Adaptation technologies as drivers oF social development - Climate Change Adaptation and Development: Transforming Paradigms and Practices - page 108

Orgware
Software
Hardware
Figure 6.1 Distribution of 192 priority technologies identified in 25 TNA reports:
hardware, software and orgware categories
considered and given priority to a wide range of software measures - improved
management of soil, water and crops; restoration of ecosystems; improved
extension services; implementation of community-level early warning and
response systems; creation and support for water-user associations, etc. All the
same, these measures are oriented to hard technology, rather than being social
in nature. We also note the strong presence of hardware options like water
harvesting, drought-resistant crops, drip irrigation, structural coastal defence,
climate-proofing of roads, national-scale monitoring and early warning
systems etc. in the portfolios of prioritized technologies.
In any case, this shows that current understandings and implementation of
technologies for adaptation in developing countries are far from being as one-
sided as found by previous studies based on earlier assessments of technology
needs (Vincent et al. 2011; Klein 2011; Fida 2011). In turn, this indicates
that introducing 'technology approaches' into adaptation and development
practice will not necessarily lead to major changes in priorities or in the actual
measures implemented compared to those that have emerged from earlier non-
technology-focused adaptation priority assessments like National Adaptation
Plans of Action (NAPAs) and National Communications. The reason for
this may lie in the developments in approach and methodology which form
the basis for country-level work in recent TNAs. More emphasis has been
given to training and technical support of the country teams undertaking the
assessments, by including sectoral guidebooks, for instance. Moreover, closer
inspection shows that many of the technologies identified include elements of
more than one of the main categories of technology, in some cases all three.
The fact that it can be difficult to categorize a specific technology as belonging
to one group or the other (see examples above) may indicate that many