Climate vulnerability and capacity of ethnic minorities in the northern mountainous region of Vietnam

Vietnam is likely to be one of the most significantly impacted nations in the world from climate change due to its long coastline, high dependence on agriculture and relatively low levels of development in rural areas. For the poorest communities, the impacts of climate change will have particularly acute consequences. This report looks at one of Vietnam's ethnic minorities in the northern mountainous region of the country and considers their vulnerability to climate change and capacity to adapt. Download the report.

Participatory Monitoring, Evaluation, Reflection & Learning (PMERL) for Community-based Adaptation:
A Manual for Local Practitioners

The PMERL Manual (English) supports a methodology that can help measure, monitor and evaluate changes in local adaptive capacity within vulnerable communities for better decision-making on Community-based Adaptation (CBA). By presenting a participatory methodology for developing and monitoring against CBA indicators, it provides a new platform for local stakeholders to articulate their own needs, which is a fundamental part of building and strengthening adaptive capacity. Developed by CARE in partnership with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). This manual is also available in Spanish.

Decision-making for climate resilient livelihoods and risk reduction: A Participatory Scenario Planning approach - ALP PSP BRIEF

The Adaptation Learning Programme (ALP) for Africa supports improved communication of climate information to vulnerable rural communities and local governments as a key element of community based adaptation to climate change impacts. Participatory scenario planning, or PSP, is one approach which uses seasonal climate forecasts to inform decisions for more resilient livelihoods and risk management, thereby strengthening adaptive capacity. PSP workshops create a multi-stakeholder platform for collective interpretation of meteorological and local forecasts and their probability and uncertainty. This brief describes the PSP process and its outcomes and benefits. PSPs in Kenya and Ghana have already resulted in enhanced relations between meteorologists and local actors, flexible locally owned decision making and greater confidence in local knowledge and innovation.

Counting on uncertainty: The economic case for community based adaptation in North-East Kenya.
FULL REPORT / POLICY BRIEF

On behalf of CARE’s Adaptation Learning Programme for Africa (ALP), this new policy brief and study by the New Economics Foundation (nef) shows that support to community-based adaptation (CBA)–where vulnerable communities make informed development and risk management decisions and actions in response to climate change impacts–is cost effective. It shows clear social, economic and environmental benefits of CBA across a wide range of modelled scenarios and interventions, when comparing systematic adaptation to a situation with no support to adaptation. These findings make a compelling financial case for CBA both in conjunction with larger-scale interventions and as standalone activities. Read more about ALP.

• Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (CVCA) Handbook
• • English / Spanish / French / Portuguese
  •  

CARE's approach to climate change adaptation is grounded in the knowledge that people must be empowered to transform and secure their rights and livelihoods. It also recognizes the critical role that local and national institutions, as well as public policies, play in shaping people's adaptive capacity. The CVCA methodology helps us to understand the implications of climate change for the lives and livelihoods of the people we serve. Go to: www.careclimatechange.org/cvca

The report aims to provoke thought, dialogue and debate by practitioners and policymakers on the issue of vulnerability to climate change and on approaches to vulnerability assessment in policy and in practice. Three case studies are presented to illustrate the reality of climate change and the dynamics of vulnerability in rural communities. The case studies provide context for a series of reflections on vulnerability, which compile some of the knowledge gained to date from CARE’s experience in using the CVCA methodology in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

- WORKING BRIEFS:

These working briefs are part of a series that provides insight into CARE's climate change initiatives, experiences and approaches.

Food insecurity is a growing concern throughout the developing world, particularly for poor women and children. CARE understands that achieving food security for all will require a coordinated effort that incorporates preventive, promotional, protective and transformative measures. This brief outlines CARE’s understanding of the challenge and our response.

Adaptation, Gender and Women's Empowerment - English / Spanish / French/ Portuguese

Vulnerability to climate change is determined, in large part, by people's adaptive capacity. A particular climate hazard, such as a drought, does not affect all people within a community – or even the same household – equally because some have greater capacity than others to manage the crisis. This working brief looks at why gender is central to CARE's understanding of and response to the impacts of climate change.

• What is adaptation to climate change? - English / Spanish / French / Portuguese

CARE is implementing Community-Based Adaptation (CBA) projects that target the world's most vulnerable populations and integrating climate change into our ongoing development work. This working brief summarises CARE's two-track approach to adaptation and explains why we thing both are critical to meeting the global climate change challenge.

• Integrating Community and Ecosystem-Based Approaches in Climate Change Adaptation Responses - English 

In this paper, the Ecosystem and Livelihoods Adaptation Network (ELAN) argues for a more truly “integrated approach” to adaptation that addresses and seeks to reconcile differences between Community-based Adaptation (CBA) and Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EBA). Learn more at www.elanadapt.net.

- SUMMARY BRIEFS:

• -- CARE tackles vulnerability to climate change - English /  French

• -- Adaptation Learning Programme (ALP) for Africa - English / Portuguese / French

• -- ALP programme overview card - December 2011

  
  -- Gender in ALP for Africa - English

• -- Learning Event Communiqué: Gender and Community-Based Adaptation (CBA) in Africa - English

• -- Adaptation to the Impact of Rapid Glacier Retreat in the Tropical Andes Project – "PRAA" - English
  

• -- Community-based adaptation framework - English
  

- PUBLICATIONS:

Joto Afrika - November's Issue highlights "Gender and Community-Based Adaptation in Africa" and features CARE's work - English / French

- CASE STUDIES:

Case Studies from the Africa Climate Change Resilience Alliance (ACCRA) phase 1 evaluation

Executive Summary: Independent Evaluation of the Africa Climate Change Resilience Alliance Phase 1

Strategies for influence:
Capacity building and district planning

Secondment to a Government Ministry

Reaching out to government and civil society in Uganda

Disaster Risk Profiling in Ethiopia

Exchange visits: Ethiopia, Mozambique and Uganda

ACCRA Synthesis Report:

Understanding adaptive capacity at the local level in Mozambique

Application of Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (CVCA) Methodology in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda: Global Water Initiative (GWI) East Africa - English

 Application of Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (CVCA) Methodology in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia: Regional Project for Adaptation to the Impact of Rapid Glacier Retreat in the Tropical Andes – PRAA : - English / Spanish

• Ghana, West Africa: Local Extension Services for Agricultural Development (LEAD) Project. CARE Case study on integrating adaptation into projects.

• Kenya, East Africa: The Global Water Initiative: Sustaining School Children's Access to Safe Water (SaWa) in Garissa District, Kenya. CARE Case study on integrating adaptation into projects.

• Honduras, Central America: Promoting Local Management and Good Governance to Improve Water Supply and Sanitation Services for the Poor (PASOS- III). CARE Case study on integrating adaptation into projects.

• Malawi and Niger:Making national adaptation plans work for the poor

Least developed countries (LDCs) can request financial assistance for adaptation through the UNFCCC's National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) . Based on analysis of NAPA processes in Malawi and Niger, CARE puts forth recommendations for how future financial arrangements for adaptation can better support inclusive, transparent national adaptation planning in LDCs, which recognizes differences in human vulnerability and prioritizes the needs of most vulnerable populations. (In partnership with Canadian Coalition on Climate Change and Development)

• -- Northern Ghana - Participatory and inclusive planning for adaptation to climate change
  

• -- Tajikistan - Food security in a changing climate
  

-REPORTS:

Africa Climate Change Resilience Alliance (ACCRA) - Local Adaptive Capacity framework

The LAC Framework was developed to guide the network’s research as a key overarching conceptual tool for the programme. It is an attempt to incorporate the intangible and dynamic dimensions of adaptive capacity, as well as capital and resource-based components, into an analysis of adaptive capacity at local level.

Rethinking Support for Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change - The Role of Development Interventions
by Simon Levine, Eva Ludi and Lindsey Jones, ODI (an ACCRA partner)

Additional ACCRA Publications - http://community.eldis.org/.59d669a8/publications.html

CARE Australia / Timor Leste - 2011 

Livelihood security in a changing climate: Insights from a programme evaluation in Timor Leste (2011)

This report draws on the findings of a recent CARE Australia evaluation focusing on the effectiveness, impact and sustainability of CARE programming in Timor Leste in relation to climate hazards. It sought to evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of selected projects in relation to household adaptive capacity and reduced vulnerability to climate hazards. Drawing on the work of the evaluation, this report looks to distil key conclusions and recommendations which will be of particular relevance for livelihoods programming, in Timor Leste and beyond.

Global Advocacy - 2009

• Pro-poor governance of global adaptation funds (2009)

It is imperative that the international agreement and framework for adaptation assistance to developing countries ensures that communities, populations and people most at risk and least equipped to manage the consequences receive the restitution they are due, either in the form of direct adaptation support or broader infrastructure, service and policy reforms that facilitate local adaptation efforts. This discussion paper - commissioned by CARE International, Germanwatch and Bread for the World - sets forth concrete, workable suggestions for pro-poor governance of international adaptation funding.

CARE Ethiopia - 2009

• Full report: Climate‐related vulnerability and adaptive‐capacity in Ethiopia's Borana and Somali communities
• Link to: Video: No Time to Recover
  
• Link to: Policy Brief and Personal Testimonials

Climate‐related vulnerability and adaptive‐capacity in Ethiopia's Borana and Somali communities. Save the Children UK and CARE Ethiopia. The purpose of this research is to undertake a comparative analysis of the climate-related vulnerability and adaptive capacity of Borana and Somali pastoralist communities in Ethiopia, how they have changed over time, and how they relate to climate change. The results of this analysis are intended to provide the Government of Ethiopia, civil society organizations, and international donors a basis for improved development programming and advocacy.

CARE Brasil 2009

• CARE Brasil: Reducing vulnerabilities and improving capacities for adaptation in the coast of Bahia

This report documents the results and impact of our work in the coast of Bahia. Since 2002, CARE Brasil has been contributing to processes of change in the Costa do Cacau (Cocoa Coast) region, Bahia's south coast. With a regional office in the town of Ilhéus, our teamhas been assisting some of the more vulnerable groups from this region which has undergone many periods of wealth production. Such wealth has remained in the hands of a few powerful families and led to the social exclusion of most of its population. Throughout the years CARE Brasil has introduced and tested several social technologies in order to empower families and communities under this programme. This work, focused on improving the cocoa value chain, has been developed along with several social, public and private organizations.

CARE Nepal 2009

• Climate Change impacts on livelihoods of poor and vulnerable communities and biodiversity conservation (2009)

• Link to: Report cover

Climate Change Impacts on Livelihoods of Poor and Vulnerable Communities and Biodiversity Conservation: A Case Study in Banke, Bardia, Dhading and Rasuwa Districts of Nepal. SAGUN Program, CARE Nepal and Li-Bird. This study shows that the climate is changing in the study areas, like elsewhere in the world. The impact of climate change on biodiversity and livelihoods of communities in the study areas is very distinct and it has indicated that poor, marginalized women and Dalit were more vulnerable to climate change impacts. Meanwhile, coping strategies and adaptation mechanism applied by these local communities are not very effective to address climate change issues and threats.

CARE Mozambique - 2008

• Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Analysis (CVCA) in Boila, Tamoli and on Buzo in Angoche district, Mozambique, as part of CARE/WWF’s Primeiras e Segundas Project (2008)
• Link to: Supporting CVCA presentation

Presentation and Background Report:”Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Analysis” (CVCA) conducted in Boila, Tamoli and on Buzo in Angoche district, as part of CARE/WWF’s Primeiras e Segundas Project. World Wildlife Fund and CARE Mozambique. The report is based on a Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Analysis (CVCA) made for CARE’s and WWF’s newly established program on sustainable livelihoods in Angoche and Moma districts in Mozambique.

• -- Civil Society and the Integration of Climate Change Risks into Planning and Policy-making English / Spanish

By Nella Canales, Climate Change & Advocacy Advisor, CARE Peru

- POSITION PAPERS:

• -- CARE's position on adaptation policies

- NATIONAL HANDBOOKS:

• -- Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation in Vietnam
  

- HUMAN INTEREST STORIES: LINK