Strengthening Local Institutions as Avenues for Climate Change Resilience

Abstract

"In Africa, poverty and food insecurity is pervasive due to intertwined factors including, declining crop yields, land degradation, and inadequate policy and institutional support. With ever increasing populations, climate change effects will be intensified, and a major crisis is inevitable unless measures to sustain land resources are urgently taken. Weak grassroots institutions characterized by low capacity, failure to exploit collective capital and poor knowledge sharing and access to information, are common barriers to sustainable land management and improved food security. This paper argues that vibrant rural institutions are necessary to ensure food security and environmental protection, consequently contributing to climate change resilience. It demonstrates the role of institutions by evaluating two types of institutions and their impacts the ‘status quo’ and ‘hybrid’ institutions using case studies from the African Highlands Initiative in Uganda and IFRI in Kenya. It further discusses a model that highlights factors affecting smallholder investment in natural resources management and how these can be use to strengthen local institutions in building their resilience against climate change effects."