Climate change, vulnerable communities and adaptation : report on Tanzania testing

Abstract

IUCN, IISD, SEI-B and Intercooperation have developed a tool to enable project planners and managers to assess and enhance a project’s impact on community-level adaptive capacity. Specifically, the tool has been structured to: 1) Set the climate context: Identify the impacts of current climate hazards and climate change in the project area, particularly on local livelihoods 2) Set the livelihood context: Identify the resources needed to help people conduct their livelihoods and cope with these impacts 3) Screen project activities: Assess how project activities affect the availability and access to resources that are central to livelihoods and coping strategies 4) Manage climate risk: Adjust the project so that opportunities to enhance resource availability / access are strengthened, and activities that undermine activities/access are adjusted In an effort to render this tool as useful as possible, the partner organizations decided to conduct a series of field tests on planned or ongoing natural resource management projects in Africa, South Asia, and Central America. The tests involve project team members travelling to the project sites to work with local project managers and community members in gathering relevant information and applying the tool, developing recommendations on how to adjust project activities so that they take into account their impact on local adaptive capacity. The third field test took place in Tanzania, during 17 - 25 February, 2006. Carmenza Robledo (Intercooperation) travelled to Tanzania to work with the Rural Livelihood Development Company (RLDC)1 and an NGO (LVIA), in testing the tool on one of LVIA’s projects. The project selected was, “Alleviating poverty in 13 villages by improving household livelihoods through increased utilization of local income potentials that correspond to available market opportunities” See Annex 1 for map, and Annex 2 for trip agenda. Katharina Häberli, from the Swiss Cooperation Office in Dar Es Salaam joined CR and the two organisations at the end of the mission.