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Journal ArticleDOI

Adaptation to climate change in Ethiopia and South Africa: options and constraints.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the adaptation strategies used by farmers in South Africa and Ethiopia and analyzes the factors influencing the decision to adapt using data from a survey of 1800 farm households.
About: This article is published in Environmental Science & Policy.The article was published on 2009-06-01. It has received 1034 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Agricultural productivity & Food security.
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the impacts of global climate change on food systems are expected to be widespread, complex, geographically and temporally variable, and profoundly influenced by socioeconomic conditions, and some synergies among food security, adaptati...
Abstract: Food systems contribute 19%–29% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, releasing 9,800–16,900 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2008. Agricultural production, including indirect emissions associated with land-cover change, contributes 80%–86% of total food system emissions, with significant regional variation. The impacts of global climate change on food systems are expected to be widespread, complex, geographically and temporally variable, and profoundly influenced by socioeconomic conditions. Historical statistical studies and integrated assessment models provide evidence that climate change will affect agricultural yields and earnings, food prices, reliability of delivery, food quality, and, notably, food safety. Low-income producers and consumers of food will be more vulnerable to climate change owing to their comparatively limited ability to invest in adaptive institutions and technologies under increasing climatic risks. Some synergies among food security, adaptati...

1,598 citations

01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: The questions for this chapter are how far climate and its change affect current food production systems and food security and the extent to which they will do so in the future.
Abstract: Many definitions of food security exist, and these have been the subject of much debate. As early as 1992, Maxwell and Smith (1992) reviewed more than 180 items discussing concepts and definitions, and more definitions have been formulated since (DEFRA, 2006). Whereas many earlier definitions centered on food production, more recent definitions highlight access to food, in keeping with the 1996 World Food Summit definition (FAO, 1996) that food security is met when “all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” Worldwide attention on food access was given impetus by the food “price spike” in 2007–2008, triggered by a complex set of long- and short-term factors (FAO, 2009b; von Braun and Torero, 2009). FAO concluded, “provisional estimates show that, in 2007, 75 million more people were added to the total number of undernourished relative to 2003–05” (FAO, 2008); this is arguably a low-end estimate (Headey and Fan, 2010). More than enough food is currently produced per capita to feed the global population, yet about 870 million people remained hungry in the period from 2010 to 2012 (FAO et al., 2012). The questions for this chapter are how far climate and its change affect current food production systems and food security and the extent to which they will do so in the future (Figure 7-1).

960 citations


Cites background from "Adaptation to climate change in Eth..."

  • ...…are already adapting to observed climate changes in particular altering cultivation and sowing times, crop cultivars and species, and marketing arrangements (Fujisawa and Koyabashi, 2010; Olesen et al., 2011; see also Section 9.4.3.1), although this response is not ubiquitous (Bryan et al., 2009)....

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  • ...…acceptability, financial constraints including access to credit, insufficient fertile land, infrastructure, lack of functioning markets, and insurance systems (Bryan et al., 2009; Deressa et al., 2009; Kabubo-Mariara, 2009; De Bruin and Dellink, 2011, Silvestri et al., 2012; see also Chapter 16)....

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  • ...1), although this response is not ubiquitous (Bryan et al., 2009)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper explored a broader conceptualisation of adaptation pathways that draws on path-thinking in the sustainable development domain to consider the implications of path dependency, interactions between adaptation plans, vested interests and global change, and situations where values, interests or institutions constrain societal responses to change.
Abstract: The need to adapt to climate change is now widely recognised as evidence of its impacts on social and natural systems grows and greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. Yet efforts to adapt to climate change, as reported in the literature over the last decade and in selected case studies, have not led to substantial rates of implementation of adaptation actions despite substantial investments in adaptation science. Moreover, implemented actions have been mostly incremental and focused on proximate causes; there are far fewer reports of more systemic or transformative actions. We found that the nature and effectiveness of responses was strongly influenced by framing. Recent decision-oriented approaches that aim to overcome this situation are framed within a “pathways” metaphor to emphasise the need for robust decision making within adaptive processes in the face of uncertainty and inter-temporal complexity. However, to date, such “adaptation pathways” approaches have mostly focused on contexts with clearly identified decision-makers and unambiguous goals; as a result, they generally assume prevailing governance regimes are conducive for adaptation and hence constrain responses to proximate causes of vulnerability. In this paper, we explore a broader conceptualisation of “adaptation pathways” that draws on ‘pathways thinking’ in the sustainable development domain to consider the implications of path dependency, interactions between adaptation plans, vested interests and global change, and situations where values, interests, or institutions constrain societal responses to change. This re-conceptualisation of adaptation pathways aims to inform decision makers about integrating incremental actions on proximate causes with the transformative aspects of societal change. Case studies illustrate what this might entail. The paper ends with a call for further exploration of theory, methods and procedures to operationalise this broader conceptualisation of adaptation.

801 citations


Cites background from "Adaptation to climate change in Eth..."

  • ...…agendas and lack of institutional coordination (Moser and Ekstrom, 2010), insufficient financial and human capital and mechanisms for enabling these (Bryan et al., 2009; Kabubo-Mariara, 2009), lack of information and data (Deressa et al., 2009; Hammill and Tanner, 2011), historical determinacy…...

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results show that households face considerable challenges in adapting to climate change, and the need for greater investments in rural and agricultural development to support the ability of households to make strategic, long-term decisions that affect their future well-being.

642 citations


Cites background or result from "Adaptation to climate change in Eth..."

  • ...Bryan et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 114 (2013) 26e35 27...

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  • ...While the number of farmers who did not adjust their farming practices in response to perceived climate change (19 percent) may seem high, this figure is relatively low compared to similar data collected from Ethiopia and South Africa, where 37 percent and 62 percent of farm households, respectively, did not adapt (Bryan et al., 2009)....

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  • ...Others have focused on the factors influencing adoption of adaptation strategies and have highlighted ways in which policymakers can support adaptation through the provision of credit, information, inputs, and extension services among other measures (Maddison, 2007; Nhemachena and Hassan, 2008; Gbetibouo, 2009; Bryan et al., 2009; Deressa et al., 2009; Hisali et al., 2011; TamboandAbdoulaye, 2012)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Urgent technical, financial and institutional support is needed to improve the agricultural production and food security of Malagasy farmers and make their livelihoods resilient to climate change.
Abstract: Across the tropics, smallholder farmers already face numerous risks to agricultural production. Climate change is expected to disproportionately affect smallholder farmers and make their livelihoods even more precarious; however, there is limited information on their overall vulnerability and adaptation needs. We conducted surveys of 600 households in Madagascar to characterize the vulnerability of smallholder farmers, identify how farmers cope with risks and explore what strategies are needed to help them adapt to climate change. Malagasy farmers are particularly vulnerable to any shocks to their agricultural system owing to their high dependence on agriculture for their livelihoods, chronic food insecurity, physical isolation and lack of access to formal safety nets. Farmers are frequently exposed to pest and disease outbreaks and extreme weather events (particularly cyclones), which cause significant crop and income losses and exacerbate food insecurity. Although farmers use a variety of risk-coping strategies, these are insufficient to prevent them from remaining food insecure. Few farmers have adjusted their farming strategies in response to climate change, owing to limited resources and capacity. Urgent technical, financial and institutional support is needed to improve the agricultural production and food security of Malagasy farmers and make their livelihoods resilient to climate change.

478 citations

References
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Book
01 Jul 2001
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors set the stage for impact, adaptation, and vulnerability assessment of climate change in the context of sustainable development and equity, and developed and applied scenarios in Climate Change Impact, Adaptation, and Vulnerability Assessment.
Abstract: Summary for policymakers Technical summary Part I. Setting the Stage for Impact, Adaptation, and Vulnerability Assessment: 1. Overview 2. Methods and tools 3. Development and application of scenarios in Climate Change Impact, Adaptation, and Vulnerability Assessment Part II. Sectors and Systems: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability: 4. Hydrology and water resources 5. Natural and managed ecosystems 6. Coastal zones and marine ecosystems 7. Energy, industry, and settlements 8. Financial services 9. Human health Part III. Regional Analyses: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability: 10. Africa 11. Asia 12. Australasia 13. Europe 14. Latin America 15. North America 16. Polar regions (Arctic and Antarctic) 17. Small island states Part IV. Global Issues and Synthesis: 18. Adaptation to climate change in the context of sustainable development and equity 19. Synthesis and integration of impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability Index.

12,541 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that societies have inherent capacities to adapt to climate change, but these capacities are bound up in their ability to act collectively, and they argue that this capacity is limited by the nature of the agents of change, states, markets and civil society.
Abstract: The effects of observed and future changes in climate are spatially and socially differentiated. The impacts of future changes will be felt particularly by resource-dependent communities through a multitude of primary and secondary effects cascading through natural and social systems. Given that the world is increasingly faced with risks of climate change that are at the boundaries of human experience3, there is an urgent need to learn from past and present adaptation strategies to understand both the processes by which adaptation takes place and the limitations of the various agents of change – states, markets, and civil society – in these processes. Societies have inherent capacities to adapt to climate change. In this article, I argue that these capacities are bound up in their ability to act collectively.

2,346 citations