Can community institutions enhance behaviour changes towards adaptation to climate change?

By Salma Hegga.

This blog highlights some informal arrangements and cultural aspects observed during my time at the Vulnerability and Risk Assessment (VRA) workshop in North Central Namibia and Bobirwa District in Botswana. Inspired by my PhD work on Social Capital and Flood Preparedness in Tanzania, the blog touches on the current research on "Vulnerability, Governance and Adaptation in Namibia and Botswana” that I am involved in with ASSAR at the ACDI.

Decision making in the context of climate change adaptation is complicated and challenging involving actors beyond the state across the multiple governance scales. Appropriate supportive and enabling institutional structures has been identified as a critical elements to successful governance of adaptation to climate change. [1]^{, [2], [3], [4]} There has been a growing interest in understanding the role of state and non-state actors/institutions (including informal institutions and networks of support) in adaptation.[5]^{, [6]} A better understanding of existing institutional structures is critical in decision making and leveraging of adaptation policies that are supportive to specific communities.

The influences of informal institutions and networks on adaptation to drought impacts were highlighted from the two ‘Vulnerability and Risk Assessments” workshops conducted in Namibia and Botswana. Discussions from the VRA workshop suggest there are differences in adaptation responses depending on the absence or presence of informal institutions at the community level. In Namibia for example, stakeholders identified several informal mechanisms through which community networks engendered in adaptation. These include Okakungungu - a network that support agriculture through processes where people work together in the field before rains in exchange for cooked meals (i.e. the owner slaughters livestock), Ondjambi - a tradition of voluntary working for others in the field and the owner will offer a traditional drink in return, and a common Ovambo culture of exchanging food among families.

In Botswana stakeholders identified adaptive strategies such as Letsema where people invite and help one another to work on their fields in turns, from ploughing to harvesting each others’ produce, Mafisa - a system of lending cattle to assist others in agriculture production i.e. for draught animal power and milking, and Majako - a system of working for others in the field in exchange for agricultural produce e.g. a bag of cereals.  

In Tanzania informal institutions such as participation in women groups and other collective actions to address community problems, were identified to be an important determinant in coping with flood impacts. Participation in these networks were identified to be important in influencing an individual’s decision to evacuate during floods and the amount of support received during emergency response such as temporary shelter and food.

These examples suggest that informal institutions stimulate a sense of sharing of resources among the households with a potential impact on adaptation. Governments can play a significant role in promoting adaptation strategies appropriate for particular circumstances. In order for this to occur, information about the key drivers of the current choice of adaptation strategies is required. Most importantly, the social characteristics of households who are likely to adopt particular adaptation strategy need to be understood, and the institutional structures that are in place to influence adoption of a particular strategy needs to be mapped. This is one of the contributions that I will be working on in the ASSAR project for the coming months. For more details and updates on our research in Namibia and Botswana visit ASSAR website.