In recent years, Jamaica has been seriously affected by a number of extreme meteorological events. The one discussed here, Hurricane Dean, passed along the south coast of the island in August 2007, damaging crops and disrupting livelihood activities for many small-scale farmers. This study is based on detailed ethnographic research in the southern coastal region of St.
The world’s climate is continuing to change at rates that are projected to be unprecedented in recent human history. Some models are now indicating that the temperature increases to 2100 may be larger than previously estimated in 2001. The impacts of climate change are likely to be considerable in tropical regions.
he connection between indigenous knowledge systems and disaster resilience derives from both theory and practice highlighting potential contributions of indigenous knowledge to building resilient communities.
Livestock production both contributes to and is affected by climate change. In addition to the physiological effects of higher temperatures on individual animals, the consequences of climate change are likely to include increased risk that geographically restricted rare breed populations will be badly affected by disturbances.
This paper analyses the vulnerability of South African agriculture to climate change and variability by developing a vulnerability index and comparing vulnerability indicators across the nine provinces of the country. Nineteen environmental and socio-economic indicators are identified to reflect the three components of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity.
This paper is a methodological contribution to emerging debates on the role of learning, particularly forward-looking (anticipatory) learning, as a key element for adaptation and resilience in the context of climate change.
We explore the social dimension that enables adaptive ecosystem-based management. The review concentrates on experiences of adaptive governance of socialecological systems during periods of abrupt change (crisis) and investigates social sources of renewal and reorganization. Such governance connects individuals, organizations, agencies, and institutions at multiple organizational levels.
Recent debates on indigenous knowledge have tended to focus on building up even more case study material of good practice in indigenous knowledge at the local level; the integration of indigenous and scientific knowledge; and the trend towards increased co-option of indigenous knowledge into the current neoliberal discourse.
The word indigenous has been used to refer to specific groups of people defined by the criteria of ancestral territory, collective cultural configuration, and historical location in relation to the expansion of Europe. Since the 1980s, however, the term has evolved beyond its specific empirical reference.
Scientific knowledge systems have received increasing criticism within the social science literature while indigenous knowledge systems are often over-optimistically presented as viable alternative ways of knowing. This paper argues that we need to search for more effective and creative interactions between indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge systems.