Limited room For manoeuvre - Climate Change Adaptation and Development: Transforming Paradigms and Practices - page 262

The relationship between cultural and social assets, livelihood and climate
change was illustrated particularly clearly in the Bedu studies. In Syria, we found
that the diminishing size of sheep flocks, and the resultant lack of financial
resources and collateral, had undermined social networks, relationships to the
communities and even close kinship relations. Local social security systems
have been severely affected, including access to monetary and non-monetary
loans from relatives and friends. While the Bedu interviewed all remained calm
and controlled, and were always hospitable, their answers and rankings made
clear the degree and significance of gradual social disintegration.
Respondents in Tunisia explained this lack of social capital in terms of shame
and uncertainty. The most pronounced difference was found among respondents
who had access to oases, as reflected in Figure 14.2a. They indicated that they
would not ask friends for loans because they felt ashamed, because they would
not be able to pay back the loan or because few people have anything to lend.
Although other respondents indicated that they still had access to such loans
from family and friends through their networks, the present is referred to with
much uncertainty. It became evident that social, financial and environmental
livelihood assets are closely connected, and relevant to how people respond to
changing conditions (Kronik and Clément 2013).
The importance of knowledge in climate-change adaptation
Abundant research has shown that indigenous peoples are keen observers of
natural rhythms, and that they have accumulated a large and sophisticated body
of knowledge about annual seasonal cycles (Conklin 1954; Lévi-Strauss 1962;
Nelson 1969; Johannes 1978; Chambers 1983; Descola 1994; Agrawal 1995;
Rhoades and Nazarea 1999). More recent works have argued that recognizing
this knowledge is vital for an understanding of climate change, and its impacts
(Orlove et al. 2000; Krupnik and Jolly 2002; Robledo et al. 2004; Kronik 2010).
The implications, however, are not always straightforward and vary greatly
in different situations, according to multiple factors. In some places, this
knowledge is becoming obsolete under the influence of climate change, and
people's daily practices are increasingly failing to respond effectively to changes
in precipitation patterns. The research described in this chapter found strong
links between indigenous knowledge, adaptive strategies, leadership and social
cohesion. Indigenous peoples emerge as those people most aware of and most
vulnerable to climate-change phenomena and their effects (Kronik and Verner
2010a).
Pastoralism, forest horticulture and rain-fed agricultural livelihood systems
all depend on predictable and well-established seasons. Indigenous peoples
possess a strong awareness of complex ecological indexes of the timing of
seasons. These natural rhythms serve to regulate, defend and maintain life by
governing the interrelation of water, wind, heat, marine and terrestrial fauna,
insects, wild fruits and human activities. Key informants in all regions visited