Wednesday, September 15 th CORE Fall Meeting 2010

1. CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD SECURITY: IMPLICATIONS FOR SUSTAINING COMMUNITY HEALTHMODERATED BY ILONA VARALLYAY, JENNIFER YOURKAVITCH, AND ERIC SARRIOT Wednesday, September 15th CORE Fall Meeting 2010

2. Part I: An Introduction to CEDARS “The Center for Design and Research in Sustainability (CEDARS) pursues excellence in planning and measuring sustainability in health and social development initiatives. We are committed to learning from praxis through evaluation to inform ongoing debates about global health and the expanding challenges of community health for vulnerable groups in a globalized and changing world.” CEDARS | ICF Macro www.cedarscenter.com

3. What is CEDARS? CEDARS: A community of practice A think tank A partner forum • HOST OF SUSTAINABILITY DISCUSSION FORUM CEDARS hosts the Sustained Health Outcomes Group (SHOUT), which is a community of practice for health practitioners and researchers interested in advancing practical learning about sustainability in community-oriented health and development programs. • REPOSITORY OF SUSTAINABILITY RESOURCES CedarsCenter.com houses resources and short descriptions of projects by ICF but also by other partners whose work is relevant to our learning objectives. • A TEAM OF PROFESSIONALS WHO CAN PROVIDE TA The CEDARS team can offer advice and technical assistance to internal and external clients. We would be happy to refer you to other colleagues sharing similar interests and relevant experience. CEDARS | ICF Macro www.cedarscenter.com

4. How is CEDARS involved in “sustainable health and human development”? • Many colleagues involved in “sustainability” work take on a global / climate change / energy / environment perspective • CEDARS’s perspective is a bit different (and complementary) and is grounded in human and social development • Takes into account complexity and cross-cutting nature of “sustainability” • To date, core competencies of CEDARS have focused on community health and health systems strengthening but are seeking to pursue broader/global issues involving food security and social-ecological issues • Application of the Sustainability Framework: conceptual and practical framework for integration of sustainability into program implementation CEDARS | ICF Macro www.cedarscenter.com

5. CEDARS’ Three Strategic Interests CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

6. CEDARS | ICF Macro www.cedarscenter.com Part 2: Resources for Sustainability planning in child survival projects

7. Sustainability Manual • “Taking the Long View” • Can be found at www.cedarscenter.com/resources • Key Features • Introduces a theoretical framework • Describes practical implementation steps • Tips from practitioners (FAQs) • Toolbox CEDARS | ICF Macro www.cedarscenter.com

8. Projects • What can we learn from projects? • How project teams used the SF? • What were the results? • Where can I find this? • www.cedarscenter.com/projects • Summaries, links to tools and/or charts, contact information • Upload your projects! CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

9. CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

10. Fora • CEDARS Critical Issues Forum • Two or three hot topics per year • Currently, you can join the conversation about Food Security and Climate Change • CEDARS Café • “Water-cooler” style forum • Post a question or comment to the group anytime • Both can be accessed at http://www.cedarscenter.com/shout.cfm CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

11. CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

12. Other Resourceswww.cedarscenter.com/resources • Articles • Latest: “Pro-Sustainability Choices and Child Deaths Averted” • Reports • Post-project sustainability assessment—CWI Bangladesh • Elluminate training • Tools/aids used by practitioners • CRWRC Malawi Workshop Agenda CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

13. CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

14. Part3: Starting a Discussion… Do Community Health Professionals Have Anything to Say At this Stage about Building Adaptive Capacity Against Climate Change and Food Insecurity? Available on: http://www.cedarscenter.com/resources.

15. Context-IPCC 4th Assessment Report • High probability for global events • Uncertainty about the localized effects of climate change CEDARS | ICF Macro www.cedarscenter.com

16. Potential Impact of 3 Types of Climate Change Scenarios

17. Elements of GCC Risk Analysis • Multiple pathways in Climate Change all converge on threats to Food Security (i.e. Table 2 P.6)[Lessons from mixed effects crisis of 2007-2008 (UNICEF MENA) • Shocks on top of preexisting chronic food insecurity • Vulnerability and poverty more critical than urban-rural divide • Risk of competition for the same pot of resources] • Communities that will be Most Vulnerable To GCC are Largely Already the “Most Vulnerable” (IPCC; Ayers) • Global Action Will be Taken, but Local Status Quo is a Possible Scenario – Particularly in Vulnerable Communities CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

18. Communities Vulnerable to Climate Change are already ‘Vulnerable’ • Given that a community that is vulnerable in an existing climate is likely to be vulnerable to future climate change, it is not necessary to wait for climate change data to become available to start building adaptive capacity. Rather, the starting point for vulnerability reduction is development, and so the priorities for any development agency must first be meeting their existing aid commitments and focusing on community priorities in the near-term. Mainstreaming will not be effective if existing development trajectories are inconsistent with the objectives of adaptation, so first and foremost a “more of the same” approach to development must form the underlying basis for any adaptation program undertaken by development agencies. (Ayers, 2009) • “Climate-change models project that those likely to be adversely affected are the regions already most vulnerable to food insecurity, notably Africa, which may lose substantial agricultural land… Weak public-health systems and limited access to primary health care contribute to high levels of vulnerability and low adaptive capacity for hundreds of millions of people.” (IPCC) CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

19. Adaptation / Building Resilience (Smit & Pilifosova, 2001) • “Adaptation refers to adjustments in ecological, social, or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their effects or impacts. It refers to changes in processes, practices, and structures to moderate potential damages or to benefit from opportunities associated with climate change.” CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

20. Thoughts on Adaptation • “Underdevelopment fundamentally constrains adaptive capacity” (Smit & Pilifosova) • “Some people regard the adaptive capacity of a system as a function not only of the availability of resources but of access to those resources by decision makers and vulnerable subsectors of a population” • “The presence of power differentials can contribute to reduced adaptive capacity.” • “Our combined experience suggests that the best way to address climate change impacts on the poor is by integrating adaptation measures into sustainable development and poverty reduction strategies… Many adaptation mechanisms will be strengthened by making progress in areas such as good governance, human resources, institutional structures, public finance, and natural resource management. Such progress builds the resilience of countries, communities, and households to all types of shocks, including climate change impacts…” (The World Bank. 2009) • Value of ‘No Regrets’ Strategies CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

21. Adaptation Measures • “Soft* adaptation”: early warning systems, community preparedness, watershed management, etc., • Relies on collective action and effective institutions • “Hard* adaptation”: acts of engineering i.e. port upgrades, improvement of health infrastructure, etc. • Relies on hardware * (The World Bank. 2009) CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

22. Local Level Assessment of ‘Hard’ Adaptation Strategies

23. Local Level Assessment of ‘Soft’ Adaptation Strategies

24. Importance of Social Capital and “Social Infrastructure” • “The potential embedded in social relationships that enables residents to coordinate community action to achieve shared goals, such as adaptation to climate change.” (Ebi and Semenza. 2008) • Bonding capital – homogeneous groups • Bridging capital – heterogeneous groups • Linking capital – centers of power CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

25. Building Social Capital The Non-Negotiables Local Information to guide Local Action Clarity of outcomes Learn about existing adaptation strategies Focus data collection on food security (& community health) Orientation to action Consistency and unity of purpose – Time! The Keys • Information-based decision making • Community diagnosis • Local collection/use of primary data - Community based information systems • Multi-dimensional assessments • Multi-level decision making • Community-based management • Co-management between private actors and government agents • Lateral learning and sharing • Information sharing • Already existing adaptation strategies • Building bridging capital through joint learning • Attention to Equity • Ensuring the participation of all groups • Appropriately managing power imbalances • Conflict Resolution Mechanisms CEDARS Center | ICF Macro CEDARS | ICF Macro www.cedarscenter.com

26. Three Conclusions 1- A lack of local, sustainable community development associated with a poor social infrastructure represents the most widely shared source of insecurity and inadaptability among poor communities of developing countries. CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

27. Three Conclusions 2- Even context-specific, ‘hard’ adaptation strategies will be hindered in their effectiveness and impact in the absence of effective development processes which emphasizes ‘soft’ adaptation.(And multiple competing costs may take further away from under-resourced efforts at sustainable community development approaches.) CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

28. Three Conclusions 3- In the face of uncertainty, progressiveness, complexity, and randomness of GCC threats, sustainable adaptation processes should emphasize the building of a responsive and capable social infrastructure. We suggest that proper respect for time as a factor of social processes, unity and consistency of purpose demonstrated through appropriate local information systems and metrics, and equity in bringing stakeholders around decisionmaking processes will be central to these efforts. CEDARS Center | ICF Macro

29. Questions Continue the Discussion on CEDARScenter.com -> Register & Visit the Discussion Forums Area -> Critique, Revise, Provide Examples to Inform Global Agenda 1. What are your general thoughts and questions about the need for investing in sustainable social capital formation as a priority for addressing current vulnerability to GCC and building adaptive capacity?[Are current project approaches capable of this investment?] 2.What specific examples do you have of programs or projects (health, education, food security, agriculture) that combined elements proposed and led to demonstrable positive change? 3.In what ways do these examples support or not the case for prioritizing such local social processes through our development approach, in order to build adaptive capacity in the face of GCC? CEDARS | ICF Macro www.cedarscenter.com

30. Interests &Needs Survey Please assist us in improving our approach to supporting sustainability initiatives and fill out our quick Interest & Needs Survey. THANK YOU! CEDARS Center | ICF Macro