Links between adaptation,

mitigation and low carbon, or

‘climate compatible’

development

Fatima Denton

The Climate Change Adaptation in Africa Program - Team Leader

2

Outline

1. Messages - Key messages and assumptions

2. Definitions - What do we mean by climate resilient development?

3. Adaptation & Mitigation -What are the intersections between adaptation and mitigation?

3

Outline

4. Transitions

a. - Vulnerability to resilience

b. - adaptation to adaptation and mitigation

c. - piecemeal adaptation – to a transformational process adaptation and mitigation within a sustainable development context

5.Questions – Key Questions

6. Conclusion – Concluding Remarks

4

Key Messages

Climate is a key ‘resource’ and a key ‘hazard’ -– but it is 1 exacerbating factor within a complex mix of current vulnerabilities

Poverty reduction is still the overriding challenge for most countries in Africa

5

Key Messages Processes that are necessary to build both adaptive and

mitigative capacity are strongly correlated with sustainable development

Responses to CC will continue in many parts of Africa to be un-cordinated – a process of ‘muddling through’

Making the transition from planned incremental responses to a transformative process of social change takes time

6

Climate Resilient Development

R= to (1) buffer disturbance, (2) self-organize, and (3) learn and adapt

Recovery potential, Opportunity/adaptive capacity Resilience development has several strands – socio-economic

resilience ( income, knowledge, technology), institutions, governance, ecosystems and communities

What does a climate ‘resilient’ development means ?- Development that minimises harm triggered by CC and exploits

development opportunities associated with low carbon emissions- Sustainability element – climate risk management as important for

the enhancement of sustainable development practices- Silo treatment – adaptation cannot be done in a silo – but should

include both present and future risks

Definitions

7

1st Transition – Vulnerability to ResilienceAgriculture remains a key growth and strategic sector

1st Challenge – enhancing the adaptive capacity of the smallholder farmer (understanding the drivers of vulnerability)

2nd Challenge – Improving soil fertility and productivity and how this underpins issues relating to food security and poverty (ecosystems resilience)

3rd Challenge – Weak institutions – enhancing the capacities of local institutions to enable local communities to adopt improved technologies and innovations

4th Challenge – Diversifying options and thinking in terms of surpluses

5th Challenge – work with demand groups i.e. communities and decision makers on their response capacities.

8

1st Transition - Vulnerability to Resilience Human vulnerability and food insecurity – rainfall and economy in

Sub-Saharan Africa. For Sub-Saharan Africa, patterns in economic growth follow precipitation

patterns closely. As rainfall has decreased over the last 30 years, so has economic

development. Rainfed agriculture represents a major share of the economy of countries

in Africa as well as for domestic food supply. Improved water resources management and a wider resource base are

critical to the stability and security that is required for economic development –

Sources Barrios, Salvador, Luisito Bertinelli & Eric Strobl. 2003. Dry Times in Africa: Rainfall and Africa's Growth Performance, 2008.

9

10

10

Food insecurity in Africa remains unacceptably high (27%); agricultural production has to increase by at least 4 to 6%yrs to meet growing food needs of the continent

This will require urgent increase of soil fertility of cropland, reduction of deforestation and grassland conversion

Food needs / Soil fertility

11

2nd Transition – Adaptation to Adaptation and Mitigation

Agricultural Sector 1. Carbon sequestration = enhances adaptation and sustainability of crop

production

- by increasing carbon concentration in the soil through better management practices = multiple benefits

- For biodiversity, soil fertility and productivity, and soil water storage capacity

12

2nd Transition – Continued.

2. Soil Management - practices that reduce fertiliser use and tend to increase crop diversification

3. Integrated crop rotation and diversification, and zero or reduced tillage have potential to improve soil carbon sequestration and reduce GHG

4. Compensation – paying off resource dependent communities for carbon sequestration and funds used towards adaptation practices

5. Carbon Trade + REDD = huge potential for forestry and agriculture

13

2nd Transition Adaptation to Adaptation and Mitigation

Carbon sequestration / Biomass improvement Reforestation Increasing of plant litter carbon sequestration and increasing of soil

organic matter;

14

14

Jatropha is

adapted in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid conditions

yield oil seed for decades after planting

used as a medicinal plant used as a living

hedge to prevent soil erosion

associated with rainfed agricultural system

used traditionally by women to make soap

Source of energy

MFC

MFC

15

15

Land availability

FAO study based on soils and climate (2000)

HIGH POTENTIAL FOR BIOFUEL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA

16

2nd Transition Adaptation – Adaptation and Mitigation

Water Sector

- Reduction in water supplies in the large rivers in Sahel will affect agriculture and energy production

1. Conservation tillage = increase soil water retention in drought conditions whilst also sequestering carbon below ground

2. Irrigation potential - Small scale irrigation facilities can conserve water in and also increase crop productivity and soil carbon

17

59 transboundary river basins

And 38 transboundary aquifers

Transboundary waters in Africa

Africa counts:

18

18

Energy resource of Africa

Energy Sector Diverse and good share of global fossil and renewable

energy resources 6.2% of coal 7.7% of oil 7.2% of Natural Gas Few Geothermal sources Large potential of biomass, hydro, solar and wind

Nearly all the resources are under exploited

19

20

21

2nd transition – A- A&MPromotion of low energy production systems Promotion of efficient energy use by commercial agriculture and agro-

industries Efficient use of biomass, shells, peanuts, bagasse = mitigative

benefits reduction in the use of charcoal and fuel - Adaptive benefits– reduction of likelihood of deforestation

- Wind Pumps = crop processing, irrigation, water pumps– mitigative = decrease in dependence on biomass, avoidance of CO2

- Biogas Plant -= production of sludge for fertilisers

Adaptive benefits = adaptation to soil erosion, aridity and environmental degradation

Mitigative benefits = avoided emissions

22

3rd Transition – piecemeal adaptation to transformational process

Adaptive management¨= a viable option for for climate resilience development

The development of alternative hypotheses, identifying knowledge gaps Assessing the usefulness of knowledge prioritizing research

questions. Resource stakeholders must (1) be fully engaged in

developing management strategies as a means of building a constituency for the resource management problem, (2) agree upon and fully understand the consequences of making decisions, and (3) agree upon the processes for making decisions in a context of deliberative democracy (Brown 2002).

23

3rd Transition – piecemeal adaptation to a transformative process of SD.

Adaptive management is essential to building socio-ecological resilience

1. Innovations – Using ISFM as an entry point - Zimbabwe

2. Social learning - establish learning centres as a platform for co-learning and testing ideas and technologies (Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Malawi, Benin)

3. Improved agricultural practices using learning centres saw a sharp rise in the production of key staples - production of maize and groundnuts to support HIV/AIDS home based programmes in Zambia

4. Understanding what works – What crop species do farmer prefer? (long duration sorghum varieties in Zimbabwe

5. How do farmers make decisions? – less than 25% farmers have access to seasonal weather information – rely on IK

24

3rd Transition -small scale adaptation to SD - transformational

Zimbabwe Using planning – action- reflection cycles in PAR to build weak local food

security systems in Zimbabwe Using PAR to strengthen community cohesion for collection action Building consensus amongst different stakeholder and building

consensus amongst social groups Creating learning centres and learning hubs as a platform for increased

and effective adaptation Using ISFM technologies soil and water conservation techniques and

improved crops and varieties as a way of revitalising local safety nets

25

3rd Transition – continued

Building low-lying earth dams to improve water availability for agriculture in Senegal

Promoting drip irrigation technology for water conservation in Morocco’s Saiss Basin

Developing resistant cover crops as Mucuna or Zai/trenches to protect soils moisture in Benin

Develop tools for early prediction of and prevent malaria epidemics in East African Highlands

26

3rd TransitionInstitutional Strengthening Institutions are the lubricant that keeps society moving Institutions acting as custodian for knowledge generation,

development and sharing Institutions that are able to intersect climate needs and

development priorities Institutions cultures, values and norms guide behaviour within

organisations and mediated environmental policies Adaptation cannot operate in an institutional vacuum Institutions define roles and provide a social context for action

27

3rd Transition – Instituional setting

Overall research performance ranking across institution type, East Africa

IRIs: International Research Institution; RPs: Research Partnerships ; RRNGOs: Regional Research NGOs; NRIs: National Research Institutes; Dual: government and other development orgs with some research going on.

Parameters: Planning, Implementation, Engagement/Communication, Partnership.Source: CCAA. Institutional Mapping for Climate Change Adaptation in Eastern Africa. 2008.

• Functioning institutions capable of bridging the numerous gaps between communities, policy and scientific spheres

28

3rd Transition - Continued

Knowledge sharing as a strong foundation for building adaptive capacity

Expanding research communities to farmers – Benin; Senegal multi-stakeholders committees playing a key role in sharing met data and

forecasts in Tanzania and Benin Local committee were linked to national committee that could channel

met information and alerts from the national met. Agency - Benin Knowledge sharing mechanisms can bring together key stakeholders,

and both channel information and support the development of adaptation options – Tanzania; Malawi; Benin ; Senegal

Social learning processes - sources of learning, innovation and interaction – Malawi

29

3rd Transition – Bridging the research to policy interface Using information to build consensus with policy makers and met. officials

- Infoclim Project (Senegal), Nganyi project (Kenya) Consensus forecast meetings in Kenya is receiving institutional support

from local civil servants Local management Units were given mandates by local authorities Including policy makers in diagnosing the research problem have

deepened their understanding of climate change – Morocco Using climate information to develop an appropiate water management

in the Berg River – South Africa Integrating climate information to guide policy making for fisheries

management in Senegal; Guinea; Gambia and Cape Verde

30

3 rd Transition Financial Landscape - Difficulties in financing adaptation through current streams of ODA- Separate and or additional caveat- Burden sharing approach = viable way to go amongst regional

institutions with similar problems- Funds needed to strengthen the delivery mechanism of African

institution to strengthen response capacities- Adaptation funding is complex and messy - need more innovative

funds and strong institutions to absorb these funds

31

Key Questions How can we exploit synergies between Adaptation and

Mitigation within a development first paradigm? How do we mobilise resources to do both adaptation and

mitigation and who will pay for this? How do African scientists and communities define their own

agendas with regard to A&M – what is their degree of ownership in such projects?

How can successful A&M projects be scaled up and out and who does this?

What kindsof metric evaluation systems do we put in place to measure adaptive and mitigative capacity

32

Conclusion1. Poverty reduction remains a nagging problem

2. A&M can be pursued in parallel with adaptation work and based on perceived risk, stakes and interests and opportunities for development

3. A&M need to be done with vulnerable communities = respecting their need for growth, equity and security

4. It is about understanding the factors that exacerbate social vulnerability and putting in place measures that will resonate with communities and their aspirations

5. Building networks of reciprocity – alliances an creating safety nets