Addressing Water Shortages: A catalyst for more resilient development in Fiji

Abstract

This case study draws on fieldwork in two communities in Fiji that participated in the 2002-05 Capacity Building to Enable the Development of Adaptation Measures in Pacific Island Countries (CBDAMPIC) project, one of the first adaptation projects in the Pacific that attempted to work at this community scale to build resilience to the longer-term impacts of climate change. In both communities, the project served as a catalyst for more resilient development, improving both absorptive and adaptive capacity with respect to water shortages. It provided an example of how addressing a locally defined problem can energize a community to take action to improve resilience. A key factor in these communities' resilience is their existing social capital. The project also points to the significance of building on previous and ongoing processes and initiatives. This report is part of a series that seeks to draw lessons from resilience projects in Latin America and the Pacific. Follow the links below to the other papers in the series: Disaster is Nature Telling Us How to Live Resiliently: Indigenous disaster risk reduction, organizing, and spirituality in Tierradentro, Colombia Building Resilience Through Iterative Processes: Mainstreaming ancestral knowledge, social movements and the making of sustainable programming in Bolivia Learning from Hindsight: A synthesis report on Oxfam resilience research This research was conducted with the support of the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.