods, and scaling up of
local coping strategies through technological innovations, among others.
The UNFCCC Secretariat has developed an online database of local coping strategies
(<http://maindb.unfccc.int/public/adaptation>), promoting a South-South transfer of knowledge and
sharing of experience on adaptation action directly undertaken by those who are vulnerable,
without reliance on external intervention (Osman, 2006). This can be very valuable for
knowledge exchange among vulnerable communities in Sub-Saharan Africa and also for
informing policy processes and up scaling community-based adaptation projects.
16
5.2 Prerequisites for successful climate change adaptation
The resilience of drylands communities to increased drought and rainfall variability can be
improved through a wide range of ecosystem management and restoration activities,
enabling them to better cope with climate induced stresses. Certain enabling measures and
conditions lead to successful resilience building projects. These include:

Understanding of local livelihoods and vulnerabilities
Knowing the assets that comprise people’s livelihoods and the factors (including
climate related risks) which shape vulnerability to ensure the design of appropriate
and locally relevant project activities

Community driven implementation
Emphasizing the active participation of community members in the initiation,
design, and implementation and monitoring of project activities to secure community
support and promote a strong sense of ownership.

Community organization
Establishing or building upon social institutions – e.g. Village Self-Help Groups,
women’s groups and village water sub-committees- to carry out activities in a
structured, participatory and efficient manner.

Strong participation of women
Recognizing their role as household and community resource managers and
promoting their active involvement in project activities to ensure the success and
sustainability of achievements.

Local training and capacity building
Enhancing the local human resource base, and the effectiveness of project activities
by teaching community members a range of technical, financial, and managerial
skills.

Blending of traditional and modern approaches
Using local traditional knowledge to develop appropriate projects.

Reconciling short-term needs with long-term goals
Investing in the long-term success of the project with activities that meet the
immediate development needs of the community and built local capacity to sustain
the ecosystem management and restoration efforts.

Supportive policy environment
Working within broader policy frameworks that support decentralized natural
resource management and community development processes (IUCN, 2003)
17
6. Recommendations
As drought hazard occurrences are projected to intensify with climate change, there is need
to incorporate drought risk reduction into national policies and development plans especially
in the dryland areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. There is also urgent need to identify, collect,
publish and disseminate good practices on adaptation with links to drought risk reduction in
the drylands. This can be important for knowledge sharing among the most vulnerable
communities, and also for informing the livestock policy process.
Other useful climate change-related recommendations are highlighted by a number of
climate experts. Huq and Reid (2005), for example highlight the importance of linking
research to policy-making, with an emphasis on getting research messages to appropriate
target groups; linking research to existing local knowledge of climate related hazards and
involving local communities in adaptation decision making. Washington et al., (2004) discuss
the need for effective communication between the supply-side and demand-side
communities of climate information in Africa and the need to work on means by which
climate information can be incorporated into the livelihood strategies of potential users.
Sewell and Smith (2004) emphasized the need for building credibility of rainfall forecasts and
improving their dissemination and use, especially by people in the drought prone areas of
Africa Sahel (Osman et al., 2006).
7. Conclusion
The 3rd African Drought Forum provides practitioners with the opportunity to critically
evaluate and discuss viable options for the drylands of Sub-Saharan Africa in the face of
threats exacerbated by climate change. Dryland communities will have to cope with more
severe drought and flood occurrences and there is need for both technical and financial
support to African countries in the area of mainstreaming drought and adaptation into
dryland policy and development plans of countries, and also up scaling adaptation good
practices by dryland communities by undertaking research initiatives and incorporating new
technologies that will improve community livelihoods and therefore enabling them to adapt
better to expected climatic changes.
The emerging forms of vulnerability to climate change include land tenure issues that have
often resulted in conflicts due to the inability by dryland pastoralist communities to access
wet season grazing areas due to policy reforms on land tenure. For example, the African
Union pastoral policy initiative is working towards formulating and implementing a cohesive
policy that will address issues facing pastoralists in Africa.
Moving forward it is critical we understand and react to the challenges facing the drylands in
Sub-Saharan Africa. The most vulnerable communities to the impacts of climate change
inhabit the dryland areas and the implications are huge. With the projected impacts of
climate change; including on ecosystems, water availability, and agriculture, practical
adaptation measures including policies which will build the resilience of communities to
climate change are more important than ever. Without adaptation efforts to the threats of
changes in climate, the people of the drylands may be forced to consider other livelihood
options, including migration, in order to cope with the extreme changes.
18
8. References
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Sub-Saharan West Africa.
2. Adger, N. (1999). Social Vulnerability to Climate Change Extremes in Coastal Vietnam.
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Tabo and P. Yanda. (2007): Africa. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and
Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK, 433
467.
4. Cline, William (2007). Global Warming and Africa: Impact Estimates by Country
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5. Davies, S (1993). Are Coping Strategies a Cop out? IDS Bulletin 24.
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Dinar, A, et al. (1998). Measuring the impact of Climate Change in Indian Agriculture.
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semi- commercial grazing on land cover in southern African rangelands. Climate
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FAO (2008). Climate change adaptation and mitigation
in the food and agriculture sector. High Level Conference on World Food Security –
Background Paper. HLC/08/BAK/1. FAO.
(ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/ai782e.pdf.)
9.
Geest, V.D. and K, T. Dietz (2004). A literature survey about risk and vulnerability in
drylands, with a focus on the Sahel. In: The Impact of Climate Change on Drylands,
With a Focus on West Africa.
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1992. Camp Springs, Md.: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Weather Service,
National Meteorological Center, Climate Analysis Center.
11. IPCC Working Group I (AR4, 2007) [6], Summary for Policymakers, Footnote 1.
12. ISDR. Drought Risk Reduction Framework and Practices; Contributing to the
Implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action. Preliminary Version 2007.
13. IUCN, IISD, SEI and Intercooperation. Information Paper 3. Livelihoods and Climate
Change; Combining Disaster Risk Reduction, Natural Resource Management and
Climate Change Adaptation to Reduce Vulnerability and Poverty. December 2003.
19
14. Nkomo, Jabavu C. and Gomez, Bernard (2006). Estimating and Comparing Costs and
Benefits of Adaptation Projects: Case Studies in South Africa and The Gambia.
15. Osman Balgis N.G. Elhasssan, H. Ahmed, and S. Zakieldin. (2005). Sustainable
Livelihood approach for assessing community resilience to climate change: case studies
from Sudan. Working Paper No.17 (AIACC Project No. AF14).
16. Osman Balgis- Elasha,, Mahmoud Medany, Isabelle Niang-Diop, et al.(2006)Background
Paper on Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in Africa. Prepared for the
African Workshop on Adaptation (Accra, Ghana).
17. Put, M., P. Jellema, E. Veldhuizen, F. Zaal & A. Verhagen (2001). Climate Change and
Climate Variability in Dryland. West Africa. Internal ICCD document.
18. Reid, H. and S, Huq (2005) ‘Climate Change-biodiversity and livelihoods impacts’ in C.
Robledo, M. Kanninen and L. Pedroni (eds) Tropical Forests and Adaptation to Climate
Change; in Search of Synergies, CIFOR, Bogor Barat, Indonesia. Pp.57-70.
19. Tarhule, A., Lamb, P.J. (2003), Climate research and seasonal forecasting for West
Africans.Perception, dissemination, and use? Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., Boston, 8(12),
1741-1759.
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change. Global Change Biology.
21. UN- ISDR. (2006) On Better Terms; a Glance at Key Climate Change and Disaster Risk
Reduction Concepts. Geneva, Switzerland.
22. UNSO (2002). Drylands: an overview.
23. Verhagen, A. & H van Keulen (1999). Analysis of rainfall variability and agricultural
risk in sub-Saharan West Africa. Poster presentation at 20-23 September 1999,
Reading, UK. Food and Forestry: Global Change and Global Challenges.
24. Washington, M., M. Harrion, and Declan Conway, October, (2006) African Climate
Change: Taking a shorter route. American Meteorological Society.
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hunger and famine. Progress in Human Geography 17.
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issues and opportunities. No. 120.
(http:// www.worldbank.org/afr/findings/english/find120.htm)
27. World Water Forum (2000). The Hague, Netherlands. 17-22 March 2000.
20
Annex 1:
1. Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) and its Linkage to Adaptation and Drought
Risk Reduction in Africa (ISDR, 2007)
1.1 ISDR Framework and Practices on Drought Risk Reduction with linkages to HFA:
Main elements for
drought risk
reduction
framework and
practices
1) Policies and
Governance for
drought risk reduction
Linkages with climate change and adaptation
Governments and institutions working in the area of disaster risk reduction (DRR) to
incorporate adaptation into policy and development plans to reduce hazards risks.
The need to “drought proof” sectoral policies i.e. water, health, environment, agriculture
sector, etc. through mainstreaming drought risk reduction into sectoral policies
Community participation in decision making and policy implementation - to build their
resilience to drought risks and strengthen disaster risk interventions through local
knowledge that can inform policy and adaptation strategies.
To strengthen National Adaptation Plans of Action (NAPAs) & make effective delivery in
terms of adaptation, there is need for the various sectoral ministries i.e. the Ministry of
Water, to integrate adaptation measures relating to the threat of drought hazards into the
sectoral policies. This will enable NAPAs to not only be blueprint for adaptation in
countries but also achieve results.
2. Drought risk
identification, impact
assessment and early
warning
Climate change is an additional variable to be considered in drought hazard identification,
monitoring, mitigation and preparedness.
Climate change is expected to change the nature of droughts (severe drought occurrences)
and therefore risk identification, impact assessment and early warning should be given
priority to reduce the expected impact.
Early warning will enable institutions working with vulnerable communities to provide
assistance through both mitigation and preparedness measures to cope with the severe
drought occurrences.
The governments need to strengthen its ability to identify drought risk and be able to
actively managed drought and prevent severe impacts on communities and their livelihoods.
Strengthening the Governments with regard to drought risk governance especially in early
warning measures to tackle drought hazards will enable drought disasters to be prevented
3. Drought awareness Communities, particularly those that are most vulnerable, are key to people-centred drought
and
knowledge risk reduction strategies and actions.
management
Local communities promote the use of traditional knowledge and know-how, and
indigenous knowledge systems should be incorporated with modern systems of drought
monitoring and mapping to strengthen communities’ ability to cope with and adapt to
drought hazards.
21
Knowledge materials on adaptation to drought risks need to be produced and targeted at
vulnerable communities to build their resilience.
Education and training on linking climate change with the changing patterns of drought to
enable them adapt effectively to local drought risks.
4. Effective drought
mitigation and
preparedness
measures
Mitigation and preparedness goal is to reduce drought vulnerability and foster droughtresilient societies.
Measures to move from policies to practices are important in order to reduce the potential
negative effects of drought.
Good practices and case studies on drought mitigation through the analysis of successful
community and institutional projects and initiatives need to be documented and published
to enhance knowledge sharing and management.
Major international institutions working on drought risk reduction including the Drylands
Development Centre, UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery and ISDR can
produce knowledge materials on good practices on drought risk reduction and with linkages
to the threat of climate change and the importance of adaptation.
Before drought, mitigation actions can be implemented to build resilience into an enterprise
or system so it will be less affected when drought eventually occurs.
An important mitigation measure is the development of drought preparedness and
contingency plans that detail specific measures to be taken by individuals or responsible
agencies both before and during drought.
Effective drought mitigation and preparedness planning is based on established policies and
institutional capacity, sound drought risk identification and EW, and drought awareness and
knowledge management.
5. Networks and
mechanisms to
encourage the
implementation of the
drought risk reduction
projects and practices
All drought risk reduction elements need strong political commitment, community
participation, & consideration of local realities and indigenous knowledge.
The international and regional communities play an important role in coordinating activities,
transferring knowledge, supporting project implementation, and facilitating effective and
affordable practices.
Many drought risk reduction initiatives focus on Africa, owing to its high levels of poverty,
insecurity, and life-threatening vulnerability to drought.
The UNDP's Drylands Development Center (DCC) and Bureau for Crisis Prevention and
Recovery and the ISDR African Office have agreed to work with the regional drought
monitoring centers in the development of a network for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Several meetings have been held in recent years, including the inception of annual African
Drought Risk and Development Forums in Kenya, beginning in 2005. They are expected to
provide further stimulus to the creation of the African Drought Risk and Development
Network.
22
Other sub-regional African drought-related networks have also been tested, such as the
Southern African Drought Technology Network, which enhance collaborative possibilities
(www.safireweb.org/html/sadnet.htm).
23
24