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The Sustainability of Community-Based Adaptation Projects in the Blue Nile Highlands of Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Belay Simane

    (College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, PoBox 1176, Ethiopia)

  • Benjamin F. Zaitchik

    (Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA)

Abstract

Climate resilience in subsistence agricultural communities depends strongly on the robustness and effective management of the agricultural natural resource base. For this reason, adaptation planning efforts frequently focus on natural resource conservation as the primary motivation for and primary outcome of adaptation activities. Here, we present an analysis of the sustainability of community based adaptation (CBA) activities in 20 community based organizations (CBO) that were established in the Blue Nile Highlands of Ethiopia in order to promote resilience to climate change. CBA sustainability was assessed through multi-criteria analysis using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Sustainability was considered for social, institutional, technical, financial, and environmental dimensions, with second-order indicators or factors defined for each dimension. According to this analysis, CBA efforts of two thirds of the COBs studied were found to be unsustainable in all dimensions and CBA efforts of the remaining CBOs were found to be at risk of unsustainability. A number of barriers to CBA sustainability were identified, including inadequacies in community participation, training of local community members, local government commitment, farmer capacity, and bureaucratic efficiency. Participatory evaluation of CBA, however, revealed that many of these barriers can be attributed to the decision to use conservation of natural resources as the primary framework for CBA activities. Based on this evaluation, new efforts have been developed that use markets as the entry and exit points for sustainability activities. Lessons learned in this project are relevant for CBA efforts in other agricultural regions of the developing world.

Suggested Citation

  • Belay Simane & Benjamin F. Zaitchik, 2014. "The Sustainability of Community-Based Adaptation Projects in the Blue Nile Highlands of Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(7), pages 1-18, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:7:p:4308-4325:d:38119
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. W. Neil Adger, 2003. "Social Capital, Collective Action, and Adaptation to Climate Change," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 79(4), pages 387-404, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Shahid Rasheed & ChangFeng Wang & Bruno Lucena, 2015. "Risk Leveling in Program Environments—A Structured Approach for Program Risk Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-24, May.
    2. Nigussie, Yalemzewd & van der Werf, Edwin & Zhu, Xueqin & Simane, Belay & van Ierland, Ekko C., 2018. "Evaluation of Climate Change Adaptation Alternatives for Smallholder Farmers in the Upper Blue-Nile Basin," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 142-150.
    3. Ralph Lasage & Sanne Muis & Carolina S. E. Sardella & Michiel A. Van Drunen & Peter H. Verburg & Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts, 2015. "A Stepwise, Participatory Approach to Design and Implement Community Based Adaptation to Drought in the Peruvian Andes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-32, February.
    4. María Carmen Carnero, 2015. "Assessment of Environmental Sustainability in Health Care Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-22, June.

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