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LOCAL LEVEL DRR

Up Scaling Local Adaptationsin India: What Works!Climate change is emerging as

a recurring silent disaster on theglobal stage. With each passing dayit is becoming more and moreprecarious not just to humankind butall the living species on this planet.

India now is a country which housesat 17 percent of the world populationthriving on four percent of waterresources. Apart from this it is ailedby a and a plethora of socio-ecological problems, often with theroot cause of lack of resources andknowledge. This is furtherexacerbated by variations in climateand lack of capacity to respondadequately and mitigate theconsequences. A report by IFPRI(www.ifpri.org) indicates that SouthAsia will be hard hit by climatechange and irrigated yields of almostall crops will decline significantlyresulting in declining production.About 57 percent of Indianpopulation solely depends onagriculture and allied activities(Census, 2011), hence climatevariations leading to drought, flood,heat wave, frost events are disastersthat significantly cripple theireconomics and natural resources.

India has a diverse topography andclimate therefore one set of methods/practices cannot be applied to theentire country to prevent anddiminish the perils of climate changeon biosphere and its components.About 69 percent of the land areafalls under dry land (4th nationalReport to UNCCD). However,maintaining ecosystems’ integrity andpreserving their inherentcharacteristics help to makeecosystem more resilient to climatechange. In India, as elsewhere, theeffects of climate change will varysignificantly and hence no one- size-fits- all approach could be built tomitigate the risks associated with it.

WOTR follows an approach whichbuilds on knowledge embedded inthe communities but stay hiddenamong the uncommon. There is aneed to expose that knowledge, thosemeasures which are specific for theconsidered community and theirnatural systems.

There is a box of adaptation whichhas been formed by on-groundexperiences, success and failure ofWOTR with the people, communities

Furniture made of Lantana- an invasive species.

ABOUT THIS ISSUE

India is known to be one of themost disaster prone countries in

the world. The country's exposureto various hazards is exacerbatedby its social, economic, natural,structural and ecologicalvulnerabilities. Climate changeadds another layer of complexityto the already enhancedvulnerability profile of the country.For, it has lead to an increase inthe severity and frequency ofdisasters in recent decades. Thisnecessitates adaptation to climatechange in India.

This issue of Southasiadisasters.netfocuses on the theme of SuccessfulCommunity Based Adaptation inIndia. It tries to highlight how low-cost, democratic and need basedadaptation strategies have beensuccessful in India. The primacy oflocal level adaptation strategies arestressed as the basis of effectivecommunity based adaptation. Thisissue depicts the best practices incommunity based adaptation thatrange from WOTR's efforts toupscale adaptation in India to GIZ'sexperience in integrating climatechange adaptation in sectoralpolicy formulation and from theinstances of successful communitybased adaptations in Odisha to therole of GIS in facilitating effectivecommunity based adaptation.Since climate change has thegreatest impact on the lives of poorand marginalised communities, itis only proper that adaptation tothis threat should be democratic,low cost and need driven. Indiathrough its experience ofcombating this threat in the lastdecade shows a promising path forothers to emulate. Read on toknow more.

– Kshitij Gupta, AIDMI

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and ecosystems, especially drylands.This includes conservation ofresources, use of indigenous cropvarieties (rice like jirwel, ambemohor,varangal, kalbhat, tamkudai, dhawal,kolapi, tambada, raibhog, khadkya, zini;and wheat like Bodka and Bakshi; fingermillet (nachani), french millet (varai),niger seeds (khurasani), samai (sava),jowar, (sorghum), maize, and horse gram(hulge) etc.), crop intensification anddiversification, organic manure,mulching, water budgeting ofsurface and groundwater resourcesas some of the methods knitted withwatershed development to scale upthe production, prevent and adapt toclimate disaster.

Safeguarding of native biodiversityplays a very important role inadapting to shocks and stress, forexample in the villages where WOTRwork, people grow indigenousvarieties of cereals and rice which areresistant to climatic anomaliesmajorly drought. Another exampleis the use of invasive species likeLantana for fuel and preparing bio-char, making furniture out of it as anadaptive measure for controlling itsinvasion; people also maintainrecords of their floral and faunalbiodiversity along with their useslike wild edible species, natural/biological pest control methods,medicinal properties of plants andmany more.

Water resource conservation hasbeen the maxim of WOTR throughaugmenting water resources viawatershed development andmanaging water within thewatershed through careful andplanned water budgeting speciallyin the drought prone region of

Villager applying Amrutpani to their farm–Organic Manure.

Maharashtra. With watersheddevelopment people gained access towater but due to unplanned andimprudent use, water resources soonstarted to diminish. WOTR, then tookwater budgeting approach to addressthe problems pertaining to waterscarcity and developed a "How-To"Methodology, a tool on WaterBudgeting and an interactive IT-enabled "Water Budgeting Game" thatsimulates scenarios resulting fromdifferent water uses and croppingpatterns in given rainfall. Villagers

now make their crop plans prior tosowing for rabi season taking care tosecure sufficient water for livestockand domestic purposes in summer.They also began adopting efficientirrigation methods (drips, sprinklers,and other micro–irrigation systems)to conserve water and enhanceproduction.

Given the multiplicity of possiblesolutions, they have to be chosen andcustom-made to fit the geographic,socio–economic characteristics andneeds of the local community. Up-scaling such set of adaptation practicesbefitted with local knowledge intoadaptation solutions has helpedcommunities to extract maximumbenefit in WOTR villages.

– Neha Gupta, WatershedOrganisation Trust (WOTR), Pune

• India houses 17% of the world's population with 4% of its water resources.

• Climate change has made almost 57% population of India dependent onagriculture, extremely vulnerable.

• WOTR has been helping communities in India to evolve successfulcommunity based adaptation strategies to combat the adverse effects ofclimate change.

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BEST PRACTICES

From Pebbles in a Small Pond, to Ripples ofChange: Scaling up Adaptation in Rural India

How can successful experiencesin addressing the challenges of

rural India be scaled up? This is acritical question that practitionershave been grappling with in thedevelopment context for manydecades. It has become even moreimportant in the context ofadaptation, as India's ruralcommunities are threatened withrapid and extreme climate change.

The Indo–German developmentcooperation project Climate ChangeAdaptation in Rural Areas of India(CCA-RAI), implemented from 2009-2014, aimed to Integrate ClimateChange Adaptation in sector policyformulation and decision–making atthe state level, and provide hands–on experience with climate smartforms of land use.

As the project drew to a close, wealso sought to scale up the successes

of the project. To this end, weanalysed successful experiences ofscaling up in the development andadaptation context in India andabroad; identified existingopportunities and challenges; andidentified "drivers" and "spaces" thatcan be leveraged during projectdesign, to promote scaling up.

Learning from SuccessesA close examination of several casestudies on adaptation implementedby GIZ in India and on successfulscaling up, for instance, watersheddevelopment, revealed severalcommon factors that contributed totheir success in scaling up.

These factors included strongcommunity ownership; sufficientinvestments in building orproviding capacity to communities;partnerships between governmentand non-government actors; policy

and institutional support; andaccountability and transparencymeasures that clearly demonstratedthe success of the innovation orapproach.

These findings were perhaps notsurprising. Community ownershipand capacity are essentialingredients for projects to beimplemented well, and for them tolast beyond the lifetime of externalfunding. Partnerships betweengovernment and non-governmentactors help to "mainstream"successful experiences intogovernment sponsored schemes andprojects, and into national policy.Accountability and transparencymeasures are important todemonstrate effectiveness, and forcontinued success inimplementation.

Community based adaptation pilot on Integrated Mangrove Fishery Farming System implemented in Tamil Nadu by the Indo–German project CCA RAI.

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Opportunities and ChallengesThe opportunities for scaling upadaptation experiences in Indiainclude the clear commitment toadaptation demonstrated in theNational Action Plan on ClimateChange (NAPCC), and in the StateAction Plans on Climate Change(SAPCCs). Moreover, the 12th five–yearplan of India (2013–2017) emphasisesthe need to address adaptation.

While funding for adaptationcontinues to present a challenge,existing funds and institutionalcapacity available for implementinggovernment rural developmentprogrammes such as the MahatmaGandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) andthe National Rural LivelihoodMission (NRLM) present anopportunity for mainstreamingadaption and leveraging funds fromthe national budget for adaptation.

Other challenges include theuncertainty of climate impacts; thelack of information and data forplanning; lack of capacity; andaligning of bottom–up and top-downpriorities (see Table).

Leveraging Drivers and SpacesWhat factors should be taken intoaccount while designing a project orpilot in India, to improve its chancesof being scaled up? What "drivers"(forces that can push the scaling upprocess forward) and "spaces"(opportunities that can be created, orpotential obstacles that need to beremoved to open up the spaces forinterventions to grow) can futureadaptation projects or pilots deploy?

We found that key drivers that shouldbe taken into account include:consideration of demand, cost-effectiveness and replicability of theinnovation or approach beingpiloted; consideration of capacityneeds; identification of potentialfunding sources beyond the projectphase, and for the scaling up process;building strategic synergies andpartnerships that can play a role inthe scaling up process; carefulattention to monitoring andevaluation based on clear baselinesand meaningful targets; andconsideration of long-termeconomic, social and environmentalimpacts. Factors such as identifyinglocal leaders and champions and

identifying external catalysts can alsoact as drivers.

Successful scaling up will also needadvocacy for appropriate policy,institutional and fiscal spaces. Whilesome spaces already exist in India,as listed among the opportunitiesabove, others, such as a greater voiceand role for communities andPanchayat Raj Institutions, still needto be created.

ConclusionIndia, like the rest of the world, is ina "learning by doing" phase forclimate change adaptation. Payingcareful attention to the potential offuture scaling up while designingprojects and activities at this stagecan help change what wouldotherwise be "pebbles in a smallpond", into "ripples of change". – Anju Sharma, Oxford Climate Policy;

Somya Bhatt, GIZ; andAnna Kalisch, GIZ

Disclaimer: The views expressed are theones of the authors and do not necessarily

represent the ones of the organisationsthey work for.

Key Challenges• Uncertainty of climate impacts• Limited data availability for planning• Empowerment of rural poor and local

government bodies• Lack of awareness and capacities for planning

and implementation• Integrating adaptation efforts in rural

development sectors between differentgovernment and non-governmentstakeholders

• Aligning bottom-up and top-down priorities• Availability of locally appropriate

technologies and solution• Sources of funding for adaptation, and

governance and institutional challenges topromote ease of access and ownership at thecommunity level.

Opportunities• Provisions of the Twelfth Five Year Plan: "it is

important for India to minimise thevulnerability of various sectors, and make itseconomy, society and environment adapt toclimate change, even as it takes strong actionsto enhance sustainability of its developmentpath."

• Political will demonstrated by the newlyreconstituted Prime Minister's Council onClimate Change and the name change ofMinistry of Environment Forests & ClimateChange,

• Provisions of the NAPCC and SAPCCs• Existing funding and institutional capacity

available for implementing government ruraldevelopment programmes e.g., MGNREGA andthe National Rural Livelihood Mission.

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Through the last few decades,considerable geospatial data have

been developed by various governmentaland non-governmental entities. GIStechnology offers capabilities with whichresource managers preserve implementto create and change resource plans andalso integrate surroundings whenenvironmental conditions change. TheCommunity based GIS application isnothing but "Gathering and mappingspatial information to helpcommunities learn, build consensus andmake decisions about their communitiesand associated resources".

Now a days, poor and vulnerable peopleare particularly affected by climatechange impacts, i.e. floods, droughts andother extreme weather events. Themanagers can determine responses toplanning outcomes before such policiesmay be implemented. In additionallyusing the community-based GIS toolsfor gathering, analyzing and disseminatingspatial data on local resources.

Some of the advantages of using GISfor community based Adaptation• GIS is by far the quickest and most

efficient method of creating mapsand similar graphics that providea picture of not only the geographic,but of the social, demographic,environmental, political, and otheraspects of an area as well.

• It can give you an idea aboutprecisely where to concentrate yourefforts. If you're concerned withMalaria disease prevention.GIS canhelp to identify areas where thepopulation is at the highest risk andwhere outreach, clinics or otherpreventive measures would do themost good.

• It knows how to help you determinehow seriously an issue affects anarea or the community as a whole.The layering of several factors on amap can give you an idea. i.e. Thenature of disease spread anddistribution of a condition

• It is able to assist you betterunderstand the area or communityin which you're working. A GIS map

NEW TECHNOLOGY

Use of GIS in Community Based Adaptation

gives voluminous information oneclick like buildings, population densitythe age, income of the population.

• It knows how to provide thecommunity's assets and weaknesses.By understanding of maps. It canmake clear just how many positiveaspects there are to the communityand how much already exists thatcan be mobilized to address problems.

• Possibly most important, GIS mapscan help authorize guidingprinciple. GIS maps can facilitatepolicy makers to recognize issuesmore obviously.

The various kinds of GIS are: 1. PublicParticipation GIS, 2. Participatory GIS,3. Community Resource mapping

1. Public participation geographicinformation systems (PPGIS)

PPGIS is usual to take the academicpractices of GIS and mapping to thelocal level in order to help preparednessto the community. The idea behindPPGIS is empowerment and inclusionof marginalized populations who have

little voice in the public area througheducation and participation.

2. Participatory GIS (PGIS)The PGIS applications is helpful infacilitating public participation in thedecision making process. The applicationscan prepare stakeholders for collaborationbecause if the technology is appliedeffectively, it can facilitate the interactionbetween local community groups andpublic officials who manage theresources. PGIS applications includesaudio, video, sketch maps, 3D-Models,imagery, GPS and GIS to characterizepeoples' spatial information throughdemonstration and participatory mapping.

3. Community Resource MappingIt is a typically a methodology used tolink community resources with an agreedupon vision, organizational goals andexpected outcomes. The communityresource mapping process can help acommunity It convey information aboutan agency's policies, procedures, fundingstreams and new opportunities forcommunity planning.

Fig. 1. GIS Applications

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4. ApplicationsThere are various GIS based applicationsfor community adaptation. (Fig.1.)

4.1. Cyclone warningGIS based disaster management systemwill use data from INSAT and IRS, basedcyclone warning system, temporal-satellite data with temporal time of fewhours, It afford recovery, assessment,readiness, response through satellitecommunication from the remote site

4.2. Web GIS for community AdaptationA single-window web base d informationused for Disaster Management SupportSystem. End-user can access real timegeo-information without burdening. Thetechnologies including Internet,wireless-communications, mobile-position, portable-Internet-enabled-devices and GIS. (Fig.2). Web GIS forcommunity adaptation) Now a day'smajority of the data required for thecommunity based disastermanagement. (GIS) provide real timecrisis management like forest fire,flooding, landslide.

4.3. Climate change analysis andCommunity adaption

GIS can play an important role in policydecision-making. The communityknowledge and voice on climate changeimpacts and adaptation by exploringcommunity web GIS. It is a medium fordisseminating climate change messagesand sharing farming communities'experiences of adapting to climatechange. User can access to temporal climatescenarios, socioeconomic condition.

4.4. HealthGIS is a powerful community diseasemapping tool used for health servicesanalyses and environmental health andjustice analyses, exposure modeling, riskassessments, disease diffusion andclustering studies, epidemiological

inquiries, health disparities research andinvestigations of public health issues

4.5. VulnerabilityThe Information broadcast is crucialaspect in community adaptation. Themodern web-GIS platforms quickly tocreate a structure of communicationmechanisms among relief users,volunteers, affected members, NGO's.They can be used to identify the mostvulnerable people, places and sectors sothat resources are allocated accordingly

5. ConclusionThe modern GIS technology helps inexploit community effective communitybased adaptation. The web based GIStools and their active roles in the disastermanagement, especially duringprevention, preparedness and responsestage help in leveraging the potential ofGIS for CBA.

– Dr. M.Rajamanickam andDr. G.Victor Rajamanickam

Center for Disaster Management,PRIST University, Tamil Nadu

Fig. 2. Web GIS for Community Adaptation

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have tremendous potential forcommunity based adaptation for climate change.

• The various types of GIS include public participation GIS, ParticipatoryGIS and Community resource planning.

• GIS mapping tools can also help in cyclone warning, climate changeanalysis and the control of spread of diseases.

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CASE STUDY

Community Adaptation to Flood: Kalana,OdishaThis case study exhibits how a

community in Odisha, Indiafaced with recurring flood hazard,adapted on its own through a rangeof measures; from constructionpractices to structural protection,from agricultural practices to capacitybuilding. It exemplifies localinnovation and sustainability anddemonstrates ways in whichcommunity based adaptationmeasures can be institutionalized.

The panchayat of Kalna located inJajpur District, Odisha is spread over600 ha and comprises six villages.More than fifteen hundredhouseholds from this panchayat liveon a flood plain perched between anembankment and river Bramhani.Every year, villagers experiencefloods during monsoon periodinundating their habitation andagricultural fields.

Each of the house in this communityis constructed on a very high elevatedbase of 10-15 ft high from the ground.The base itself is made of earth dugfrom a site near to the house and in thisprocess the digging site converts intoa pond. As many as ten such pondscan be found and villagers explainthat they are the first to get filledwhen flood water inundate, thusbecoming a kind of buffer inproviding lead time and also in itslong term use for fish farming. Whileconstruction of many houses in recenttimes have converted to concrete, significantnumber of traditional thatched housesremain in which the walls are made ofbamboo and earth. The reason as oneexplains, earthen wall can collapseunder flood water whereas bamboowill allow water to penetrate andthus prevent a complete collapse ofthe structure. Provisions are made inthe roof for storage of various items.

Farming and small business are twoof the predominant occupation of thecommunity members. Agriculturalpractice however has changed overthe year from mostly paddy growingto winter vegetables keeping in viewthe annual flood and its rich deposit.Paddy is still widely grown on theother side of the embankment.Gradual river erosion andconsequent sand casting has madesome of the land on river sideunproductive for conventionalagriculture, and this has promptedlocals to grow peanuts to the extentpossible. This in turn has ledcommunity members to start relatedbusiness enterprises.

During flood, villagers movetogether to adjoining embankmentwith their essential items where theyput up in temporary tents.Community kitchens are initiated bylocal club and, boats are operatedduring this period mainly to accesshouses under water. To minimizeflood duration, community wasmobilized following anembankment breach in 2001 andbanks of the river were strengthenedwith stone packing.

Disaster risk assessment is oftenderived from a limited scientificdisciplinary perspective in whichdisaster risk such as that from flood,cyclone, earthquake etc. areconstructed from its loss potential,relegating to the background otherimportant consideration such aslivelihood, housing, communitynetwork etc. This example shows onone hand a much broader and on theother how adaptation measures areembedded within community lifeand livelihood.

– Biswanath Dash,Jamsetji Tata Centre for Disaster

Management, MumbaiHouse on elevated base.

Critical Issues• Successful

community basedadaptation can beachieved if themeans ofadaptation areembedded incommunity life.

• The community atKalana Panchayatof Odisha hasexhibited successfulcommunity basedadaptation practicesagainst recurringfloods.

• Adaptation waspredicated uponconstructionpractices, structuralprotection,agriculturalpractices andcapacity building.

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CASE STUDY

Community Mobilisation and DisasterRecovery: A Case Study from South OdishaTrocaire is an Irish International

Development and humanitarianNGO with 40 years' experienceworking in Asia, Latin America andAfrica. Trocaire uses a Rights BasedApproach to empower localcommunities to free themselves frompoverty and live with dignity intimes of peace as well as disaster.

Trocaire has been working in Odishasince the devastating super cycloneof 1999. In 2003, we began long-termdevelopment projects in fivedesperately poor districts of SouthOdisha. Over the last eight years wehave deepened our intervention there,mobilising marginalisedcommunities, strengtheningCommunity Based Organisations(CBOs) and empowering them todevelop people – centric,decentralized planning.

Cyclone Phailin hit Odisha on 12thOctober 2013, affecting an estimated11,980,587 people in 17 districts,killing 21, damaging 376,000 housesand causing widespread damage toother livelihood resources. Thedisaster response of the Odishan StateGovernment was exceptional – anexample to be followed within Indiaand internationally. Naturally, in theaftermath of the cyclone the focus ofGovernment and the internationaldonor community was on Odisha'sheavily impacted and cyclone–pronecoastal belt.

Trocaire's Response to Cyclone PhailinHowever, significant damage wasalso inflicted on the remote districtsof Kandamal and Gajapati.Vulnerable tribal and dalitcommunities in these areas, withwhich Trocaire has worked for years

faced serious crop and shelterdamage. Trocaire, with the help of ourpartners: SACAL, IWD and JanaVikas brought relief to these remoteand underserved communitieswithin 36 hours, providingemergency dry food to 2,735households and temporary sheltermaterials to 2,000 households,preventing destitution.

Shelter Beneficiary TargetingThe focus then turned to shelterrehabilitation. Vulnerability was aguiding principle and Trocaireprioritised groups such as femaleheaded households, child headedhouseholds and persons withdisability. The intervention pursued

a community led targeting process,with the following steps:1. Selection criteria thoroughly

discussed with CBO andcommunities

2. Beneficiaries selected by CBOsand villagers based on agreedcriteria

3. Documentation of the process inthe form of CBO resolutions

4. NGO staff members physicallyverify beneficiary householdsbefore final selection

5. Assessment of individualbeneficiary selected in thetargeting process conducted andcost estimation made for eachindividual case

• Trocaire has been working in Odisha since the super cyclone of 1999.

• Trocaire's response after cyclone Phailin was based on targeting shelter,beneficiaries, shelter construction, etc.

• Trocaire will now help in the development of systematic approach tocommunity based disaster risk reduction.

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Youth in Dangarigaon Village, Gajapati District fitting a tin roof on the reconstructedhouse of Kalemanga Malik, an elderly widow.

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6. Random checking ofbeneficiaries by Trocaire'shumanitarian consultants.

This community led targeting processwas facilitated by partnerorganizations and the CBOs they hadpromoted. Pre-organizedcommunities allowed for effectivecommunity participation and buy-into the targeting criteria and processand effective targeting of the mostvulnerable households. Whilecreating individual assets withincommunities often surfaces conflicts,the number of complaints andconflicts reported by the projectscomplaint handling mechanism waslow.

Shelter ConstructionTrocaire's response aimed atproviding shelter repair to 450 of themost vulnerable affected households.However, in many cases,beneficiaries preferred to go beyondshelter repair to shelter re-construction, and communities werewilling to mobilize additionalresources to achieve this. Money andmaterial resources were mobilizedmainly from village SHGs, CBOmembers and relatives. Mobilizationof skilled, semi-skilled and unskilledlabor came from CBO members,villagers and local masons,promoting the local value of SramaDan (labour donation). The modeland modality of shelter repair wasdesigned in consultation with thepartners and communities. Dependingon community preferences and locallyavailable materials, different DRRelements were incorporated such asstone foundation with cement, tinroof with steel parapet, raised plinthwith plinth protection, brick walls,concrete floors, plastering of outsidewalls and so on. The quality of thecommunity led shelter repair and re-construction was ensured by theoversight of skilled masons andproject staff as well as randomchecking by Trocaire staff.

LearningOur assessment shows that thequality of targeting, communityparticipation and communitycontribution in this project werepositively correlated with thestrength of the CBOs that had beenpromoted. Organised communitiesled by CBOs identified andprioritized the most vulnerablecommunity members, fairlydistributed resources that wereallocated and mobilised additionalresources to satisfy needs not met. TheCBOs were instrumental in makingthis an effective and efficient disasterrelief and rehabilitation response. Wefound that, where the CBOs werestrong, the crisis actuallystrengthened them further, itshowcased their leadership andimproved their relationship with the

community. Trocaire's experience inits Phailin response demonstratesclearly the importance and potentialof community mobilisation andsolidarity in response to and recoveryfrom disaster.

What next:• Link this relief and

rehabilitation intervention backinto our development work withthese communities

• Monitor and analyse theeffectiveness of the differentconstruction techniques used andshare that learning with otherorganisations

• Develop a systematic approachto Community Based DisasterRisk Reduction.

– Dipankar Datta andMark Furlong, Trocaire India

RESILIENCE AWARD 2014 UNDP INDIA

Chhattisgarh Traditional Healer Association

In a region characterized byhunger and malnutrition, poor

water and hygiene, and highcommunicable disease rates, theChhattisgarh Traditional HealerAssociation is taking an inventiveapproach reducing infantmortality, improving maternalhealth, and facilitating local accessto medical care. The associationempowers “village botanists” toserve as agents of positivecommunity-level change byshowing them how to usetraditional medicinal plants tomeet modern medical needs.Work also focuses on gettingformal scientific certification totraditional medicines that are proving effective in treating fever, colds,arthritis, malaria, gastro-intestinal diseases, and a range of public healthconcerns. Health services are provided to more than 50,000 families across500 villages in 12 districts, and the average medical costs in communitiesserved has been reduced by 70 percent. More than one million trees andhalf a million medicinal seedlings have been planted in 100 villages,restoring rare and threatened flora and fauna and improving local healthand livelihoods in the process.

(Source: http://www.equatorinitiative.org)

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With so many perennialdevelopment issues and

problems, climate change has addedanother layer of complexity. Nepal'sclimate and weather pattern arechanging due to the influence ofglobal climate change and due tolocal processes. Nepal's economy,natural resources and people's life areadversely exposed. For example,senior economists and GON staff aresceptical about Nepal achieving theprojected 6% growth in GDP in fiscalyear 2071/2072 — the reason: theMonsoon was late, early rainfall waserratic, torrential rain in Augustcaused floods and landslides acrossthe country, and finally the 3 daydownpour in October due to cycloneHud-Hud which damaged crops.

At local level, exposure andvulnerabilities — economic, social,cultural, structural, political, etc. —existed since a long time, but climatechange is aggravating andexacerbating these. The intensity andfrequency of small, "day to day"localized events are increasing.Households and communities'capacity to absorb the impact and

recover from disaster losses isdecreasing. Climate change is alsoimpacting fragile ecosystems, such asthat of Chure hills, high–mountains,wetlands, etc., degradation of whichis further enhancing climate changeimpact. Unfortunately this trend isworsening. In the long term,scientific community believes thereis a danger of decreased agriculturalproductivity thus causing foodinsecurity, increased disease vectorsdue to resilient viruses, increasedwater and energy stress across allsectors, etc., to name a few.

The impact of climate change is wellknown in sectors related to waterresources — agriculture productionand food security, irrigation, etc.However, the impacts of climatechange to other sectors have also

been felt. Take one example — thisyear because of the deadly avalanchein Everest on April, almost all theexpeditions to summit Everest werecancelled, which meant tourismcompanies and Nepali economylosing millions of dollars.

It is a fact that climate change is aglobal problem and concerted effortby all countries is needed to addressthis problem in its entirety. But it iswrong to think that this problem canonly be addressed at global andnational levels. While this iscertainly true that solution to climatechange will be guided by factors suchas global frameworks, nationalpolicies and plans and the quality ofgovernance for climate change, theeffect of climate change is felteventually at the local household

August 2014 floods inundated this village in Neulapur VDC, Bardia district of western Nepal.

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• Climate change has further exposed Nepal's economy, national resourcesand people's lives to the harmful impacts of disasters.

• An effective way to combat this threat is through community baseddisaster risk management (CBDRM).

• But climate change has necessitated a rethinking of an adequate CBDRMstrategy for Nepal.

NEW INITIATIVES

Community-based Adaptation in aChanging Climate

NEW INITIATIVES

Community-based Adaptation in aChanging Climate

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level. Therefore, the efforts towardsclimate change adaptationultimately should target the families,the households, the communities.Communities can use and transformthe natural and built environment,their surroundings, and increasetheir capacity and resilience toinfluence how hazard, exposure, andvulnerability interact with eachother. In countries like Nepal wheregood governance has not trickleddown to the settlements, people don'thave any choice other than to act nowto positively influence theenvironmental processes and findways to adapt to changing climate.

Climate Change Adaptation (CCA)and CommunitiesClimate change is challenging theexisting and traditional approachesin risk reduction including thepractice of Community BasedDisaster Risk Management (CBDRM).So far, CBDRM efforts in Nepal whichstarted in early 1990s has tried toaddress mainly preparedness andresponse for hydro-meteorologicalhazards, as a result of whichmortality per hazard event isdecreasing. However, in the face ofincreasing number of hazard eventsin the evolving context of climate

change, CBDRM initiatives shouldnow move beyond disasterpreparedness and response to addressthe vulnerability of livelihoods, thedecline of ecosystems, the lack ofsocial protection, unsafe housing, theimprovement of governance andother underlying risk factors. Whilesaving lives is of paramountimportance, many communities inNepal are tangled up in a viciouscycle of preparedness, response, andrelief. The focus should not be ontackling the symptoms of theproblems, but on tackling causes.

There are many challenges however.Experiences from past projects showthat there are very clear limits towhat communities can achieve ontheir own. While communities coulddo much to improve their ownpreparedness and responsecapacities or to undertake localizedphysical hazard mitigationmeasures, they simply do not haveresources and or influence decisionmaking processes in a way that canaddress underlying risk factors, suchas access to safe land, access toinformation and new technologies,or undertake the large scale publicworks necessary to reduce risk.Therefore it's not enough that

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Editorial Advisors:

Anshuman SaikiaRegional Programme Support CoordinatorARO, IUCN (International Union for Conservation ofNature), Thailand

Denis NkalaRegional Coordinator, South-South Cooperation andCountry Support (Asia-Pacific), United NationsDevelopment Programme, New York

Ian DavisVisiting Professor in Disaster Risk Management inCopenhagen, Lund, Kyoto and Oxford BrookesUniversities

Madhavi Malalgoda AriyabanduInternational Strategy for Risk Reduction (ISDR) –South Asia, Sri Lanka

Mihir R. BhattAll India Disaster Mitigation Institute, India

Dr. Satchit Balsari, MD, MPHThe University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell,New York, USA

T. Nanda KumarChairman, National Dairy Development Board(NDDB), Anand, Gujarat, India

ALL INDIA DISASTER MITIGATION INSTITUTE411 Sakar Five, Near Natraj Cinema, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad–380 009 India. Tele/Fax: +91-79-2658 2962E-mail: bestteam@aidmi.org, Website: http://www.aidmi.org, www.southasiadisasters.net

AIDMI is delighted to receive generous support of UNICEF (India) towards this issue.

communities are engaged andparticipatory; successful reduction ofrisk depends upon factors such asinvolvement of and support fromlocal actors, local and centralgovernments agencies. Support fromNGOs also has always been, and willremain, very important.

A rethinking of CBDRM strategy andapproaches is a highly relevant issuein the new climate change regime.New demands to disaster riskmanagement associated withchanging patterns of disaster risksand its impact to local area andcommunities must be analysed. It isimperative that CBDRM shouldincorporate CCA in its process.Disaster risk managementcommunity and climate changecommunity to talk to each other, andcollectively talk to economists,sociologist and political scientists —this will ensure the much needed"change of mind-set" of those whoare affected, who govern, who lead,who plan and who dispense.

– Avani Dixit,Programme Analyst, UNDP Nepal

Disclaimer: The paper is a personalreflection based on observation and

opinion and does not reflect views of theorganisation the author is affiliated with.