The CDR Nexus: Convergence of Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Land Restoration in Kajiado, Kitui, and Makueni Counties, Kenya

Experts have been calling for the integration of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction into local administrative units for decades. With the emergence of an international land restoration agenda, a growing interest exists to understand how landscape restoration can increase local resilience while catalyzing the integration of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. This project explores the interconnections and potential for achieving greater synergies among these three agendas, which we refer to as the CDR nexus. Kenya has committed to restore 5.1 million hectares of land under the AFR100 initiative (see box on page 2). One challenge for achieving this is that the country has a devolved system of government in which many CDR functions are implemented by 47 different subnational county administrations. Although general agreement exists that actions to achieve the goals of these policy areas should converge, some institutional barriers need to be overcome. For example, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and land restoration initiatives are often situated in different ministries and departments. In addition, county administrative borders do not follow landscape or hydrologic boundaries that are ideal for land restoration planning. Sustainable financing is another concern. Although there is a growing call to “unlock” private investments for land restoration, merging a profit orientation with the social nature of development is not always easy. Therefore, developing institutional frameworks to guide these new activities toward county land restoration objectives is critical

Mangroves, mudbanks and seawalls: whose environmental knowledge counts when adapting to sea level rise in Suriname?

Coastal communities in Suriname are highly vulnerable to sea level rise and will need to adapt. Global assessments of climate risk and vulnerability, such as IPCC reports, play an important role in the development of local adaptation policies. The aim of this article is to explore global and national discourses on climate change vulnerability and their local expressions in national policies. These discourses are juxtaposed with local understandings of vulnerability and adaptation possibilities. These different epistemologies are examined to understand how different knowledge claims and existing power structures lead to contested adaptation solutions. In Suriname, conflict arises in understandings of the coastal geomorphology and ecology of mangroves, and what role they play in adaptation to sea level rise. Conflicting environmental knowledges of mangrove ecology, species diversity, and their potential role in coastal erosion have led to conflict between the state and some local communities, resulting in potential maladaptations. New approaches for a 'situated environmental science' are explored to find more socially inclusive adaptation solutions. Key words: Adaptation, sea level rise, mangrove, seawall, knowledge, Surinam

Barriers to Participating in a Payment for Ecosystem Services Project in Githambara Micro Catchment, Upper-Tana, Kenya

International Non-Governmental Organizations have popularized payment for ecosystem services (PES) because of their potential to simultaneously achieve rural development and ecological conservation goals (GEF Secretariat 2014). Despite their rapid diffusion, there is insufficient assessment of their potential implications for social and economic stratification (Redford and Adams 2009). Indeed, there is growing evidence that PES may reproduce or even exacerbate existing inequalities in social development and resource access (Kosoyand Corbera2010, Porras 2010). However, the gender dimensions of PES impacts has been the focus of little scholarship, despite concerns about women’s exclusion from participating (e.g., Kariukiand Birner2016) or their inclusion in ways that reduce their decision-making power within the household (e.g., Schwartz 2017). This research uses a feminist political ecology lens to add to this small but growing body of work through an examination of how the PES program implementation influences gendered equity in access and outcomes of the associated sustainable land management (SLM) practices

What women and men want: Considering gender for successful, sustainable land management programs

This case study explores the different barriers that men and women face when implementing sustainable land management (SLM) under the Nairobi Water Fund (NWF) in Kenya. The NWF is a public-private partnership, designed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as a payment for ecosystem services (PES) scheme, under which farmers in the Upper Tana River basin receive in-kind payments for implementing sustainable land management practices. They include constructing water pans (see Figure 1) to reduce water extractions from the river in the dry season, building terraces to promote water infiltration and reduce soil erosion, or planting grass strips to reduce erosion when livestock are being fed. SLM also includes the promotion of agroforestry and a suite of riparian zone management practices

Review of Methodologies for Land Degradation Neutrality Baselines: Sub-National case studies from Costa Rica and Namibia

The objective of this report is to identify entry points and challenges for subnational LDN baselines in order to inform subnational planning processes as potential vehicle for the implementation of LDN targets on the ground. For this purpose two focus regions were chosen within two of the countries – namely Namibia and Costa Rica – that participated in the first LDN pilot phase. The focus areas in Namibia and Costa Rica are the regions of Otjozondjupa and Rio Jesus Maria watershed respectively. Both Namibia and Costa Rica provide interesting case studies given the differences in types of land degradation, national capacities, and land resources

Suriname: Reconciling agricultural development and conservation of unique natural wealth

National and transboundary adverse effects of competition for land are being increasingly recognized by researchers and decision-makers, however the consideration of these impacts within national planning strategies is not yet commonplace. To estimate how increasing agricultural production can be conciliated with protection of natural resources at the national scale, we analyzed current land use in Suriname, and investigated opportunities for, and constraints to developing a sustainable agricultural sector. Suriname is a remarkable case study. To date, Suriname has retained most of its natural resources with forest areas covering over 90% of the country. Surinamese forests combine extremely high levels of both biodiversity and carbon, making them top priority from a global ecosystem services perspective. Among other national and international pressures from increased demand for agricultural products, the country is also considering significant expansion of agricultural output to both diminish imports and become a ‘bread basket’ for the Caribbean region, which collectively may pose risks to natural resources. In this study, combining locally-obtained primary data, expert consultation and secondary data from the Food and Agriculture Organization we analyzed a range of scenarios, we show the complexities associated with current land management and we discuss alternatives for developing a sustainable agricultural sector in Suriname. We show that Suriname can increase the production of rice, which is the most important agricultural activity in the country, without expanding rice area. Rather, future increase in rice production could be promoted through an increase in rice productivity, and the employment of more environmentally-favorable management methods, in order to both diminish pollution and avoid encroachment of the agriculture into pristine areas. Further, we show a potential to both contribute to greening of the agricultural sector and to higher economic returns through expanding the production of ‘safe food’ and through possible development of organic agriculture in Suriname. If Suriname develops a ‘greener’ agricultural sector, it may both increase economic returns from the agricultural sector and benefit from continuing protection of natural resources. Because most of Suriname forests present top levels of carbon and biodiversity, the country could benefit from so-called ‘early-action’ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) finance, which is already being paid mostly through bilateral agreements. Further, by adopting land-use planning that protects natural resources, Suriname may be in extraordinary position to benefit from both improved-quality agricultural production and from incentives to conserve forest carbon and biodiversity, such as payments for ecosystem services. Given the high stakes and the severe lack of both primary data and applied analyses in Suriname, further research focused on better informing land-use policies would be a valuable investment for the country. Although this analysis was performed for Suriname, conclusions drawn here are transferrable and may assist formulation of policy recommendations for land use elsewhere

UNDERSTANDING AND SIMULATING SPATIAL SOIL WATER AND YIELD VARIABILITY IN AN IRRIGATED SOYBEAN FIELD By

b

Mangroves, Mudbanks and Seawalls: Political Ecology of Adaptation to Sea Level Rise in Suriname

This study seeks to understand how global discourses of sea level rise (SLR) and mangrove ecology influence national climate change adaptation policy to reduce coastal vulnerability in Suriname. A majority of the Surinamese population lives along the low elevation coastal zone and is highly exposed to projected SLR. Failure by the international community to reach agreement on climate change mitigation means that vulnerable coastal communities must adapt. The Suriname coast is predominantly shaped by mudbanks and mangroves which together provide protection against coastal erosion and trap sediments resulting in coastal accretion. Knowledge claims of mangrove ecology and utility in SLR adaptation are contested between scientists, policy makers and community activist groups. Scientific understandings of coastal processes, specifically the relationship between mangroves and mudbanks and resulting erosion, remain inconclusive. Local knowledge has offered alternative explanations for this relationship, but it also has limitations, particularly for large-scale ecological processes. This study argues that global discourses of SLR and mangrove ecology need to be countered for sustainable adaptation to ALR. Equitable adaptation should include local knowledge and understanding of coastal processes while also drawing on scientific methods of data analysis at large scales