The Role of Proactive Adaptation in International Climate Change Mitigation Agreements

This paper investigates the role of proactive adaptation in international mitigation coalition formation. Adaptation is introduced into a three stage cartel game of coalition formation. We analytically derive the optimal level of mitigation and proactive adaptation for the singletons and coalition members. We introduce the AD-STACO model which is constructed based on the STACO model, which is an applied three-stage cartel formation model with 12 heterogenous regions. Simulating all possible coalitions (4084) and checking for internal and external stability, we investigate how different levels of proactive adaptation will affect the payoffs in Grand coalition and the incentives to freeride. We examine which stable coalitions are found with different levels of proactive adaptation and whether regions can gain from overadaptation in the best performing stable coalition. We find that though payoffs increase in the Grand coalition with lower adaptation, incentives to leave increase. Coalition members can increase their payoffs through overadaptation.N/A

Youth Decision Making in Agricultural Adaptation to Climate Change; An Analysis in East Africa

In conjunction with the contemporary narrative of Africa’s “youth bulge” and young people’s perceived disinterest in pursuing agricultural livelihoods, this paper explores the extent to which youth (18-35 years old) have decision making power in the implementation of agricultural adaptation practices due to climate change in East Africa via the utilization of a comparative political ecology framework. Focus groups discussions, key informant, and individual interviews were conducted with a total of 155 rural youth and 42 policymakers and stakeholder representatives in selected sites in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda to assess youth’s knowledge of adaptation measures and their role in the decision to implement them at the household, community, and national levels. Our findings suggest that young people have an understanding of climate change and how to adapt to it. However, they are unable to do so due to lack of agricultural inputs and financial capital, insufficient land ownership, indirect participation in decision making and limited access to markets

Youth Decision Making in Agricultural Climate Change Adaptations: Research findings from East Africa

Africa boasts the world’s most rapid population growth, and is concurrently experiencing a “youth bulge” – an expansion in population of tech-savvy, well-educated, job-ready 18-35 year olds (Population Reference Bureau, 2013). In some cases, a growing youth population is a positive indication of a country’s development, and can be beneficial, as long as the majority of youth are sufficiently employed and contribute to the economy. However, employment can be difficult to find when the job seekers are many and the options are uncertain. The East Africa region is experiencing this “ticking time bomb” at the country level (Ighobor, 2013) within Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, with a nagging fear that youth unable to find work may create political and economic instability, resulting in violence (UN, 2013). According to the Youth Development Index (YDI), Kenya is well developed to support its youth population, compared to Uganda and Tanzania. Although it is still ranked “Medium” for the status of young people with a YDI of 0.563, Kenya demonstrated the largest growth in the YDI globally (22%) between 2010 and 2015. Similarly, Uganda has a YDI of 0.544, but supersedes Kenya in the area of employment, with a score of 0.613 compared with Kenya’s 0.513. Tanzania lags far behind both of its neighbors, with a “Low” YDI of .436, and an employment index of 0.294 (Commonwealth Secretariat, 2015). The growing youth population and a stagnant job market in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania correlate with a bleak employment outlook. In Kenya, of those who are unemployed, over 70% are under 35 years old. Youth account for two-thirds of Kenya’s population, and the rate of youth who are unemployed may reach as high as 35%, compared to 10% nation-wide (BCtA, 2016). In Uganda, of those who are unemployed, 64% are 24 years old and under (World Bank, 2015). In Tanzania, unemployment averages 13.4% for 15-34 year olds (Youth Employment Decade, 2015). The limited options do not appear to discriminate; youth are simply trying to find a place for themselves, wherever they qualify, whether it is urban, rural, business or farming. Agricultural livelihoods are vital to East Africa, with much of the region’s GDP dependent on agriculture and with arable lands prime for both subsistence and commercial farmers. However, this relationship to agriculture can be risky; in times of success, it provides employment and food security, and in times of misfortune, it contributes to pervasive poverty and malnutrition. For Kenya in particular, 75% of the country’s workforce is in the agricultural sector, contributing to 25% of the country’s GDP, despite only 20% of the land being arable. Kenya’s dominant areas of agriculture are horticultural produce and dairy, which have opportunities to expand; yet Kenya’s agricultural productivity has been stagnant in recent years. For highly arable Uganda, agriculture employs 66% of its labor force, comprises 50% of its exports, and creates 23% of its GDP. The dominant crop for food security is maize, followed by beans, with coffee being the main export, although Uganda has suffered heavy harvest losses in recent years. For Tanzania, while 75% of its population is involved in agriculture, the sector contributes only 31.5% of its GDP. Despite the fact that Tanzania is largely self-sustaining in the staple crop of maize, it lags far behind global average maize yields (Feed the Future, 2016). Although farming is a common livelihood, it is a risky one, with climate change as one of the contributing factors. Farmers in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania are heavily dependent on rainfall, and therefore highly vulnerable to inconsistent weather events, such as droughts, floods, intense heat, and severe cold. Such extremities and uncertainties have a negative impact on agriculture, thwarting the involvement of young people. The status of a burgeoning youth population in East Africa, precarious employment opportunities, and the alteration of traditional agricultural practices in the face of climate change has prompted the need to explore the role of youth in adaptive farming practices; specifically, the extent of their decision making power in agricultural adaptations to climate change. This information is critical to understanding the future of agriculture and youth in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania

What is 'binge drinking'? Perceptions of Australian adolescents and adults, and implications for mass media campaigns

Objective: While the term ‘binge drinking’ has no definitive definition, it is commonly used in lay conversation and mass media communication campaigns. It is important to understand how the general population interprets the term, and their positive and negative perceptions of this behaviour. Methods: A convenience sample of 549 participants from two Australian towns completed a survey on perceptions of binge drinking; 221 adolescents, 104 parents of adolescents and 224 adult community members. Results: Across all three groups, binge drinking was defined using broad descriptors; few respondents referred to specific consumption levels and those who did varied widely in the quantities specified. The majority of respondents described binge drinking negatively and, in most cases, more negatively for adolescents than adults. However, both adult groups perceived binge drinking to be more enjoyable and pleasant for adolescents than for adults, and more enjoyable and pleasant than adolescents did themselves. Conclusions and Implications: There is a need for shared understanding of terms to ensure that educational interventions and communication campaigns are using the same definitions as their target audiences. There is also a need to ensure adults are not providing young people with mixed messages about excessive alcohol consumption

“See, I’m not racist!”: Aversive Racism, Peer Pressure, and Blaming Adolescents

Abstract This study examined how peer pressure influences participant’s attribution of blame to Black or White youth committing a crime. Participants read one of four scenarios in which a Black or White male (Kevin), who was or was not under peer pressure, stole a bicycle. To measure the amount of blame participants assigned to the adolescent, they completed a blame attribution inventory. Participants also completed a personality scale to measure their perceptions of the adolescent’s personal characteristics. To avoid being perceived as prejudiced, the researchers predicted participants would blame the White adolescent more than the Black adolescent for stealing the bicycle. Additionally, the researchers predicted that participants would blame the adolescent under peer pressure less than the adolescent not under peer pressure, regardless of race. Finally, the researchers hypothesized that participants would blame the Black adolescent less than the White adolescent in the presence of peer pressure. As predicted, participants blamed the White adolescent more than the Black adolescent, regardless of peer pressure and blamed the adolescent less when under peer pressure, regardless of race. Additionally, in the peer pressure condition, the White adolescent was blamed more than the Black adolescent. There was no interaction between the adolescent’s race and peer pressure