A  meeting was conducted with  5 men and 5 women from Yadua who were either active outdoor people or have lived most of their live on the island because these are the people that would recognize change around them and take notice of impacts on the local environment more than the others, if there were any.

Here’s a summary of the project challenges and their underlying causes.
200 people in the village of Yadua, Fiji are suffering from increase erosion of shoreline caused by increase wave actions due to the reduction of mangrove forest and a reef which acts as buffers – and climate change induced rising sea levels which contributes to loss of houses, arable land and housing sites and sedimentation caused by soil erosion that smothers the fish level. Due to this, a marine ecosystem shift is occurring with corals dying and in turn less fish found by the reef. As the Yadua rely on fishing for their livelihood, this affects livelihoods and leads to a reduction in their ability to lead the productive, meaningful, prosperous lives they need to leave the cycle of poverty and contribute to the development of their community.

Project Outline: Problem list & potential interventions/activities/solutions
Problem 1. Increasing erosion of shoreline caused by increase wave actions

Ecosystem based adaptation program [Solution to underlying cause: wave impacts at high tide and rising sea level]
[Activity 1]. Workshop on values of the ecosystem as natural buffers and coastal processes
[Activity 2]. Land use management workshop and follow up
[Activity 3]. Workshop on habitat restoration technique – mangroves and artificial reefs
[Activity 4]. Coastal management planning workshop and follow up

Follow these two links to see the full example of their needs assessment and of a preliminary log frame matrix of their project solutions.

Michaelyn Bachhuber (US), Raul de la Rosa (Philippines/Timor Leste), and Yinwu Huang (China) worked during September and October to develop a project in participation with these community members.

The second component is a bio-intensive family garden program which starts with a food security and food diversity survey to better understand the exact context—and then follows up with a series of workshops for the community members on family nutrition and home gardening for nutrition.

Download their report and project outline here:
Particpatory Needs Assessment with Community.
Solution Oriented Project Outline.

Most recently, they have investigated meteorological data to see if there have been measurable changes in weather, and long-term weather forecasting to see how climate change may be affecting the island. 

Here are their conclusions:
Accurately define local CC context and programming.
100 subsistence farm families in the parish of St. Patrick’s (which is considered the food basket of the nation) of Grenada, are suffering from losses of and reduced crop harvests due to extreme weather, an unpredictable rainy season, and extended periods of drought. This is leading to a reduction of food security, increased malnutrition, and increased poverty.

A community-based adaptation program will improve crop harvests through a farmer soil & water conservation program, and through a farmer extension program designed to incorporate drought resistant farming techniques and crops into subsistence farms. This will increase the levels of food security, and decrease the levels of malnutrition and increase farm incomes.

Meteorological research
Research from last week revealed long-term CC challenges over the next 40 years. Scientists are expecting a median temperature increase of 3.0° C, a decrease in precipitation of 9%, and the reduction of surface water of between 10% and 50%. Without adaptation measures, these complications will lead to an expansion of semi arid areas, a further reduction in food production, higher food prices, and less water for agricultural irrigation — contributing to an even greater reduction in food security and an increase in malnutrition and extreme poverty.

Results of community survey
A. Historical Timeline: is the community seeing a change in climate?
—Change in the timing of the planting seasons for a lot of crop varieties; it seems to be starting later and ending earlier
—Drought; prolonged periods of dry spells in the middle of the rainy season
—Shorter duration of rainfall, but heavier in impact in the rainy season
—Unpredictable rainfall during the rainy season
—Two major hurricanes, several extreme tropical storms and one year duration of severe drought for the 10 year period

The extreme weather events were noticeable from eleven years ago, but major observation began 7 years ago in 2004 with hurricanes ‘Ivan’ which was followed in 2005 by Hurricane “Emily” and since then these have been followed annually by tropical storms.

B. Vulnerability Matrix: What is a prioritization of the community’s greatest hazards they face?
—Change in the timing of the planting seasons for a lot of crop varieties; it seems to be starting later and ending earlier
—Drought; prolonged periods of dry spells in the middle of the rainy season
—Shorter duration of rainfall, but heavier in impact in the rainy season
—Unpredictable rainfall during the rainy season

C. Vulnerability Matrix: What parts of their lives (livelihood resources) are the most vulnerable?
These would be the elements in the vertical column of the vulnerability matrix and may include:
—Food Security
—Income Generation
—Proper nutrition for their families

Compare your project outline to new information that you may have learned that the workshop.
Original Project Outline:
Health and Hygiene Program [Solution to underlying cause: little knowledge of health and hygiene]:
Family garden and nutrition program [Solution to underlying causes: little knowledge of nutrition and shortage of food reserves]:

CBA program related to climate variability.
Farmer Soil Conservation and Water Conservation and Management Program [Solution to underlying causes: Climate variability, extreme weather, and unpredictable rainy season have reduced crop harvests]:

New program related to climate change added to outline
Farmer Extension Program [Solution to underlying causes: Unpredictable/late start to rainy season; mid-season drought/early end to rainy season have reduced crop harvests.]

Download the two completed reports here:
1. Community Survey Workshop

2. Combining Local Knowledge with Meteorilogical Data