A Resilience Approach to Community-Scale Climate Adaptation
Climate risk is expected to impact rural communities in West Africa in multiple ways. However, most current research addresses resilience and climate adaptation at either the national or the household scale; very little is known about community-scale interventions. We interviewed 934 community membe...
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doaj-39b7ecced75849a8aedd2457e7092b742020-11-25T01:09:21ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502019-06-011111310010.3390/su11113100su11113100A Resilience Approach to Community-Scale Climate AdaptationOnyinye Prince Choko0Laura Schmitt Olabisi1Robert Ugochukwu Onyeneke2Stella Nwawulu Chiemela3Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie4Louie Rivers5Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt 500272, NigeriaDepartment of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USADepartment of Agriculture, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, Abakaliki P.M.B. 1010, Ebonyi State, NigeriaDepartment of Agricultural Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka 410001, NigeriaDepartment of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USADepartment of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8001, USAClimate risk is expected to impact rural communities in West Africa in multiple ways. However, most current research addresses resilience and climate adaptation at either the national or the household scale; very little is known about community-scale interventions. We interviewed 934 community members in six communities in southeastern Nigeria about sources of climate risk and community-based actions for climate change adaptation. We found these communities contained multiple active and engaged groups that have implemented a wide range of interventions to reduce climate risk, most of which are seen as effective by community members. Flooding was the most common form of risk in this region, but drought, windstorms, and irregular rainy seasons are also frequent, implying that effective climate adaptation will have to be sensitive to multiple types of risk. Structural interventions (constructing roads, bridges, etc.) were the most common type of intervention, suggesting that communities are capable of marshalling considerable organizational and human power for adaptation efforts, even in the absence of external assistance. Efforts to boost community resilience and adaptation to climate change would benefit from first understanding what community actions are currently underway, and working with the groups implementing these actions to support and extend them.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/11/3100climate changeresiliencecommunity adaptationNigeriaflooding |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Onyinye Prince Choko Laura Schmitt Olabisi Robert Ugochukwu Onyeneke Stella Nwawulu Chiemela Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie Louie Rivers |
spellingShingle |
Onyinye Prince Choko Laura Schmitt Olabisi Robert Ugochukwu Onyeneke Stella Nwawulu Chiemela Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie Louie Rivers A Resilience Approach to Community-Scale Climate Adaptation Sustainability climate change resilience community adaptation Nigeria flooding |
author_facet |
Onyinye Prince Choko Laura Schmitt Olabisi Robert Ugochukwu Onyeneke Stella Nwawulu Chiemela Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie Louie Rivers |
author_sort |
Onyinye Prince Choko |
title |
A Resilience Approach to Community-Scale Climate Adaptation |
title_short |
A Resilience Approach to Community-Scale Climate Adaptation |
title_full |
A Resilience Approach to Community-Scale Climate Adaptation |
title_fullStr |
A Resilience Approach to Community-Scale Climate Adaptation |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Resilience Approach to Community-Scale Climate Adaptation |
title_sort |
resilience approach to community-scale climate adaptation |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Sustainability |
issn |
2071-1050 |
publishDate |
2019-06-01 |
description |
Climate risk is expected to impact rural communities in West Africa in multiple ways. However, most current research addresses resilience and climate adaptation at either the national or the household scale; very little is known about community-scale interventions. We interviewed 934 community members in six communities in southeastern Nigeria about sources of climate risk and community-based actions for climate change adaptation. We found these communities contained multiple active and engaged groups that have implemented a wide range of interventions to reduce climate risk, most of which are seen as effective by community members. Flooding was the most common form of risk in this region, but drought, windstorms, and irregular rainy seasons are also frequent, implying that effective climate adaptation will have to be sensitive to multiple types of risk. Structural interventions (constructing roads, bridges, etc.) were the most common type of intervention, suggesting that communities are capable of marshalling considerable organizational and human power for adaptation efforts, even in the absence of external assistance. Efforts to boost community resilience and adaptation to climate change would benefit from first understanding what community actions are currently underway, and working with the groups implementing these actions to support and extend them. |
topic |
climate change resilience community adaptation Nigeria flooding |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/11/3100 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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