Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sostenibilidad

Just another web-blogs Sites site

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Agriculture and Food Security
    • Climate change
    • Ecosystems and Biodiversity
    • Environmental and Social Safeguards
    • Infrastructure and Sustainable Landscapes
    • Institutionality
    • Responsible Production and Consumption
  • Authors
  • English
    • Español

The human face of climate change adaptation

April 10, 2014 por Jennifer Doherty-Bigara Leave a Comment


09121HA_0006Sometimes climate change can seem a little abstract. Some of us believe we can only convince our partners with long-term benefits, geeky climate models, strong financial analysis and any kind of scientific tool we may find. But still, climate change projects are about people today.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Haiti working on an agricultural project to be implemented in the area of Boucle Artibonite. Farming in Haiti plays a key role in the lives of million: it is the main source of income in the country, employing around 60% of Haitians, although it only generates 28% of the country’s GDP. Finally, the need to ensure food security aggravates the existing challenges and the reality is that climate change will not make things easier. Haiti, as well as other Caribbean island states, is particularly vulnerable to the forecasted warmer temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and more powerful tropical storms.

On our trip I met Shadja; she was handpicking black beans and shared with me stories about her work. The severity of the working conditions and the change in weather patterns have made her everyday tasks more complicated. She also used to leave her land fallow leaving a field idle for a certain period of time to allow nutrients to regenerate but this practice has become economically impossible as she  needs to have a continuous income with the little plot she has.  In Haiti, about a third of the agricultural labor force is represented by women. They carry out all the duties in the planting, gathering and selling of their production, but barely have any say on the distribution of the income generated.

Shadja is only one of thousands of Haitian farmers that have developed resilient strategies to cope with new climate patterns. They are relying on their arboriculture skills and a lot of creativity to strengthen their production by combining fruit trees and various roots. This is truly a measure grounded in the community, as these farmers understand their soils and are willing to adapt to changing conditions in their climate. Strengthening initiatives like this requires support as Haiti’s agriculture lacks adequate inputs and infrastructure and could benefit from innovative approaches to become more efficient and be scalable.

The project I am working on will support local adaptation initiatives for the farming community and will aim at leveling the participation of women in the proceeds. This will be achieved by focusing on the diversification of seeds, the promotion of local crops resilient to extreme climate events –such as drought and floods, at the same time better conditions for women in the agricultural sector are fostered.

Adaptation to climate change has a human face in Haiti, and in many cases, it is a woman’s face. But most importantly climate change is about enhancing the livelihoods of the most vulnerable and therefore it is crucial to understand that poverty eradication and climate change need to work hand in hand to achieve real sustainable development for the poor.

Follow us on Twitter: @BIDcambioclima

 [button color=”#2b2b2b” background=”#ffffff” size=”medium” src=”https://blogs.iadb.org/cambioclimatico/2014/04/10/el-rostro-humano-de-la-adaptacion-al-cambio-climatico”]español[/button]


Filed Under: Climate change

Jennifer Doherty-Bigara

Jennifer Doherty-Bigara is a policy advisor and climate change specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank, based in the country office of Barbados. With over ten years of experience in the sustainability agenda, she has mainly focused on climate governance and national and local climate change policies (NDCs, LTS, SDGs), fiscal policy and green budgeting, climate finance and long-term planning exercises with an adaptation approach. Jennifer has gained analytical and operational knowledge advising governments through the coordination of the NDC Invest Platform and afterwards mainstreaming climate change considerations in the IDB portfolio of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, ensuring the design and implementation of sustainable development projects. She also gained key insights as an external appointee in the Agence Française de Developpement (AFD), coordination the efforts of the Adapt ‘Action Platform in the Gulf of Guinea and the Indian Ocean. She has also worked on climate finance and coordinated fundraising efforts as part of the SECCI Funds, ACL, PROADAPT, and bilateral donations. Jennifer holds a master´s in International Development Policy from the McCourt School of Public Policy (MSPP), University of Georgetown and a Master’s in International Affairs from Sciences Po Toulouse. Follow Jennifer on Twitter: @jdohertybigara @jdohertybigara

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

SEARCH

Sustainability

This blog is a space to reflect about the challenges, opportunities and the progress made by Latin American and Caribbean countries on the path towards the region’s sustainable development.

SIMILAR POSTS

  • Adaptation Initiatives in Agriculture and Infrastructure in Haiti
  • Private Sector and Community Groups Carry Out Adaptation Projects
  •  Jamaica’s PPCR Investment Plan Will Mainstream Climate Change Adaptation
  • Women lead the way to greater climate resilience
  • An Adaptation Program that Focuses on Water Resources

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

Blog posts written by Bank employees:

Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


For blogs written by external parties:

For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



Privacy Policy

Derechos de autor © 2023 · Magazine Pro en Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

Aviso Legal

Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

facebook
twitter
youtube
This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
To learn more about cookies, click here
x
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT