Project/Programme Proposal to the Adaptation Fund
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
PROJECT/PROGRAMME PROPOSAL TO THE ADAPTATION FUND PART I: PROJECT/PROGRAMME INFORMATION Project/Programme Category: Regular Project/Programme Country/ies: El Salvador Title of Project/Programme: Enhancing climate resilience of rural communities and ecosystems in Ahuachapán -Sur, El Salvador. Type of Implementing Entity: Multilateral Implementing Entity Implementing Entity: United Nations Development Programme Executing Entity/ies: Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) Amount of Financing Requested: $8,237,665.42 (in U.S Dollars Equivalent) Project / Programme Background and Context: National Background 1. El Salvador, has been identified by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as one of the countries with the highest sensitivity to climate change1. According to the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC, the country is characterized by a high exposure to geoclimatic threats, resulting from its location and topography, exacerbating climate change induced risk and vulnerability of human settlements and ecosystems2. The Global Climate Risk Index for the period between 1997 to 2016, covering both human and economic impacts, ranks El Salvador 16th in the world, emphasizing the country’s high vulnerability to extreme climate events3. There is ample evidence of climate change and variability affecting all sectors of society and economy, at different spatial and temporal scales, from intra-seasonal to long-term variability as a result of large- 1 D. L. Hartmann, a. M. G. K. Tank, and M. Rusticucci, “IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, Climatie Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis,” Ipcc AR5, no. January 2014 (2013): 31–39, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324. 2 IPCC, “Climate Change, Adaptation, and Vulnerability,” Organization & Environment 24, no. March (2014): 1–44, https://doi.org/http://ipcc-wg2.gov/AR5/images/uploads/IPCC_WG2AR5_SPM_Approved.pdf. 3 Sönke Kreft and David Eckstein, “Global Climate Risk Index 2014,” Germanwatch, 2013, 28, http://germanwatch.org/en/download/8551.pdf. 1 scale cyclical phenomena4. A study from The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) found that between 1980 to 2008, an average of 1.5 natural disasters per year resulted in nearly 7,000 human casualties, affecting 2.9 million people, and costing US $470 million to the central government (amount that is equivalent to 4.2% of the Gross Domestic Product). The country of El Salvador spends an equivalent to 1.1% of its total GDP with dealing with climate change related impacts and infrastructure every year on average. 2. El Salvador is the most densely populated country in Central America (342 people per km²) with a population of approximately 6.46 million inhabitants, of which 52.9% are women5. The country’s territory totals 21,040 km², with a rugged topography (50% of total land mass has slopes of over 15%), highly erodible soils and the lowest per capita availability of freshwater in Central America5. According to the measurement of compound poverty6, 35.2% of the total Salvadoran households are poor, equivalent to 606,000 homes to approximately 2.6 million people. Similarly, the multidimensional poverty rate in rural areas is 58.5%, and 22.5% in urban areas. Thirty-eight percent of the country’s population resides in rural or non-urban areas, of which 20% are women7. In all the departments, other than one, over 50% of rural households are multidimensionally poor and as such are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change (Figure 1). Homes with this condition have the following deprivations: 37% food insecurity; 49% lack of access to drinking water; 83.7% no access to public health. Figure 1 – Incidence of Multidimensional Poverty per region in El Salvador. Source: DIGESTYC, 20156. 4 (Cai et al., 2015; Harger, 1995; Neelin et al., 1998; Takahashi et al., 2011; Torrence and Webster, 1999; Wolter and Timlin, 2011) 5 Ministry of Economy; General Directorate of Statistics and Census –DIGESTyC; El Salvador: 2014; Estimates and Trends of Municipal Population 2005-2025 6 STPP and MINEC-DIGESTYC (2015). Multidimensional Measurement of poverty. El Salvador. San Salvador: Technical and Planning Secretariat of the Presidency and the Ministry of Economy, through the General Directorate of Statistics and Census. Compound Poverty: Takes into account the essential areas for human development and well-being. A total of twenty indicators around five essential well-being dimensions: a) education; b) housing conditions; c) work and social security; d) health, basic services and food security; and e) quality of the habitat. 7 STPP & MINEC-DIGESTYC, “Medición Multidimensional de La Pobreza. El Salvador.,” San Salvador: Secretaría Técnica y de Planificación de La Presidencia y Ministerio de Economía, a Través de La Dirección General de Estadística y Censos., 2015. 2 3. The determinants of poverty in El Salvador are associated with historic internal issues (recovery from conflict in the 1980s), the economic model (transitioning from an agrarian model to one reliant primarily on services, and exports of industrial and agricultural goods) and a frequent increase in the number of natural disasters8. The reduction of poverty in the country continues to be hindered by major challenges in the form of economic disparity, exclusion from basic services and education, and violence. Prevailing violence continues to induce migration, which exerts a major impact on families, particularly as it shifts the responsibility for households onto women. Furthermore, recent external shocks such as sharp drops in commodity prices, global economic crisis, as well as higher oil prices, have contributed to lower than expected economic growth, and slow progress on social indicators. 4. Sixty percent of the national territory is devoted to agriculture, which is the main source of livelihood for the rural population in the country. About 36% of the total country territory is arable land, with corn as the main subsistence crop, followed by rice, beans, oilseeds, and sorghum, and with the cultivation of coffee and sugar cane as major cash crops (Figure 2). Figure 2 – Main subsistence crop (Corn), and major cash crops (Sugar Cane and Coffee beans). 5. The effects of climate change, as observed over recent years, have directly affected the productivity across the whole spectrum of the agricultural sector, although with significant impacts on smallholder farming9. Historically, the production of corn in El Salvador has always consisted of small-scale enterprises, with low yields and little incorporation of technology in production systems. According to the last agricultural census, there are more than 325,000 producers of basic grains in El Salvador who work in land parcels of sizes ranging between 0.7 and 3 hectares. Not surprisingly, 52.4% of the farmers organize their agricultural activity in parcels with an average size of 0.7 8 Allan Lavell, “The Lower Lempa River Valley, El Salvador: Risk Reduction and Development Project,” in Mapping Vulnerability: Disasters, Development and People, 2013, 67–83, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781849771924; Amelia Hoover Green, “Armed Group Institutions and Combatant Socialization: Evidence from El Salvador,” Journal of Peace Research 54, no. 5 (2017): 687–700, https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343317715300; Julie Leloup, Matthieu Lengaigne, and Jean Philippe Boulanger, “Twentieth Century ENSO Characteristics in the IPCC Database,” Climate Dynamics 30, no. 2–3 (2008): 277–91, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-007-0284-3. 9 Minerva Campos et al., “Estrategias de Adaptación Al Cambio Climático En Dos Comunidades Rurales de México y El Salvador,” Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change in Two Rural Communities in Mexico and El Salvador, no. 61 (2013): 329–49, http://www.boletinage.com/61/16-CAMPOS.pdf. 3 hectares, with an average corn production of 1.427 kg/ha. Although, this production may satisfy the immediate needs of a family household (requiring only 1,300 kg of corn per year in the rural areas), this yield is significantly lower than the national average production, estimated at 2,575 kg/ha. It is also considerably smaller than the average expected output for the three geographic regions of the country, 3,048 kg/ha for the western area; 2,980 kg/ha for the central part and 1,894 kg/ha for the eastern region. For example, the tropical storm Mitch (1998) caused damages and total loss of US $388.1 million., with US $158.3 million (40.8% of the total) impacting the agricultural sector. The 2001 drought reported damages and loss for US $31.4 million and 81% for the farming industry. Hurricane Stan (2005) caused US $355.6 million in damages and loss, US $48.7 million and 13.7% of the total for the agricultural sector. The Tropical Depression Twelve-E (DT 12-E) in 2011 carried a price tag of US $306 million in damages and losses in the agricultural sector. Between 2014 and 2015, losses in agriculture, as a result of severe drought, costed the country more than US $140 Million, with greater impact felt on subsistence crops (corn and beans), as well as in the dairy industry which lost more than 10% of its production. The sustained dry spell followed by high temperatures, has also caused severe damage to the health of human populations, to the broader agricultural sector, and the natural environment. Furthermore, the reduction or deficiency in rainfall over the period has also affected the availability and quality of superficial and underground water resources. 6. More needs to be done in order to adapt productive systems, diversify livelihoods, and enhance community resilience in the face of climate change, given the fact that, the impacts we see now will continue, not only to exist, but will also be exacerbated by the predicted increase in frequency and intensity of droughts as a result of higher temperatures and rainfall variability in the country10. The current situation showcases the lack of broad economic strength, low levels of diversification and technology, with direct consequences to flexible and effective adaptation.