AIACC Project AF14: Strategies for Increasing Community Resilience in Sudan: Lessons for Climate Change Adaptation

AIACC Project AF14: Strategies for Increasing Community Resilience in Sudan: Lessons for Climate Change Adaptation

A joint project of the Sudan Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources and SEI-Boston

Project Goal: To contribute to efforts to build the resilience of vulnerable communities to climate change.

AF14: Major Objectives AF14: Major Objectives Identify SL and environmental management

(EM) strategies that are effective at increasing the resilience of vulnerable communities to climate-related shocks

Assess these in the context of underlying conditions and of climate change

Share lessons for promoting climate change adaptation with the research, planning and policy-making communities

AF14: Project ApproachAF14: Project Approach

The project will look at: Vulnerable communities within Sudan. Vulnerability and level of adaptation to current

climatic conditions. Community-based strategies for coping with and

adapting to climate-related stressors. Underlying conditions (socioeconomic, political,

ecological) that promote or inhibit these strategies.

Want to understand: what SL/EM strategies can do for a community

What measures and strategies used? To what effect?

what factors are needed to support or enable SL/EM strategiesWhat national and local policies, conditions, etc. are behind successful strategies?

General steps:– Identify and confirm “successful” SL/EM experiences – Explore the nature of this success – use indicators to determine the way in which

the community is resilient– Ask “why?” - what factors/conditions made it possible for strategies to be

implemented, to take hold and to persist– Distill lessons on how to build community resilience to climate impacts

AF14: Project ApproachAF14: Project Approach

Developing a Research StrategyDeveloping a Research Strategy

1) Defining Research GoalsTo illustrate the ways in which certain SL/EM measures increase a community’s resilience to today's climate-related shocksTo illustrate how such measures can be effectively implemented and supported for lasting impact.

2) Defining Methodological ApproachLocally –derived resilience indicators will be developed e.g (grain stores , household assets, access to credit etc..) Qualitative experimental information will be collected on the local and national factors that enabled SL/EM measure implementation.

Developing a Research Strategy (ctd.)Developing a Research Strategy (ctd.)

) Defining Research ScopeClimate stressor :for each case study, a discrete climate –related event –past or ongoing- will be identified around which case study will be constructedAgric.system :Each case study will focus on agric. System and dependent communities within a particular region that has been exposed to a climate stressorSL/EM strategy: Identification of SL/EM will occur tandem with identification of agric. system

Developing a Research Strategy (ctd.)Developing a Research Strategy (ctd.)

4) Defining Indicators and Data NeedsA generic set of indicators of system resilience will be developed by the project.These indicators will then be adapted on a case by case basis on the specific local content of each case studyCase study researchers will adapt indicators with community input during initial reconnaissance of site visit

Developing a Research Strategy (ctd.)Developing a Research Strategy (ctd.)Selecting Case Studies: Criteria involved :

Past and on going climate related events (prolonged drought),representative to national & regional future C.C. conditions.Specific examples of community-level SL/EM measures that have been applied in Sudan (replicable).Specific examples of community –level SL/EM applications considered successful (by Gov.,NGOs,CBOs)Clear research objectives, available data and feasible field work strategies.

Research methodsResearch methods

Interviews Role playing Group discussion ,PRA Stakeholder participation (results screening) Multicriteria assessment

Expected outputsExpected outputs A series of 4 case studies reports A series of three project synthesis reports A peer reviewed publication of one or more synthesis

documents A series of four training modules Three regional training workshops A dedicated web page A regional network

Potential Stakeholders Include:Potential Stakeholders Include:

Communities in drought-prone regions NGOs , Research and scientific communities Relevant gov. institutions (local & national) Disaster management organizations AIACC, IPCC and climate change community Funding and donor organizations

Potential DecisionsPotential Decisions

Community-level planning decisions Local gov.adaptation planning National adaptation and development planning

(e.g NAP and NAPA) Regional and international planning (Sahel,

LDCs)