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Many
of those activities are taking place in Bangladesh,
which is one of the most vulnerable countries to
droughts, sea level rise and flooding. People in rural
areas are struggling increasing flooding by rising food
in floating islands made of straw or aquatic pants.
The
distinction between adaptation to climate change and
adaptation to climate variation is often blurred.
Climate variability refers to the variations in the mean
climate statistics, while climate change refers to
long-term significant change in average weather,
including climate variability.
The
focus is now on "clubbing" all community-based
adaptation activities under the term
"community-based adaptation (CBA) to climate
change", said Huq. "So it is still a
work-in-progress to define CBA to Climate Change (as
opposed to CBA to Climate Variability)." A
CBA project looks much like any development project -
for example, water harvesting in drought conditions
rather than a stand-alone response to climate change -
noted an IIED
policy brief
written by Huq. CBA to climate change is just another
new layer added to other community-driven initiatives.
During
the Third International Woekshop on CBA in Dhaka,
Bangladesh’s capital, the topic was the center for
discussion and analysis. This was organized by the IIED,
the Bangladesh Centre for Advance Studies (BCAS) and the
Ring Alliance. The aim was to promote the concept and
share knowledge. The initiative would not only build a
support base of information for communities but would
also serve the strategic purpose of advocating
"specific quotas" for the most vulnerable in
any new global funds for adaptation that may be agreed
in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change or
other global processes, said Huq.
Studies
in Vietnam and Malawi have shown that rural communities
often sense the climate is changing and start adapting
to climate variability by growing new hardy crop
varieties, but lack of understanding was greater in
areas with poor communication. The IIED brief
recommended not only translating scientific texts into
local languages but also using traditional means of
communication such as art and theatre. One of the papers
presented at the workshop highlighted the use of rural
radio in the Democratic Republic of Congo to inform
small-scale farmers of the challenges posed by climate
change. The UK-based Institute for Development Studies
has set up a website for exchanging information (www.cba-exchange.org)
on CBA to inform NGOs and communities.
Source:
www.irinnews.org
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