This Policy Brief summarizes practical learnings and experiences from one of the first community-based climate change adaptation interventions in Bangladesh, ‘Assistance to Local Communities on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction’, piloted by ActionAid Bangladesh and funded by the Embassy of Denmark. An action research project, it facilitated local people’s analysis of their own vulnerability towards climate change and piloted a variety of community-based adaptation measures.
Poor People are Struggling to Survive Right Now
Farmers in Bangladesh are already losing their crops. Either the rain’s not coming, is coming at the wrong times, or is coming in such quantities that everything is washed away. Unpredictable floods are destroying land and assets, and putting a stop to economic production for months on end. Dried out wells are forcing people to drink dirty water from muddy ponds. Saline water is creeping into fresh water making it unusable. And fishermen are forced to stay at home or risk storms and cyclones out at sea. We might want to talk about adaptation for the future, but the poor people of rural Bangladesh want to talk about and adapt to changes that are happening right now.
Empty Stomachs Today Vs. Food Security Tomorrow
Livelihoods are the number one concern for poor people in developing countries. Climate change is already affecting their ability to cope. Adaptation work must start by addressing poverty and immediate basic needs like water and sanitation, food and livelihoods. It must also work on reducing the risk of extreme weather events. People struggling to survive below the poverty line don’t have the surplus resources to think about adapting for the future. They need the resources that will enable them to adapt to new climatic challenges.
Addressing the What, Not Just the Why
The climate changes people are experiencing in rural Bangladesh are very much in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s scientific projections. However, scientists tend to focus on the causes of climate change, while local people’s concerns centre on how to save their lives and livelihoods from the disasters they are experiencing now. Climate change is intertwined with and exacerbating existing problems and putting extra strain on people who are already poor. Adaptation is essentially about sustainable development. It must reduce people’s vulnerability and enhance their resilience so that they and their cultures can survive environmental change.
Scientific Theory Needs Local Knowledge
Climate change is a global phenomenon, but its impacts are felt locally – by specific people, with specific problems in specific villages. Poor people have a huge amount of traditional and local knowledge about their environments. In order to support them, we must start by asking them what’s changing and how. Often people living in villages are illiterate and, therefore, ignored. But rural people get their education from nature and have an intimate and deep knowledge about local conditions. Often they also have a long track record of adapting to changing weather and climate. Climate change adaptation is an inherently local process. Local and traditional knowledge needs to be coupled with scientific climatic models and weather prediction systems to develop contextually appropriate adaptation strategies.
Capacity-Building for Local Institutions
Much debate on government institutions focuses on the national level, missing the point that adaptation is an inherently local process. Local institutions play a central role in mediating access to scarce resources, providing basic services, supporting poor people’s adaptation strategies and ensuring appropriate protection from natural disasters. Successful climate change adaptation requires considerable local investment and long-term engagement and depends on the actions and capacities of local institutions. Capacity building of local institutions is, therefore, imperative and governments and international institutions must recognize this when developing their policies and strategies.
Policies to Support Pro-Poor Adaptation
Adaptation demands comprehensive national climate policies to integrate climate change into development planning. Pro-poor adaptation policies should:
- Support and strengthen local institutions in facilitating local adaptation;
- Ensure democratic planning and budgeting processes with adequate flexibility and innovation to find solutions suited to local contexts;
- Provide poor and vulnerable communities with the opportunity to inform and influence policy-making processes based on their extensive knowledge and experience;
- Emphasize poverty reduction and make sure that people have access to resources to meet their basic needs;
- Ensure fair and democratic access to scarce natural resources, finance, knowledge, skills and institutions;
- Ensure that people’s lives, assets and livelihoods are protected from natural disasters such as cyclones, flood, drought and erosion.
