Climate change adaptation among smallholder poultry farmers in the northeast of Nigeria

It is a perilous time to be a farmer. Across the world, 2015 broke records for unseasonal, unprecedented, and unexpected weather. The combination of El Nino and climate change produced conditions with devastating effects for the agriculture sector around the globe. This article examines the impacts of unseasonal weather on farmers around the world, in losses to yield quality and quantity but also in economic, physical and psychological effects for farmers coping with the “new normal” in weather. It considers regional differences in farmers’ susceptibility to unseasonal weather, and presents the implications of the lack of resiliency of the major crop producers for the future of food security, and by extension, political stability. Finally, it looks at how the international community is addressing this situation, concluding with practical and achievable means for farmers and cooperatives to start to build resiliency to climate change today.

Assessment and planning for emerging impacts of climate change on species

Climate change represents the greatest threat to human health, with both direct and indirect effects.  The direct increase of deaths, due to extreme weather and climate events, the emergence and spread of infectious diseases related to changing temperature, habitat and precipitation patterns, and eventually climate shocks and growing stress and anxiety that are affecting mental health. Moreover, extreme weather events cause issues on our health systems and infrastructures, reducing capacity to provide health coverage.   An increasing awareness on adverse effects of climate change is leading to an update of the EU policy framework through the introduction of  the EU Green Deal, a ‘package’ of directive, policies and strategies to ensure planning, monitoring and reporting of progress towards responsive climate adaptation and climate neutrality; however, a clear demonstration of the health-relevant outcomes of climate policies and actions is still missing, and current policies do not properly consider human health protection.   The study is developed within the Horizon Europe-funded project TRIGGER, aimed at deepening the understanding of the linkage between climate change and health and advancing society uptake at policy level.  Starting from mapping and screening the existing climate-related policies and measures at European level, this study assesses the integration of health in such documents. Specifically, through a keyword-based content analysis, it evaluates the integration of health-relevant considerations in 11 European plans and strategies, referring to climate mitigation and adaptation, environmental sustainability and biodiversity conservation. To establish to what extent they consider the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on human health, a qualitative assessment of health integration is performed, exploring also, when available, cost-benefits estimation to possible health impacts and health-related indicators developed.   The results show that extreme events, such as heat waves and droughts, heavy precipitation and flooding, are the climate-related hazards mostly mentioned in relation to health, even though the policy integration remains limited. Indeed, just few policies contain references to physical health impacts determined by climate change, such as infectious and vector borne diseases, injuries from extreme weather events and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, while social and mental health effects are even less considered.    

CONTENTS I Introduction II Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events III Adaptation in the International Climate Regime IV Insurance and Adaptation in the International Climate Regime V Models for Climate Change Insurance VI Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility VII Climate Change Insurance and the Pacific Island States VIII Viability of Climate Insurance as a Long-Term Adaptation Strategy IX Conclusion I INTRODUCTION Many Small Island Developing States ('SIDS') lie only metres above sea level, making them particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in both the shorter (eg storm surge during large tropical cyclones) and longer (eg sea level rise) terms. (1) The modest ambition for mitigation (ie reduction) (2) of greenhouse gas emissions in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ('UNFCCC'), (3) Kyoto Protocol (4) and Copenhagen Accord (5) means that the prospect of avoiding an increase in mean surface temperature of less than two degrees is now very low. (6) The latest climate science suggests the Earth is on a path that will lead to a rise in mean surface temperature of between three and six degrees by 2100. (7) Unless there is a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over coming decades, SIDS are likely to experience tropical cyclones of greater severity, disrupted rainfall patterns and sea level rise. (8) Recent extreme weather events in the Asia-Pacific region, such as Typhoon Haiyan (9) and Cyclone Ian, (10) demonstrate the significant impact of these events on SIDS. (11) The lack of success in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions has led to adaptation to climate change impacts gaining greater prominence within the United Nations climate negotiations. Adaptation to climate change has been defined as '[a]djustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities'. (12) Adaptation may take many forms, including pre-emptive action to limit damage from climate change-related events (eg implementing more ambitious building codes to make buildings more resilient to storms) and building institutions to aid recovery after a climate-related event (eg improving emergency services capacity to respond in the immediate aftermath of adverse weather events). Domestically, insurance is an established mechanism to spread financial risk of adverse events and build societal resilience. However, at an international level, the issue of climate change-related insurance has only proceeded in fits and starts. Proposals for an insurance mechanism to support the adaptation of SIDS to climate change date back to 1991. At that time, the Alliance of Small Island States ('AOSIS') proposed an international, state-based pool to provide insurance against the impacts of climate change-related sea-level rise. (13) Despite this early call by AOSIS, a climate change-related insurance mechanism was not included in either the UNFCCC or the Kyoto Protocol. In 2007 climate change-related insurance emerged again on the UNFCCC agenda as the Bali Action Plan launched international discussion on enhanced action on adaptation 'including risk sharing and transfer mechanisms such as insurance'. (14) In 2008 AOSIS made a submission under the Bali Action Plan to include an insurance mechanism as part of a broader response to climate-related loss and damage. (15) In a departure from its earlier proposal in 1991, the 2008 AOSIS submission called for insurance cover for climate change-related extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods and droughts. (16) In 2010 the Cancun Agreements also invited submissions on the development of a climate risk insurance facility, as a part of an enhanced adaptation framework, to address impacts from extreme weather events. (17) The 2012 Conference of the Parties ('COP') 18 meeting in Doha appeared to be a breakthrough in the development of institutions to assist adaptation to climate change. …

People experiencing poverty and inequality will be affected first and worst by the impacts of climate change to infrastructure and human settlements, including those caused by increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events and natural disasters. They have the least capacity to cope, to adapt, to move and to recover. Community service organisations (CSOs) play a critical role in supporting individuals, families and communities experiencing poverty and inequality to build resilience and respond to adverse changes in circumstances. As such, the services they provide comprise a critical component of social infrastructure in human settlements. However, very little is understood about CSOs own vulnerability to – or their role in managing and mitigating risks to their clients and the community from – climate change impacts to physical infrastructure. The Extreme Weather, Climate Change and the Community Sector – Risks and Adaptations project examined the relationship between physical and social infrastructure (in the form of CSO service provision). Specifically, the ways in which the climate-driven failure of CSO service delivery worsens risks to the individuals and communities they serve and, on the other hand, how preparedness may reduce vulnerability to climate change and extreme weather impacts to human settlements and infrastructure. The research comprised a comprehensive and critical scoping, examination and review of existing research findings and an audit, examination and judgment-based evaluation of the current vulnerabilities and capacities of CSOs under projected climate change scenarios. It employed three key methods of consultation and data collection. A literature review examined research conducted to date in Australia and comparative countries internationally on the vulnerability and climate change adaptation needs of CSOs. A program of 10 Community Sector Professional Climate Workshops consulted over 150 CSO representatives to develop a qualitative record of extreme event and climate change risks and corresponding adaptation strategies specific to CSOs. A national survey of CSOs, which resulted in the participation of approximately 500 organisations, produced a quantitative data set about the nature of CSO vulnerability to climate change and extreme weather impacts to infrastructure, whether and how CSOs are approaching the adaptation task and key barriers to adaptation. While the methods employed and the absence of empirical data sets quantifying CSO vulnerability to climate change impacts create limitations to the evidence-base produced, findings from the research suggest that CSOs are highly vulnerable and not well prepared to respond to climate change and extreme weather impacts to physical infrastructure and that this underlying organisational vulnerability worsens the vulnerability of people experiencing poverty and inequality to climate change. However, the project results indicate that if well adapted, CSOs have the willingness, specialist skills, assets and capacity to make a major contribution to the resilience and adaptive capacity of their clients and the community more broadly (sections of which will be plunged into adversity by extreme events). Despite this willingness, the evidence presented shows that few CSOs have undertaken significant action to prepare for climate change and worsening extreme weather events. Key barriers to adaptation identified through the research are inadequate financial resources, lack of institutionalised knowledge and skills for adaptation and the belief that climate change adaptation is beyond the scope of CSOs core business. On the other hand, key indicators of organisational resilience to climate change and extreme weather impacts include: level of knowledge about extreme weather risks, past experience of an extreme weather event and organisational size. Given its size, scope and the critical role the Australian community sector plays in building client and community resilience and in assisting communities to respond to and recover from the devastating impacts of extreme weather events and natural disasters, the research identifies serious gaps in both the policy frameworks and the research base required to ensure the sector’s resilience and adaptive capacity – gaps which appear to have already had serious consequences. To address these gaps, a series of recommendations has been prepared to enable the development and implementation of a comprehensive, sector-specific adaptation and preparedness program, which includes mechanisms to institutionalise knowledge and skills, streamlined tools appropriate to the needs and capacity of a diverse range of organisations and a benchmarking system to allow progress towards resilience and preparedness to be monitored. Future research priorities for adaptation in this sector have also been identified.

The increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events resulting from climate change have led to grid outages and other negative consequences. To ensure the resilience of buildings which serve as primary shelters for occupants, resilient strategies are being developed to improve their ability to withstand these extreme events (e.g., building upgrades and renewable energy generators and storage). However, a crucial step towards creating a resilient built environment is accurately estimating building performance during such conditions using historical extreme climate change-induced weather events. To conduct Building Performance Simulation (BPS) in extreme conditions, such as weather events induced by climate change, it is essential to utilize Actual Meteorological Year (AMY) weather files instead of Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) files. AMY files capture the precise climatic conditions during extreme weather events, enabling accurate simulation of such scenarios. These weather files provide valuable data that can be used to assess the vulnerabilities and resilience of buildings to extreme weather events. By analyzing past events and their impacts using BPS tools, we can gain insights into the specific weaknesses and areas that require improvement. This approach applies to both existing buildings needing climate change-resilient retrofits and new building designs that must be compatible with future climatic conditions. Moreover, the intensification and frequency increase of these extreme weather events makes developing adaptation and resilient-building measures imperative. This involves understanding the potential losses that households may experience due to the intensification of extreme events and developing farsighted coping strategies and climate-proof resilient-building initiatives. However, addressing the knowledge gap caused by the absence of an AMY weather file dataset of extreme events is essential. This will allow for accurate BPS during past extreme climate change-induced weather events. To fill this gap, this article introduces a comprehensive .epw format weather file dataset focusing on historical extreme weather events in Canada. This collection encompasses a diverse array of past extreme climate change occurrences in various locations, with potential for future expansion to include additional locations and countries. This dataset enables energy simulations for different types of buildings and considers a diverse range of historical weather conditions, allowing for better estimation of thermal performance.

BACKGROUND: Island communities such as Puerto Rico (PR) are profoundly impacted by climate extremes. Patients with chronic disease, particularly cancer, have unique needs and challenges in the aftermath of extreme weather events. Understanding cancer patients’ barriers, knowledge, risks, and vulnerabilities are essential to develop equitable adaptation strategies. This research aims to investigate the perceptions and experiences of cancer patients associated with extreme weather events over the past 10 years in Puerto Rico (PR). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study via survey questionnaires (April 22, 2023-June 8, 2023) among adults aged ≥21 years from Puerto Rico who are cancer patients/survivors (n=207). A total of 23 questions listed on the survey were used to collect information on variables of interest which included demographic characteristics, information on extreme weather event experiences, and attitude towards climate change. Using the data collected, descriptive statistics were used to describe the study population and multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations of interest (IRB approval # 2023-04-101). RESULTS: The average age of individuals recruited is 56.3 years ±13.5 SD, 79.7% are female, 65.2% reported having additional chronic diseases, and 85.0% have more than a high-school education. Regarding extreme weather events, 99% of cancer patients and survivors reported floods, including coastal, fluvial, and urban floods, impacted their communities, 76% reported tropical cyclones impacted their residences and communities, and 72% reported extreme heat impacted both their residences and communities in the last 10 years. Additionally, the most common problems encountered in the aftermath of these extreme weather events were water (88.4%) and electricity service interruption (91.4%), as well as water (88.9%) and electricity service interruption (77.1%). Most participants reported feeling very and extremely worried about their health in the face of climate change (75.0%) and feeling concerned about climate change (85.0%). After adjusting for age, sex, and education, logistic regression models showed that participants with more than one cancer type were more likely to be worried about their health in the face of climate change (OR=2.40,95% CI=1.06-5.35). CONCLUSION: Study findings highlight the burden of extreme weather events and the problems encountered in the aftermath of such events on cancer patients in Puerto Rico. This population expresses concern and worry about climate change and their health, respectively. This information is important for cancer control and emphasizes the need for targeted interventions and management strategies to remove detrimental and avoidable impacts on cancer populations. Citation Format: Jimena Perez, Pablo A. Méndez-Lázaro, Fabiola A. Rivera-Gastón, Ana P. Ortiz. Assessing the impact of extreme climate weather events on cancer patients in Puerto Rico: A cross-sectional study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr A114.

Effective Community Engagement Approaches for Climate Change Adaptation in the Philippines

Climate change encompassing mostly hydro-meteorological hazards is a reality affecting the world in diverse ways. It is manifesting in various ways such as increases in frequency and intensity of floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures. In recent years, climate change has induced droughts, other extreme weather events and meteorological disasters in many countries including Zimbabwe. Effective management of climate change induced challenges require localized strategies which may vary from one part of the world to another and even within a country. In view of the need to understand localized impacts and responses to climate change, the main objectives of the study were to (i) assess the impact of climate change on livelihoods and food security, (ii) identify and evaluate adaptation and mitigation strategies that small holder farmers in Ward 17, Nyanga, Zimbabwe have developed. The research used both qualitative and quantitative approaches with data collection methods comprising of questionnaires (56), observations and interviews (8). The tools were used to gather information which included encounters with extreme weather events, climatic trends as well as adaptive responses. The findings showed that climate change had a significant negative impact on the livelihoods and food security status of small holder farmers in ward 17 of Nyanga district. The identified climate change adaptation strategies implemented in the study area included food aid, use of traditional grains and other drought resistant crops, early planting, multiple planting, barter trade and livelihood diversification. The mitigation strategies used included afforestation and reforestation programs, avoiding veld fires and preservation of wetlands. The research identified challenges to climate change adaptation which include lack of markets to sell farming produce, inefficient institutions, poverty and high climate variability and increased uncertainty in the behavior of seasons. The findings of this study indicated the need for similar assessment in other parts of the country as impacts of climate change and responses thereof should vary from place to place.

Almost 700 people died from heat-related stress during the catastrophic 1995 heat wave in Chicago, Illinois.1 The three-day weather event saw 24-hour mean average temperatures of 87.2°F; the heat reached triple digits on two days, and there was little relief at night.2 Many people succumbed to heart attack and dehydration, while others collapsed during severe episodes of existing respiratory conditions.3 The death toll in the summer of 1995 gave Chicagoans a clear picture of how a surge in hot weather can affect human health. A decade later, Mayor Richard Daley launched an extensive program that brought together city agencies, academics, and scientists to develop a Climate Change Action Plan to help reduce the city’s contribution to climate change.4 Much of the plan focuses on sustainable mitigation actions such as planting trees and training workers to install renewable energy technologies. Within that plan, however, is a climate change adaptation strategy with a goal of preparing the city and its residents for future unusual weather events associated with climate change.5 Chicago is one of several large cities with climate action plans in place—others include New York City, San Francisco, Sydney, and Mexico City.6 Like Chicago’s, these plans promote mitigation and sustainability. Much of the adaptation portion of these initiatives is aimed at the built environment—buildings, highways, and facilities. But officials in these cities are beginning to talk about the public health cobenefits from their action plans, and public health advocates are speaking up and pushing for programs designed to prepare for or prevent climate-sensitive disease and illness.

Anthropogenic climate change and allergen exposure: The role of plant biology

General consensus almost exists amongst scholars across many fields that climate change is a reality, its impacts are already with us and no part of the world or group of people are immune from its impacts. In facts, during recent decades scholars are busy assessing its impact now and in the foreseeable future. Within the fragile dryland ecosystem of Sokoto in the North-western part of Nigeria, some of the immediate impacts of climate change includes declining rainfall, increasing temperature and extreme weather events such as droughts, severe windstorms, heat waves and flooding among others. These presents some serious threats to both the natural ecosystem and people depending on the ecosystem for their livelihood particularly crop farmers and livestock pastoralists that constitutes over 70% of the inhabitant of the area. Under this kind of situation, the need for increasing awareness about the causes, impacts, mitigation and adaptation to climate change cannot be over emphasised particularly among farmers and herdsmen due to the high sensitivity of their livelihood sources to climate change. Using a semi-structured questionnaire with both open and close ended questions and simple statistical techniques, this research tries to investigate the level of climate change awareness and adaptation strategies among farmers and herdsmen in the Sokoto Close-settled Zone of North-western Nigeria. The result revealed a fair level of awareness of climate change particularly amongst the youth in the area. Some climate change adaptation strategies in the area and their implications were also discussed while recommendations on the way forward provided.

Smallholder farmers strongly connect to their surrounding environment and depend on ecosystems for their daily subsistence and welfare. Different climate change phenomena in recent years have affected resilience of smallholder farmers in Vietnam and ecosystems where they live. The importance of ecosystem services in climate change adaptation was investigated in surveys, focus group discussions, meetings and interviews with key district and commune staff, male and female farmers of Son Tho commune in rural North Central Region of Vietnam. In conjunction with surveys an Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) pilot was conducted in 2016 and 2017 with a group of 26 smallholder households. All survey respondents acknowledged that they depend on ecosystems and services for their livelihoods. Extreme weather events are predicted to increase with climate change. Smallholder farmers and ecosystems were most vulnerable to the effects of droughts and heat waves that limited supplies of clean water and impacted crop harvests, and by storms, whirlwinds and cold spells. The EbA pilot identified that all ecological patches provided direct and indirect benefits through multiple goods and services generated for provision, regulation, supporting and cultural services. The pilot demonstrated that ecosystem services supported smallholder farmers to adapt to extreme events and climate change, in particular, by mitigating the effects of droughts. Management of ecosystem services can provide joint benefits for both climate change mitigation and adaptation, particularly where the spatial distributions of carbon, hydrological services or biodiversity are positively correlated.

Climate adaptation strengthens and builds the resilience of health systems to future climate-related shocks. Adaptation strategies and policies are necessary tools for governments to address the long-term impacts of climate change and enable the health system to respond to current impacts such as extreme weather events. Since 2011 South Africa has national climate change policies and adaptation strategies, yet there is uncertainty about: how these policies and plans are executed; the extent to which health policies include adaptation; and the extent of policy coherence across sectors and governance levels. A policy document analysis was conducted to examine how South African climate change, development and health policy documents reflect the health adaptation response across national and Western Cape levels and to assess the extent of coherence across key health and environment sector policy documents, including elements to respond to health-related climate risks, that can support implementation. Our findings show that overall there is incoherence in South African climate adaptation within health policy documents. Although health adaptation measures are somewhat coherent in national level policies, there is limited coherence within Western Cape provincial level documents and limited discussion on climate adaptation, especially for health. Policies reflect formal decisions and should guide decision-makers and resourcing, and sectoral policies should move beyond mere acknowledgement of adaptation responses to a tailored plan of actions that are institutionalized and location and sector specific. Activities beyond documents also impact the coherence and implementation of climate adaptation for health in South Africa. Clear climate risk-specific documents for the health sector would provide a stronger plan to support the implementation of health adaptation and contribute to building health system's resilience.

On October 22, 2012, an African easterly wave formed in the Caribbean Sea and quickly grew into a tropical storm with frightening potential. It was the hottest year in recorded human history (though that record has subsequently been shattered), and the seawater was unusually warm. Strong winds whipped the wet Caribbean air into a frenzy as the storm moved north and west, and by October 24 the system had become a hurricane. Meteorologists named it Sandy and predicted it would sweep through the Caribbean islands and make landfall somewhere on the eastern seaboard of the United States. Sandy turned out to be more dangerous than anyone initially anticipated. The “superstorm” intensified and grew as it moved across the Caribbean, ultimately covering an area more than one thousand miles in diameter, making it one of the largest hurricanes in American history. Its winds were punishingly severe, yet the weather system was painfully slow, and the steady, relentless storm seemed to pause so that it could inflict extra damage on nearly everything in its path. Sandy hit the Atlantic coast on October 29 — the worst possible moment. Not only was there a full moon with high tides, but there was also an early winter storm with arctic air moving into the northeastern region from the other direction, and the two systems collided to form what journalists called a hybrid “Frankenstorm.” As the primary target of the attacks on September 11, 2001, New York City had spent billions of dollars over the course of the following decade shoring up its security systems and preparing for a catastrophe. Terrorism was not its only con-