A dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity to climate change: A case study of water management in Makondo, Uganda

This thesis is carried out against the backdrop of serious concerns that climate change will affect the livelihoods of rural people in Sub-Saharan Africa. I examine the adaptive capacity of people at the micro-scale of action and practice in rural Africa, in particular those in Makondo Parish, in the southwest of Uganda. The focus is on the way adaptive capacity emerges from the interaction of community members, extra-local actors such as non-governmental organizations, and national and local policy-makers. The thesis builds upon literature that explores adaptive capacity at the micro-scale of action and practice in rural Africa. The research, which employs context-sensitive methods, specifically ethnographic and participatory methodologies, contributes to a growing literature on adaptive capacity to climate change in three key ways. First, methodologically, I argue that the application of participatory Geographical Information Systems (PGIS) alongside ethnography can offer a context-sensitive approach for assessing the complex subject of adaptive capacity. The approach – which I refer to as a ‗dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity‘ – can reveal data about people and their places that might not otherwise emerge; data that may be of critical importance to understanding adaptive capacities. The approach helps uncover complex realities in relation to both social connections and connections with place. Second, the thesis explores adaptive capacity and water governance. The results of the research reveal that relations and practices may affect the adaptive capacity of people in these areas to deal with climate change. Although at the household level people display context-based adaptive strategies such as water recycling and seasonal adjustments, the overall adaptive capacity of community members is constrained by gender-based and village-level water governance mechanisms that limit how future adaptive strategies will develop. My dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity takes these complex issues into consideration with a view to developing an understanding of how adaptive capacity is shaped by access to resources and power. My study therefore suggests that, at the micro-scale, adaptive capacity strategies require efforts that address multiple limitations with regards water governance, because these limitations may be associated with the various determinants of adaptive capacity. The third contribution concerns the role of agro-pastoralism in shaping adaptive capacity. Results from the research reveal that adaptive capacity is happening via a complex web of relationships that have implications at individual level. Agro-pastoralists display context-based adaptive strategies such as application of local knowledge about water, cooperation and sharing and seasonal diversification of livelihoods. All these coping mechanisms benefit wider community in Makondo. However, the overall adaptive capacity of agro-pastoralists is constrained by enclosure that limits how future adaptive capacity will develop

A dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity to climate change: A case study of water management in Makondo, Uganda

This thesis is carried out against the backdrop of serious concerns that climate change will affect the livelihoods of rural people in Sub-Saharan Africa. I examine the adaptive capacity of people at the micro-scale of action and practice in rural Africa, in particular those in Makondo Parish, in the southwest of Uganda. The focus is on the way adaptive capacity emerges from the interaction of community members, extra-local actors such as non-governmental organizations, and national and local policy-makers. The thesis builds upon literature that explores adaptive capacity at the micro-scale of action and practice in rural Africa. The research, which employs context-sensitive methods, specifically ethnographic and participatory methodologies, contributes to a growing literature on adaptive capacity to climate change in three key ways. First, methodologically, I argue that the application of participatory Geographical Information Systems (PGIS) alongside ethnography can offer a context-sensitive approach for assessing the complex subject of adaptive capacity. The approach – which I refer to as a ‗dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity‘ – can reveal data about people and their places that might not otherwise emerge; data that may be of critical importance to understanding adaptive capacities. The approach helps uncover complex realities in relation to both social connections and connections with place. Second, the thesis explores adaptive capacity and water governance. The results of the research reveal that relations and practices may affect the adaptive capacity of people in these areas to deal with climate change. Although at the household level people display context-based adaptive strategies such as water recycling and seasonal adjustments, the overall adaptive capacity of community members is constrained by gender-based and village-level water governance mechanisms that limit how future adaptive strategies will develop. My dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity takes these complex issues into consideration with a view to developing an understanding of how adaptive capacity is shaped by access to resources and power. My study therefore suggests that, at the micro-scale, adaptive capacity strategies require efforts that address multiple limitations with regards water governance, because these limitations may be associated with the various determinants of adaptive capacity. The third contribution concerns the role of agro-pastoralism in shaping adaptive capacity. Results from the research reveal that adaptive capacity is happening via a complex web of relationships that have implications at individual level. Agro-pastoralists display context-based adaptive strategies such as application of local knowledge about water, cooperation and sharing and seasonal diversification of livelihoods. All these coping mechanisms benefit wider community in Makondo. However, the overall adaptive capacity of agro-pastoralists is constrained by enclosure that limits how future adaptive capacity will develop

A dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity to climate change: A case study of water management in Makondo, Uganda

This thesis is carried out against the backdrop of serious concerns that climate change will affect the livelihoods of rural people in Sub-Saharan Africa. I examine the adaptive capacity of people at the micro-scale of action and practice in rural Africa, in particular those in Makondo Parish, in the southwest of Uganda. The focus is on the way adaptive capacity emerges from the interaction of community members, extra-local actors such as non-governmental organizations, and national and local policy-makers. The thesis builds upon literature that explores adaptive capacity at the micro-scale of action and practice in rural Africa. The research, which employs context-sensitive methods, specifically ethnographic and participatory methodologies, contributes to a growing literature on adaptive capacity to climate change in three key ways. First, methodologically, I argue that the application of participatory Geographical Information Systems (PGIS) alongside ethnography can offer a context-sensitive approach for assessing the complex subject of adaptive capacity. The approach – which I refer to as a ‗dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity‘ – can reveal data about people and their places that might not otherwise emerge; data that may be of critical importance to understanding adaptive capacities. The approach helps uncover complex realities in relation to both social connections and connections with place. Second, the thesis explores adaptive capacity and water governance. The results of the research reveal that relations and practices may affect the adaptive capacity of people in these areas to deal with climate change. Although at the household level people display context-based adaptive strategies such as water recycling and seasonal adjustments, the overall adaptive capacity of community members is constrained by gender-based and village-level water governance mechanisms that limit how future adaptive strategies will develop. My dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity takes these complex issues into consideration with a view to developing an understanding of how adaptive capacity is shaped by access to resources and power. My study therefore suggests that, at the micro-scale, adaptive capacity strategies require efforts that address multiple limitations with regards water governance, because these limitations may be associated with the various determinants of adaptive capacity. The third contribution concerns the role of agro-pastoralism in shaping adaptive capacity. Results from the research reveal that adaptive capacity is happening via a complex web of relationships that have implications at individual level. Agro-pastoralists display context-based adaptive strategies such as application of local knowledge about water, cooperation and sharing and seasonal diversification of livelihoods. All these coping mechanisms benefit wider community in Makondo. However, the overall adaptive capacity of agro-pastoralists is constrained by enclosure that limits how future adaptive capacity will develop

A dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity to climate change: A case study of water management in Makondo, Uganda

This thesis is carried out against the backdrop of serious concerns that climate change will affect the livelihoods of rural people in Sub-Saharan Africa. I examine the adaptive capacity of people at the micro-scale of action and practice in rural Africa, in particular those in Makondo Parish, in the southwest of Uganda. The focus is on the way adaptive capacity emerges from the interaction of community members, extra-local actors such as non-governmental organizations, and national and local policy-makers. The thesis builds upon literature that explores adaptive capacity at the micro-scale of action and practice in rural Africa. The research, which employs context-sensitive methods, specifically ethnographic and participatory methodologies, contributes to a growing literature on adaptive capacity to climate change in three key ways. First, methodologically, I argue that the application of participatory Geographical Information Systems (PGIS) alongside ethnography can offer a context-sensitive approach for assessing the complex subject of adaptive capacity. The approach – which I refer to as a ‗dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity‘ – can reveal data about people and their places that might not otherwise emerge; data that may be of critical importance to understanding adaptive capacities. The approach helps uncover complex realities in relation to both social connections and connections with place. Second, the thesis explores adaptive capacity and water governance. The results of the research reveal that relations and practices may affect the adaptive capacity of people in these areas to deal with climate change. Although at the household level people display context-based adaptive strategies such as water recycling and seasonal adjustments, the overall adaptive capacity of community members is constrained by gender-based and village-level water governance mechanisms that limit how future adaptive strategies will develop. My dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity takes these complex issues into consideration with a view to developing an understanding of how adaptive capacity is shaped by access to resources and power. My study therefore suggests that, at the micro-scale, adaptive capacity strategies require efforts that address multiple limitations with regards water governance, because these limitations may be associated with the various determinants of adaptive capacity. The third contribution concerns the role of agro-pastoralism in shaping adaptive capacity. Results from the research reveal that adaptive capacity is happening via a complex web of relationships that have implications at individual level. Agro-pastoralists display context-based adaptive strategies such as application of local knowledge about water, cooperation and sharing and seasonal diversification of livelihoods. All these coping mechanisms benefit wider community in Makondo. However, the overall adaptive capacity of agro-pastoralists is constrained by enclosure that limits how future adaptive capacity will develop

A dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity to climate change: A case study of water management in Makondo, Uganda

This thesis is carried out against the backdrop of serious concerns that climate change will affect the livelihoods of rural people in Sub-Saharan Africa. I examine the adaptive capacity of people at the micro-scale of action and practice in rural Africa, in particular those in Makondo Parish, in the southwest of Uganda. The focus is on the way adaptive capacity emerges from the interaction of community members, extra-local actors such as non-governmental organizations, and national and local policy-makers. The thesis builds upon literature that explores adaptive capacity at the micro-scale of action and practice in rural Africa. The research, which employs context-sensitive methods, specifically ethnographic and participatory methodologies, contributes to a growing literature on adaptive capacity to climate change in three key ways. First, methodologically, I argue that the application of participatory Geographical Information Systems (PGIS) alongside ethnography can offer a context-sensitive approach for assessing the complex subject of adaptive capacity. The approach – which I refer to as a ‗dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity‘ – can reveal data about people and their places that might not otherwise emerge; data that may be of critical importance to understanding adaptive capacities. The approach helps uncover complex realities in relation to both social connections and connections with place. Second, the thesis explores adaptive capacity and water governance. The results of the research reveal that relations and practices may affect the adaptive capacity of people in these areas to deal with climate change. Although at the household level people display context-based adaptive strategies such as water recycling and seasonal adjustments, the overall adaptive capacity of community members is constrained by gender-based and village-level water governance mechanisms that limit how future adaptive strategies will develop. My dynamic assessment of adaptive capacity takes these complex issues into consideration with a view to developing an understanding of how adaptive capacity is shaped by access to resources and power. My study therefore suggests that, at the micro-scale, adaptive capacity strategies require efforts that address multiple limitations with regards water governance, because these limitations may be associated with the various determinants of adaptive capacity. The third contribution concerns the role of agro-pastoralism in shaping adaptive capacity. Results from the research reveal that adaptive capacity is happening via a complex web of relationships that have implications at individual level. Agro-pastoralists display context-based adaptive strategies such as application of local knowledge about water, cooperation and sharing and seasonal diversification of livelihoods. All these coping mechanisms benefit wider community in Makondo. However, the overall adaptive capacity of agro-pastoralists is constrained by enclosure that limits how future adaptive capacity will develop

Adapting to climate change in shifting landscapes of belief

Religious beliefs, an important element of culture, influence adaptation to climate change. Less understood is how changing beliefs shape the adaptive capacity of communities responding to climate change. In the last century sub-Saharan Africa has experienced a transformation in beliefs. Since 1900 Christians have increased 70-fold while in rural areas Traditional Beliefs and associated Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) continue to influence the lived practices of vulnerable rural communities. Using two case studies of rural communities in Malawi (Bolero) and Zambia (Monze) we explore how Christianity and Traditional beliefs (and associated TEK) co-exist and assess if, and how, holding multiple belief systems affects climate-sensitive livelihood practices of food production. In Bolero we observed a lack of tensions between belief systems with Traditional leaders and elders noting the flexibility of adhering to both belief systems. In Monze however, basing livelihood decisions on the practice of rain-rituals resulted in strong tensions. In both communities elders noted their concern of how changing beliefs affect adherence to TEK management practices. We find that culture and beliefs play an important role in adaptive capacity but are not static. In the context of changing beliefs, adaptive capacity will be influenced by how different belief systems co-exist and how epistemological and intergenerational frictions are negotiated. As climate services become the focus of research and government interventions in vulnerable regions, avoiding culturally and economically expensive mal-adaptation will require giving attention to the complexity and dynamism of changing religious landscapes