Do country-owned adaptation interventions reflect local level priorities? Application of a framings approach

Abstract

ABSTRACT It is claimed that country ownership enables equitable adaption by ensuring that adaptation interventions address priorities of local level vulnerable populations. This paper uses a framings approach to understand whether country owned interventions are aligned with local level adaptation needs. Three framing - the rights and responsibility, capabilities and recognition framings-are used to identify principles of justice reflected in adaptation interventions and compares them to those expressed by local level communities expected to benefit from these interventions. A case study of a Least Developed Countries Fund-funded and Global Environment Facility-administered coastal adaptation project in Tanzania is used. The analysis finds differences between framings by the project and local communities. The project portrays a rights and responsibilities framing with emphasis on government-led technocratic adaptation. Local level communities prioritize the capabilities framing, where local natural resource management institutions are considered necessary for mediating between resource access by resource-dependent households and resource conservation for coastal adaptation. The findings suggest that country ownership may not necessarily be equitable as local level adaptation priorities can fail to be reflected in country owned interventions.