Towards more resilient farming communities in lesotho

Towardsmoreresilientfarmingcommuni3esinLesotho

Prof.ChristoFabricius,SustainabilityResearchUnit,NelsonMandelaMetropolitanUniversity

Social-ecologicalsystems

•  Coupled/linkedsystemsofpeopleandnature

•  Influencingoneanotherinan‘adapFvedance’

•  Feedbackswithinandbetweenscales

•  Themanagerispartofthesystem

KnowledgeInsFtuFonsLearning

Resilience

•  Thecapacityofasystem–e.g.afarmingsystem,acity,acommunityoraneconomy–todealwithchangeandcon3nuetodevelop

•  Aresilientsystemwithstandsshocksanddisturbances(suchasclimatechangeorfinancialcrises)

•  Aresilientsystemusessucheventstobringaboutrenewalandinnova3on.

Aresilientsystem

..‘bouncesback’whenformercondiFonsweredesirable..‘bouncesforward’whenformercondiFonswereunworkable

hQp://stockholmresilience.org/21/research/what-is-resilience.html

Howresilientaretheseobjects?

Andhowresilientarethese?

Principle1:Don’tputallyoureggsinonebasket

•  “Hobakgwabalametha6yohle”•  Systemswithmanydifferentcomponents(e.gtypesoffarmingoutputs,incomesources,sourcesofknowledge)aregenerallymoreresilientthansystemswithfewcomponents.

•  Redundancyislike‘insurance’inasystem-somecomponentsmakeupforthelossorfailureofothers

Principle2:Buildconnec6ons

GoodconnecFonspromotetheeasyflowofenergy,water,resources,innaturalsystemsInhumansystems,goodconnecFonspromotetrust,capitalandtransferofknowledge

LanddegradaFonbreakstheconnecFons

SocialconnectednesspromotesinnovaFon

2.Buildconnec3ons

2.Buildconnec3ons

Principle3:Check,adapt&respond

•  Feedbacksare‘push’and‘pull’forcesthatcaneitherreinforce(posiFvefeedback)ordampen(negaFvefeedback)change

3.Check,adaptandrespondtoclimateandweatherchange

3.Check,adaptandrespondtoeconomicindicators

Principle4:Lookattheen6resystem

4.Lookattheen6resystem

Principle5:Encouragelearning

Principle6:Par6cipa6on

6.Par3cipa3on

Principle7:Jointdecisionmakingatalllevels

Principle8:Bepa6ent.Tryandtryagain

“Leboelahalengallwe”(Youmaysucceedwhereyouoncefailed.)“Leboelaleaja”(Perseverancepays.)

Keystounlockresilience•  Resilientfarming

communi3esinLesotho:1.  Worktogether2.  Arewell-connected–

shareknowledge,learn3.  Havegoodleadership4.  Haverules,anda

consFtuFon5.  Planahead6.  Havemanydifferent

livelihoodstrategies7.  ArepaFent8.  Arepreparedtotrynew

things–helpthemselves

•  Threatstotheresilienceoffarmingcommuni3es:1.  ‘Freeriders’2.  IsolaFon–beingside-

lined–beingdisrespected

3.  Lackofleadership4.  Norules,haphazard

decisionmaking5.  ReacFve,noplans6.  FewlivelihoodopFons

andsurvivalstrategies7.  Giveupquickly8.  Reluctanttotrynew

things–aid&governmentdependence

Generaldiscussion,comments

ResiliencedialoguesIinviteyoutodiscussafewcrucial

ques3onsingroupsof4-5,

containingamixofdifferentorganizaFons

Whatisitthatwe,thepeopleinthisroom,MUSTmakeprogresswith…

ifwewanttopromotemoreresilient

farmingcommuniFes?

1.OURCHALLENGE

Whatwilllifebelikeforthem(thefarmingcommuniFes)ifweachieve

this?

2.OURVISION

Howwillweknowthatwearemakingprogress?Indicators?

Whathavewetriedbefore,thathaspotenFaltoexplorefurther?

Aretherenewways,thatwehaven’ttriedorthoughtabout?

3.NEWPOSSIBILITIES

4.PRIORITIES

WhatcanweDO,withtheresourcesandcapaciFesavailabletousnow?

WhatistheonethingthatwouldmakeaBIGDIFFERENCEhere?

WhatistheNEXTTHINGwewilldo?

Whoshoulddoit?Withwhosehelp?

Bywhen?