Partners Helena Wright (UK), Annie Wallace (US) and Stephen Oluoch (Kenya) have been developing a project over the past six months on the Kenyan coast near Mombasa with a community of fishermen and subsistence farmers.

Indigenous Knowledge
	The process began with a participatory needs assessment with community members and has continued with a series of community meetings as the project has developed.

Last week, Stephen met again with the community to gain a better understanding of their knowledge of climate change, challenges that they are experiencing attributable to climate change, and activities that they have begun on their own using indigenous knowledge to adapt to their changing situation.

The results of the meeting were summarized in vulnerability matrices identifying hazards and livelihood challenges the community faces in the light of a changing climate.

Vulnerability Matrix 1: What is a prioritization of the community’s greatest hazards they face?

• Unpredictable rainfall during the rainy season makes it difficult for farmers to plan cropping
• Drought has caused livestock deaths and crop failures or low crop yields
• Intense sunshine coupled with decreased rainfall causes crops to wilt or ripen early (coconut, banana, and cashew nut)
• High temperatures causes people to sleep out in the open or with windows opened which increases malaria incidences
• Unusually heavy rainfall causes pit latrines to overflow and contaminate drinking water increasing diarrhea
• Shortage of household water

Vulnerability Matrix 2: What parts of their lives (livelihood resources) are the most vulnerable?

• Income-livelihood security
• Health & Nutrition
• Water resources
• Food security

Marry Scientific Knowledge to Indigenous Knowledge
	On their own, the community members have come up with coping strategies which include crop substitution for more drought tolerant crops. However, without scientific knowledge supporting their decisions several of their coping strategies are not sustainable. For example, the substitution of water intensive corn for drought tolerant cassava robs the family of a major source of income.

Adaptation to Climate Change:
The community members realize that water shortages and changing weather patterns are a major threat to their survival and believe that coupling their indigenous coping strategies with sound agricultural extension can create a winning solution.

Here is a simple project outline that Helena, Annie, and Stephen have developed with the community to adapt to their climate change related agricultural challenges.

Community-Based Adaptation program related to climate change:
[Problem]. Climate variability, extreme weather, and unpredictable rainy season have reduced crop harvests

Farmer Soil Conservation, and Water Conservation and Management Program
[Activity 1]. Farmer workshop on soil restoration and conservation techniques
[Activity 2]. Farmer workshop on water conservation and management techniques

Farmer Extension Program
[Activity 1]. Farmer workshop and follow-up on early maturing and/or drought resistant crops/varieties for adapting to climate variability
[Activity 2]. Farmer workshop and follow-up on buffering against the late arrival of rain and/or an early end to the rainy season

Stevens NGO, Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO) was started in 1999 in direct response to the El-Niño related mass bleaching of coral in the Indian Ocean in 1998. CORDIO goals are to conduct research on coastal and ocean ecosystems relevant to conserving, sustaining and restoring healthy and productive marine environments, and to participate in poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

Would you like to learn how to develop Community Based Adaptation Projects?

Each week I hear about subsistence farmers affected by extended drought, rainy seasons beginning late and ending early, too much rain at the wrong time, and extreme weather events destroying crops. But a trip to a coffee farm in Guatemala brought this reality home to me.

My friend Sergio bought a farm in a mountainous region of Guatemala seven years ago that had been abandoned and abused. Former owners had intensively grown corn on the steepest of hillsides for years—depleting the soil and exposing it to continuous rain driven erosion.

In the seven years that he’s had the farm he’s seen the rains start—and end—at unusual times. This wreaks havoc with a crop’s normal cycle—such as when it flowers and sets fruit—and when the fruit matures. His avocados normally set fruit in February and March—but for 2011, they were setting fruit as early as October—2011.

Café Loco

Today his coffee plants are flowering and setting fruit just as they should: on schedule. The problem is, that not all of the 2010 fruit has ripened—so he has coffee plants with fragile flowers, just-set fruit, and 2010 fruit waiting to ripen and be picked. Having put five years of investment into his farm, and only on his second harvest, he needs the best prices that he can get in order to survive.

But this new challenge is reducing his profits:

• by adding two months to the harvest costs
• flowers and newly set fruit can be damaged by pickers—reducing size of the 2011 harvest
• extended, late harvests can lower his sales price

Sergio also told me that in the past, it rained from May 15 until October 15 every year. For the past few years, the rains have been less predictable and when it does rain—the the rains come with a high intensity and an excess of water—a perfect formula for a fungus locally called “Ojo de Gallo” which causes the coffee plants to drop both leaves and fruit. 2010 coffee production in Guatemala was down 20% because of this fungus.

Two Major Hurricanes in 4 Years
	It can be very expensive starting a new farm—especially when initial crops such as coffee and avocado don’t bear fruit until the fifth year. Sergio’s farm has experienced two major hurricanes: Stan and Agatha. Agatha, in 2010, dumped 50 inches of rain on his farm in a 36 hour period.

Adaptation to Climate Change: Restoration, Soil Conservation & Water Management
Agricultural water in Guatemala is a precious and declining commodity; Sergio has explained to neighbors and staff that they must protect the remaining forest so rainwater can percolate naturally into the soil—rather than run off—in order to recharge their springs.

Sergio has slowly and lovingly terraced and replanted with coffee, shade trees, and avocado. He’s introduced mulches to protect the soil.

He pointed to a denuded hillside. “I haven’t restored that hillside yet—but that’s what the farm looked like when I bought it.” Walking through Sergio’s farm, I was able to see new flowers and a proliferation of fruit trees: he’s turning an ecological disaster back into paradise.

What’s happening in the region where you live?
Have you, or the farmers that you know experienced changes in weather patterns? If so, are these changes impacting agriculture and livelihood? Please write us with your stories, thoughts and comments through Online.Learning@csd-i.org

CSDi partner Bosco Odongo in western Kenya is developing a project with 120 families in three villages that includes a home gardening for nutrition component, a farmer soil restoration component, and a water conservation program in OL 343.

Just last week he worked with community members in a workshop to develop a Community Implementation Committee to work with his NGO in co-managing this project. Read his short report on setting up the committee and see his excellent photos.

Why set up a community project implementation committee?
	In many development projects, as the project nears completion, the beneficiaries have not been prepared to receive the continuation of project activities—and the projects die.

For example, in a recent report, it was noted that almost 50% of village water projects in developing nations fell into disuse within two years. Reasons cited:

• community members were not trained in the management of the systems
• community members were not trained in the maintenance of the systems
• community members did not feel a sense of ownership of the project
• the formation and training of community-based management committees could work to solve this challenge

What Works?
	Another report stated: “The projects in this study were designed on the premise that establishing Village Water and Sanitation Committees would lead to more effective management at the village level. This study provides evidence to suggest that this is correct.” Why Some Village Water and Sanitation Committees are Better than Others

In his workshop, Bosco worked with both village leaders and people representative of the diversity of the village to form a committee; the committee will include representatives of marginalized members of the community—and most importantly—women.

In a series of workshops over the next 12 months, Bosco is going to focus on engaging the community based committee in launching the project alongside his NGO and learning how to co-manage it—and eventually take it over.

“We had 17 people attend the workshop. We started by discussing why many community projects fail. A major point that was highlighted was lack of involvement of the community in the entire project cycle. We then discussed how the community should be involved, and noted the importance of having a community implementation committee.

I also suggested that we should make sure that about 50% of the eleven committee members should be women and that the committee should also recognize marginalized groups within the community.

At the end of the exercise we had a committee of five women and six men—and everyone seems satisfied with the result.

The committee decided to meet every two weeks prior to project launch—and invited the NGO’s project manager to attend the meetings so that they would be able learn more about how one goes about developing a committee, setting goals, and identifying training needs.”

Do you think that it is a good idea to include community members untrained in development in co-managing a project alongside a professional NGO? Please share your thoughts below.

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