Abstract
Indigenous institutions are among the potential key actors in local adaptation to climate change in vulnerable traditional farming systems. However, their multiple roles in traditional systems including promoting collective adaptation and natural resource governance have long been ignored or overlooked by many. Using an Adaptation, Institutions and Livelihoods (AIL) conceptual framework, this empirical chapter explores the roles indigenous institutions play in supporting local adaptation to climate change in Borana pastoral and agropastoral systems in south Ethiopia. Data were collected through face-to-face individual interviews from ten key informants with representatives of ten different pastoral and agropastoral associations in five districts. The study used a qualitative study of grounded theory method, and interview data were qualitatively processed through a thematic analysis procedure using NVivo software. Results showed that indigenous institutions play crucial roles in framing climate change problems and facilitating adaptive responses, which support the hypothesis that customary institutions are valuable actors in local adaptation institutional landscape. Despite their diminishing roles attributed to various factors, indigenous institutions are still locally perceived to provide better support than state counterparts in terms of framing vulnerability, fostering local adaptive capacity, shaping adaptive responses, and serving as the de facto common property natural resources governance regime contributing to climate-resilient development. Future adaptation efforts by external actors should consider participatory and bottom-up approaches that can encourage and integrate indigenous institutions into planning and decision making toward improved adaptation outcomes and the sustainability of pastoral and agropastoral systems.
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Acknowledgments
We extend our thanks to the University of Tasmania for providing the financial support needed to consolidate this chapter.
Ethical Considerations
The study entailed fieldwork with human groups and communities adhering to ethical standards for research. The University of Tasmania’s Human Research Ethics Committee approved the ethical considerations and standard of this research project (Ref# H0012318) to ensure protection of welfare and rights of study participants. Requisite clearances to go to the villages were obtained from zonal and district administrations before participants were identified and interviews conducted. Before the interviews were conducted, the intents of this study were clarified to every study participant then after written informed consent was sought and obtained. Every safeguard measure was taken in order to ensure individuals’ privacy and avoid distress. Participants were further informed on the possibility of halting the interview at any point in time during the interview process and removal of any part or all of the interview response should they desire to do so. During the transcription, analysis, and report writing, participant codes rather than names were used to protect privacy and maintain anonymity.
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Debela, N., Bridle, K., Mohammed, C., McNeil, D. (2021). Enhancing the Role of Indigenous Institutions in Adaptation to Climate Change in Borana Pastoral and Agropastoral Systems, South Ethiopia. In: Luetz, J.M., Ayal, D. (eds) Handbook of Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57281-5_333
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