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Climate change adaptation-disaster risk reduction nexus: case study from Ethiopia

Million Gebreyes (Institute of Geography, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany)
Kindie Tesfaye (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
Beneberu Feleke (Department of Environmental Science, Haramaya University, Haramaya, Ethiopia)

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management

ISSN: 1756-8692

Article publication date: 19 September 2017

Issue publication date: 29 September 2017

667

Abstract

Purpose

The recently released fifth IPCC report indicates a high agreement among global actors on the need to integrate climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR). However, there remains little local level evidence on how DRR and CCA could be linked, the sorts of adjustments that are required for the two concepts to be integrated and the challenges ahead. This paper aims to provide an empirical insight on the possible links and departures between DRR and CCA.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a qualitative case study approach to excavate lessons from an existing DRR intervention for CCA using a local-level adaptive capacity assessment framework as a normative criteria. Data was collected both from primary and secondary sources. The primary data collection involved the use of participatory rural appraisal techniques with village communities in Chifra District, Afar Regional State, Ethiopia.

Findings

The findings showed that the DRR interventions studied addressed parts of the elements of adaptive capacity at the local level. The findings also showed the limitation of the DRR intervention, which could be attributed to both the nature of the DRR interventions in general and implementation problems of the case study intervention in particular. The limitations show cases where full integration of DRR with CCA could be challenging.

Originality/value

The paper argues why the two approaches may not be integrated fully and also shows the need to focus on the design of DRR interventions in achieving both short-term (reducing disaster risks) and long-term objectives (enhancing adaptive capacity).

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Africa Climate Change Resilience Alliance (ACCRA) through Oxfam Great Britain Ethiopia Office. The authors are thankful to Dr Jin-Tae Hwang and Dr Florian Weiser for their comment on the earlier version of the paper. The authors also thank the three anonymous reviewers for their critical reviews which improved the paper.

Citation

Gebreyes, M., Tesfaye, K. and Feleke, B. (2017), "Climate change adaptation-disaster risk reduction nexus: case study from Ethiopia", International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, Vol. 9 No. 6, pp. 829-845. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-01-2016-0006

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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