Promoting climate-resilient rural livelihoods through - Environment and adaptation to climate change ESRC_briefing_paper_1

Promoting climate-resilient rural livelihoods through

adaptive social protection

Adaptive social protection (ASP) combines key elements of social protection (SP), disaster risk

reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CAA) approaches as a means to promote climate-

resilient rural livelihoods in policy and practice in developing countries.

Rural livelihoods in developing countries are coming

under increasing pressure due to climate change. To

date, little progress has been made on thinking about

how to protect the poorest and most vulnerable people

from its impacts. With large amounts of financial

assistance pledged for adaptation and social protection in

the most vulnerable developing countries in the coming

years, ASP (see Figure 1) offers a promising approach

through which to channel adaptation assistance to those

who need it the most.

In addition, it is becoming increasingly recognized

that SP initiatives, such as cash transfers and food-

for-work programmes, are as much at risk from climate

change as other development approaches. They are

unlikely to succeed in reducing poverty if they do not

consider the short- and long-term shocks associated

with climate change, such as increased frequency and

intensity of floods and droughts. ASP therefore aims

to address this concern by developing climate change-

resilient SP programmes.

households, carrying out beneficiary needs assessments,

and providing skills development training courses for

beneficiaries.

What further work on ASP is required?

Future work needs to strengthen the evidence base upon

which ASP is based, focusing on the practice of SP,

CCA and DRR on the ground. To this end, Institute of

Development Studies is currently completing a desk-

based review of approximately 150 agricultural projects

and programmes in south Asia and east Africa. This

evidence can form the basis of advocacy efforts on ASP

amongst decision-makers in developing countries and the

development community.

SP can increase resilience to disasters

or rebuild assets after a disaster

‘Adaptive social

protection’

How does ASP work?

ASP recognizes that the disciplines of SP, DRR and CAA

have their own strengths and weaknesses, and works to

maximize the advantages that each brings to poverty and

vulnerability reduction.

By combining SP approaches with DRR and CCA,

it is possible to look beyond simply protecting people

from transitory, shock-induced poverty, towards disaster

prevention and livelihood promotion to address the

structural constraints associated with poverty. For

example, Practical Action’s Mainstreaming Livelihood-

Centred Approaches to Disaster Management project (see

http://practicalaction.org/?id=mainstreaming_disaster_

approaches_bangladesh) in Bangladesh utilizes asset

transfer SP mechanisms for the extreme poor, as well as

ensuring sufficient investment for asset appreciation and

disaster protection over the longer term. This addresses

some of the root causes of marginalization associated

with lack of viable livelihood options rather than simply

attempting to lift people out of poverty over the short

term.

Similarly, considering CCA and DRR in the context

of SP creates strong incentives for developing longer-

term, risk reduction perspectives that increase climate

resilience. For example, the aim of the Improving

Capacity of Vulnerable Households project in Bangladesh

(managed by BCAS, CARE Bangladesh, RVCC, and

CIDA) is to increase the capacity of communities in

the Gopalganj district to adapt to the adverse effects

of climate change through diversification of livelihood

options. Activities involve identifying vulnerable

Social

protection

Disaster risk

reduction

SP can support

adaptive capacity

through building

assets, supporting

livelihoods, or

increasing the rights

of the vulnerable

Climate change

adaptation

CCA is characterized by

tackling vulnerability to

changing distribution

of extreme climatic

events

Figure 1: Adaptive Social Protection

Authors

Alex Arnall, Tom Mitchell and Mark Davies

Institute of Development Studies

University of Sussex

Brighton, BN1 9RE. UK.

Email: A.Arnall@ids.ac.uk