C3 BDougherty AF14

Community-Scale Adaptation Assessment:: 

Community-Scale Adaptation Assessment: Fieldwork methods for project impact assessment AIACC_AF14 Project: Lessons for Climate Change Adaptation in Northern, Eastern and Sahelian Africa

Overview: 

Overview Project background Fieldwork goals and approach Fieldwork methods Scoping: initial site visit Data collection: second site visit Validation: third site visit

Project background (1): Premise and Motivation: 

Project background (1): Premise and Motivation Urgent adaptation needs of most vulnerable groups Increase current coping capacity through adaptation DCs in need of SD-consistent adaptation strategies Existence of local coping/adaptive strategies and lessons from other disciplines (e.g., SL, disaster mitigation, natural resource management); potential for integration Many no-regrets options and co-benefits But, disconnect between community needs and policy process; dominance of technical/structural response

Project background (2): Goal: 

Project background (2): Goal To support the process of climate change adaptation to effectively respond to the needs of vulnerable communities by documenting cases of effective community resilience-building and sharing lessons on why these cases were effective and how to support similar activity.

Project background (3): Research Scope: 

3 or 4 case studies of successful SL projects in drought-prone communities Project impact assessment (fieldwork): Has the project succeeded in building community resilience? In what ways? To what effect? Policy process analysis: What enabling factors account for project success? What policies, conditions, etc. (micro, meso, macro-scale) are behind successful experiences? How can these be built upon/encouraged? Project background (3): Research Scope

Project background (4): Steps: 

Project background (4): Steps Background/Preparation Project Impact Assessment (fieldwork) Initial site visit (scoping) Second site visit (data collection) Third site visit (validation) Policy Process Analysis Synthesis

Project Impact Assessment: Goals: 

Project Impact Assessment: Goals Measure/describe impact of successful SL projects (change in community resilience pre- and post-project) In order to: Generate lessons for pro-poor adaptation policy, planning and implementation

Project Impact Assessment: Objectives: 

Project Impact Assessment: Objectives Gain community trust, commitment and participation in the case study Confirm success of SL project Develop/finalize indicators Finalize and carry out data collection strategy Fill data gaps and validate findings Initiate policy process analysis

Project Impact Assessment: Approach: 

Project Impact Assessment: Approach Rely on community participation and expert judgment Develop locally relevant indicators and indicator criteria Blend quantitative and qualitative indicators using adapted version of the Livelihood Asset Status Tracking System (Bond and Mukherjee, 2002) Develop ‘word pictures’ with associated scores to measure changes in resilience

Initial site visit (scoping): 

Initial site visit (scoping) PURPOSE: garner community trust, interest in, and support of the project and the approach confirm the success of the SL activities from community perspective scope and schedule fieldwork, including participatory framework identify key stakeholders and local informants

Initial site visit (2): Preparation : 

Initial site visit (2): Preparation CSR’s should be prepared to discuss: a particular, locally-relevant climate extreme (signal event) a set of generic, expert derived qualitative indicators a process, including selection criteria, through which the community can consider and revise these indicators

Initial site visit (3): sample criteria for indicators : 

Initial site visit (3): sample criteria for indicators

Initial site visit (4): sample indicators : 

Initial site visit (4): sample indicators

Fieldwork: Second site visit (data collection): 

Fieldwork: Second site visit (data collection) PURPOSE: familiarize community with data collection strategy develop full sets of indicators (quantitative and qualitative) assemble indicator-based assessment sheets for use in interviews carry out interviews and assemble ‘word pictures’

Second site visit (2): Sample assessment sheet: 

Second site visit (2): Sample assessment sheet Adapted from Bond and Mukherjee (2002)

Second site visit (3): Collecting data through WPs: 

Second site visit (3): Collecting data through WPs Approach to survey/interviews: Use household circumstances during signal event as basis of comparison; compare with circumstances during recent or hypothetical event Use assessment sheets (one for each capital) as basis of interview questions. For example: “During the signal event (e.g., 1984 drought), what level of food stores did you have (in months)? Were they sufficient? If not, how great was the deficit (in months)? During the recent drought (post-SL activity) , what level of food stores did you have (in months)? Were they sufficient? If not, how great was the deficit (in months)? On assessment sheet, record number associated with interviewee responses to questions From these responses, assemble word pictures for each interview Record associated scores (for WPs pre- and post-SL activity) Keep interview to 15-20 minutes

Second site visit (4): Resulting Word Pictures: 

Second site visit (4): Resulting Word Pictures Adapted from Bond and Mukherjee (2002) Hypothetical word picture of household’s access to natural resources (natural capital)

Fieldwork: Third site visit (validation): 

Fieldwork: Third site visit (validation) PURPOSE: validate preliminary findings, using group meetings, targeted interviews and triangulation Resolve TF and Project Team questions/concerns, conducting necessary follow-up inquiries carry out inquiries for policy process analysis Note: Third site visit activities may be conducted as part of an extended second visit.

Third site visit (2): Preparation : 

Third site visit (2): Preparation CSR’s should be prepared to discuss: preliminary findings of the survey process a process for resolving key questions a process for validating preliminary findings a process for conducting policy analysis inquiries

Fieldwork Synthesis: 

Fieldwork Synthesis Outline data collected on changes in household and community resilience Summarize changes in resilience to climate impacts following project intervention Discuss the validation process Discuss the role of the project intervention in building community resilience