Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
principles of sustainable adaptation: development
pathways, vulnerability and adaptation in afar
The sustainable adaptation approach grew out of an awareness that climate
adaptation can have unintended negative effects on people and the environment,
and that there is a need to think critically about what types of adaptation are
desirable (Eriksen et al. 2011). It recognizes that the term 'sustainable' may be
used to green-wash and de-politicize any type of adaptation (Brown 2011). To
deal with this, and based on empirical evidence from various cases, Eriksen et al.
(2011) formulated four normative principles for adaptation approaches that can
contribute to socially and environmentally sustainable development:
1
Recognize the context for vulnerability, including multiple stressors
2
Acknowledge differing values and interests affecting adaptation outcomes
3
Integrate local knowledge into adaptation responses
4
Consider potential feedbacks between local and global processes
In this section, we illustrate how these principles have been operationalized
for our analysis of the Afar case.
Principle 1: understanding the vulnerability context
A key challenge in developing sustainable adaptation approaches is to distinguish
the root causes of vulnerability and how they can be addressed. Principle 1
is concerned with the underlying processes that lead to the appearance of
contextual vulnerability conditions and the inability to respond to change and
shocks (O'Brien et al. 2007). Our material shows that although the vulnerability
context in Afar appears closely connected to extreme weather events like drought
and floods, and climatic changes over time, in fact it is fundamentally driven by
multiple environmental and social processes.
As is common for pastoralists in many parts of the world (see Marin 2008;
2010), mobility and trade are the cornerstones of Afar pastoralists' adaptive
capacity, allowing the flexible re-organization of herds and income sources.
Our informants consistently describe how consecutive droughts have led to
great livestock losses, many families being unable to replenish their stock. They
identified the recent decades' decreasing livestock herds, and the related shifts
from cattle and camels to goats and sheep, as a proximate cause of declining
adaptive capacity. Five key informant interviews in each site specifically explored
in depth how families had coped with recent climatic events (drought in Uwwa;
drought and flood in Mille). A recurrent concern in both sites was how a decline
in livestock numbers was making it difficult for individual families to cope with
drought while also aggravating vulnerability at community level, as few people
now had enough livestock to be able to assist others. In Uwwa, the sale of livestock
and migration to find pasture were the key drought strategies practised by all
 
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