Finance for climate adaptation fails to reach the most vulnerable, household-level study in Madagascar finds
The study co-led by Claudien Razafiarimanana of the University of Antananarivo focuses on Madagascar as one of the world’s most climate vulnerable countries. Rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns threaten agricultural production, especially that of rice, which is the primary food source for most Malagasy households. A significant percentage of the population is chronically food insecure, especially during the annual rainy season. Several studies have documented how informal political patronage influences how public goods are distributed in the country.
This study analyzed surveys among 599 households and used qualitative findings from interviews to complement insights from the surveys’ results. The results show that more of the households that were better connected politically participated in the Adaptation Fund project. The study thus supports the thesis emerging from other research that internationally financed adaptation can exacerbate structural inequality in communities receiving international adaptation finance.
“We know that adaptation projects in many places are failing and making people worse off. Luckily these observations come hand-in-hand with better understanding of why this is happening. This paper provides some important new insights into the way in which relationships with political elites create disproportionate benefits for gaining adaptation funding. Thus, new projects should take into account that those without strong political connections are marginalised when it comes to accessing adaptation funding,“ says Lisa Schipper, professor in development geography at the University of Bonn.
The study argues that, to reach the most vulnerable, funders must improve their understanding of social and political dynamics within the countries and communities they target for international interventions. In the case of the Madagascar project three specific steps to ensure a greater portion of benefits reaches relatively vulnerable households could be taken:
- defining vulnerability according to context-specific criteria,
- focusing on dispersed goods,
- and working within, rather than around, entrenched forms of patronage.
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