Adaptation strategies for smallholder communities in the Dry Corridor of Nicaragua

Abstract

Adaptation to climate change deserves specific attention for the future of rural development of Nicaragua. The smallholder communities located in the Dry Corridor of Nicaragua lack the resources and capabilities to cope with climate change (Bouroncle et al. 2016). Therefore, stronger efforts have to be made towards the implementation of site-specific adaptation strategies. This research proposes a combined approach which allows recognizing the feasibility of adaptation measures at the community level, taking into account the complexity of the climate-farming system interactions. A participatory approach is merged with a multi-criteria analysis and a quantitative vulnerability analysis. Structured and key informant interviews generate information about the climate change perception of the smallholders, their response and the difficulties they face. The results show that the smallholder communities present significant homogeneity in terms of self-organization, self-consumption and agricultural production. The vulnerability analysis displays positive values for every variable and the highest scores for the categories of water resources (1.54), forest (1.42) and livestock (1.99). Two main barriers against the implementation of adaptation strategies emerge: economic barrier and lack of knowledge. The most feasible adaptation strategies are biointensive agriculture and education. These two measures fulfil the broadest spectrum of criteria, operate on a different time-scale and allow overcoming the identified barriers. The findings suggest that future research has to move towards the development of a more holistic approach which recognizes the multi-faceted nature of agricultural adaptation in smallholder communities.