Skip to main content
Home

Main Menu

  • About
  • Contests
    • Changing Unsustainable Trade
    • Water Pollution and Behavior Change
    • Climate Change Needs Behavior Change
    • Farming for Biodiversity
    • Reducing Our Risk
    • Adapting to a Changing Environment
    • Turning the Tide for Coastal Fisheries
  • Solutions
  • Impact
    • Growing indigenous seeds with pride
    • Honey shows the way in Ethiopia
    • Revitalizing oceans and communities
    • Solar Sister Entrepreneurs
  • Log in
  • English
  • Chinese, Simplified
  • Français
  • Español
  • Indonesian
  • Portuguese, Brazil
Adapting to a Changing Environment

CRADES (Comitï de Rïflexion et d?Actions pour le Dïveloppement et Environnement de la Sambirano)

Ambanja, 马达加斯加

An Overview Of Our Solution

Who is this solution impacting?
生态系统
Forests
Forests
社区类型
Rural
Rural
Additional Information
  • Population Impacted:
  • Continent: Africa
General Info

地址

BP 124, 203
Ambanja
马达加斯加

电子邮件

vramahery@wwf.mg
Problem

受影响的人口

2,280 inhabitants (3 villages)

尺寸

200 ha of rice paddies

主要职业

Farming (rice, cocoa, vanilla, coffee); cattle rearing (mainly zebus)

社区所依赖的本地资源,以及用于什么目的

Humid forest: for water, wood, medicinal plants, food (honey, tubers, bush meat)

对资源的本地威胁

slash and burn agriculture

气候危害

change of rainfall patterns (longer dry season), high intensity and frequency of cyclones

敏感度等级

high because community livelihoods are not diversified and depend mostly on natural resources

适应能力水平

low adaptation capacity and thus weak social resilience. Local communities don?t have the financial and technical capacities to diversify their income generating activities and be less dependent on forest resources.
Solution

Considering the time and funds available, stakeholders decided to restore the irrigation system of rice paddies in Antseva, Antsahavary and Antanambaonamboangisay villages. This will help the villagers grow rice and get water to the rice paddies even if the rains are late. Rice is a staple food in Madagascar and most rural families grow rice for their own consumption. Also, since water can become scarce, proper irrigation systems can improve water management in these villages. This reduces dependence on rainfalls and the risk of losing essential annual harvests.

Results

生态成本

Loss of primary forest: fauna and vegetation cover

生态效益

Maintain forest ecosystem integrity to continue to provide goods and services

用于衡量效益的经济指标

- surface area of new cleared forest area

社区/社会成本

- Community volunteer time for transporting building materials to the sites - Time spent serving in the water management committee

社区/社会福利

- Community management of forests - Better ownership of adaptation projects

用于衡量福利的社区/社会指标

- number of farmers clearing up new forest areas - number of repairs done by the locals

经济成本

- Cost of building materials and workers - Cost of technical support : community organization and building

经济效益

Food security

用于衡量效益的生态指标

- annual harvest per ha - number of beneficiaries

您的社区在实施此解决方案时面临哪些挑战?

The main challenge was accessibility of the villages: villagers and workers had to walk for several hours to a whole day climbing and descending mountains to carry the building materials from the most accessible village to their villages. The solution to be implemented was identified in a participatory way with the villagers to make sure that it will match their needs and to get their support and ownership. They knew that the project?s role was to help but they will have tasks to undertake too. Though the irrigation system is simple and should be easy to maintain, there is always a risk of heavy rains causing land sliding and important damages. The water management committee?s financial and technical capacities to solve such problems are still low.

Action

描述用于开发解决方案的基于社区的流程,包括使用的工具和流程

Prior to implementing adaptation measures, vulnerability assessments were undertaken in the target villages. The assessments looked into the natural system (humid forest and fauna) and into the human system (local communities). The vulnerability was a function of three parameters: exposition, sensitivity and adaptation capacity. The adaptation measures were defined based on the vulnerability assessments results and prioritized with different local stakeholders from the Upper Ramena area: local authorities (Commune and Fokontany), regional authorities, village elders, villagers representatives, governmental services (forest, water, agriculture), local NGOs etc. The adaptation activities were implemented by CRADES in collaboration with the local population during six months from September 2012 until February 2013. The funds were from the MacArthur Foundation to support WWF project on climate change adaptation in Diana Region (northern Madagascar). A community-based organization per village is insuring the irrigation system management: checking on repairs to be undertaken and mobilizing the beneficiaries.

关注的气候危害

Drought

您的解决方案如何减少暴露和缓冲/保护受影响的生态系统?

When the local people?s livelihoods are insured and they get enough food from their land, they will not clear up new forest areas. Indeed, forest soil is good and fertile but will turn sterile after 3 to 4 years. The irrigation systems reduce human pressure on the forests and enhance the forest ecosystem natural resilience to extreme climate events. A cleared forest is more exposed to droughts or erosion from heavy rains due to scarce vegetation cover.

How has your solution increased the capacity of the ecosystem to adapt to potential climate changes?

Farmers have been experiencing longer dry seasons during the last 10 years. Due to unreliable water supply to their fields, they cope by clearing up forest areas, grow rice for 3 ? 4 years then move to other areas. This practice is a big threat to the forests and reduces the natural capacity of the ecosystem to adapt to climate changes. Permanently providing water to rice paddies helps the farmers sustain their livelihoods and protect the forest from external threats.

您的解决方案如何减少受影响社区的暴露并缓冲/保护受影响的社区?

N/A

您的解决方案如何降低受影响社区的敏感性?

Change of rainfall patterns and longer dry season affect the communities as their farming traditional techniques rely on the availability of water from rainfalls.

您的解决方案如何提高当地社区适应潜在气候变化的能力?

The solution which consists in restoring the farmers? irrigation systems allow the supplying of water to the rice paddies from permanent waterfalls. This increased the capacity of the communities to adapt to climate change impacts as they are less dependent to the rain and can grow rice all year long.

Scale

这个解决方案可以在其他地方复制吗?

Yes, it can be replicated to other villages within Upper Ramena area (7 other villages) and other villages in Madagascar facing similar problems. No, due to insufficient funding, this could not be replicated elsewhere yet. We plan to work in a fourth village this year.

Overview
Solution
Scale
Rare
© 2025 Rare.
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
back to top