Consolidating Contestation and Conflict through Community-Based Adaptation (CBA)

Sebastiaan Soeters,Annelies Zoomers

doi:10.4236/gep.2017.511013

Abstract

This article, based on fieldwork in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Kenya, provides an overview of different types of climate change adaptation interventions that are currently being implemented to enhance local community’s adaptive capacity and resilience. We show that CBA interventions, whilst measurably successful from the interventionist perspective, are often structured to cause new scarcities, competing claims and ultimately, various forms and intensities of conflict. We conclude that, instead of targeting “communities” or other groups of “beneficiaries”, the inter-connectedness of multiple (and at times competing) social groups (men and women, the elderly and youth, hunters, loggers, pastoralists and sedentary crop farmers etc.) in relation to the use and distribution of natural resources should be the point of departure for strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity.

Highlights

Climate change is today regarded as a fundamental development issue
We explore the implications of different types of Community-Based Adaptation (CBA) interventions for bonding capital, while analysing the direct and indirect effects for external relations, and more the availability and functioning of bridging social capital
The paper has illustrated how, in their current form, CBA interventions aimed at communities by and large simplify complex realities in terms of the use of natural resources in semi-arid and sub-humid belts in Africa

Summary

Introduction

Climate change is today regarded as a fundamental development issue This is especially true in the world’s most marginal areas, where even incremental climatic changes may threaten large numbers of peoples whose livelihoods are highly exposed to both sudden-onset climate shocks, such as droughts and floods, as well as slow onset changes, such as increasing temperatures and/or. The fundamental importance of addressing climate change for the purposes of climate-smart development is matched by large amounts of multilateral and bilateral financing made available to intensify efforts to reduce the carbon emissions of emerging economies (mitigation) as well as to strengthen the adaptive capacity and resilience of vulnerable populations in the Global South (adaptation) [5] [6].

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion