Climate Adaptation Resource Guide for Dryland & Semi-Arid Areas

Semi-arid regions are climate change hotspots, areas deemed particularly vulnerable to climate change.  Already climatically stressed with high temperatures, low rainfall and long dry seasons, the stressors are set to intensify as the climate changes. Climate models project future warming to be exaggerated for many dryland areas, often with more variable rainfall. Understanding what the science tells us about the uniqueness of the challenges facing the semi-arid regions is key to effectively adapting.

Accustomed to harsh and variable climates, people living in semi-arid regions already employ various risk management and coping strategies to manage the pressures on their livelihoods and wellbeing. Case studies of recent adaptation programmes can also contribute to global learning on effective, widespread and sustained adaptation in the semi-arid regions.

Ecosystems services - which can be product-based, process-related, cultural and ecosystem-supporting - offer direct and indirect contributions to human wellbeing. In the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia, people are particularly dependent on ecosystem services given that communities are characteristically poor with limited access to public services and livelihood opportunities. By harnessing ecosystem services, such communities have evolved lifestyles and traditions that enable their survival even when conditions are harsh. Recently, however, the integrity of ecosystems in these areas has been compromised by rapid growth in the human population, inadequate or unsustainable governance of resources, and the increasing intensity and severity of climate extremes.

Understanding what makes information about climate change understood, relevant and useful is key to it becoming knowledge, and to it being taken up and used for effective, sustained and widespread adaptation. Knowledge is transferred among different social groups through different knowledge systems. Well-functioning systems that enable learning and sharing about vulnerability, impact and adaptation underpin our ability to adapt to climate change, allow information to be used for decision making at different levels of governance, and ultimately facilitate adaptation action.

Climate change affects different people in different ways. While the harm caused by an impact is partly dependent on the event itself, the risks and vulnerabilities faced by people, households and communities are often socially-differentiated (e.g., by gender, ethnicity, age, wealth). This means that a person’s agency, and ability to respond and adapt to both climatic and non-climatic risks, is affected by a complex mix of structural and institutional arrangements, gender relations, inequalities, and norms and traditions. Understanding this complexity is not only essential to ensuring that adaptation is sustainable and successful, but also that it is equitable and does not compromise people’s wellbeing.

By considering what decisions are made, who makes them and in which ways, the understanding of governance offers key insights into climate change adaptation. A better awareness of governance systems and processes thus enables a deeper understanding of the vulnerabilities that are created during the development process, and offers a lever to mitigate such vulnerabilities and build adaptive capacities.