PACC Demonstration Guide: Piloting Climate Change Adaptation in Food
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PACC TECHNICAL REPORT 19 JUNE 2015 PACC Demonstration Guide: Piloting climate change adaptation in food production and food security on low-lying atolls of Solomon Islands SPREP LIBRARY/IRC CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA PACC Demonstration Guide: Piloting climate change adaptation in food production and food security on low-lying atolls of Solomon Islands. Apia, Samoa : SPREP, 2015. 40 p. 29 cm. (PACC Technical Report No.19) ISSN 2312-8224 Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme authorises the reproduction of this material, whole or in part, provided appropriate acknowledgement is given. SPREP, PO Box 240, Apia, Samoa T: +685 21929 F: +685 20231 E: [email protected] W: www.sprep.org This publication is also available electronically from SPREP’s website: www.sprep.org SPREP Vision: The Pacific environment, sustaining our livelihoods and natural heritage in harmony with our cultures. www.sprep.org PACC TECHNICAL REPORT 19 JUNE 2015 PACC Demonstration Guide: Piloting climate change adaptation in food production and food security on low-lying atolls of Solomon Islands TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements iv Executive summary v Abbreviations vi 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 2 2.1. Solomon Islands 2 2.2. Policy and institutional context 2 2.3. Climate 4 2.3.1. Current climate 4 2.3.2. Climate projections 5 2.4. Risks and vulnerabilities of low-lying atolls 5 2.4.1. Climate-related risks and vulnerabilities 5 2.4.2. Non-climate drivers of vulnerability 6 3. THE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT 7 3.1. Objectives, outcomes and outputs 7 3.2. Preparatory phase 7 3.2.1. Selection of project and site 7 3.2.2. Institutional arrangements for the PACC project 8 3.2.3. Linkages with strategic plans and processes 9 3.2.4. Community engagement 10 3.2.5. Addressing gender 11 3.3. Problem and solution analysis 11 3.3.1. Vulnerability assessment 11 3.3.2. Cost−benefit analysis 15 3.4. Project design and planning 16 3.4.1. Atoll farming practices 16 3.4.2. Food processing and preservation 17 3.5. Implementation 18 3.5.1. Farming practices and water resources 18 3.5.2. Food processing 20 3.6. Adaptive management 21 3.7. Monitoring and evaluation 23 3.8. Communications and knowledge management 23 3.9. Upscaling and replication 23 3.10. Mainstreaming climate risk at the strategic level 25 4. PROJECT IMPACT 26 4.1. Sustainability 26 4.2. Relevance 26 4.3. Effectiveness 27 4.4. Efficiency 27 5. LESSONS LEARNED 28 REFERENCES 29 APPENDIX 1. LOGFRAME OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS PACC PROJECT 30 APPENDIX 2. IMPROVED TEMOTU TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE (ITTA) 34 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report is an output of the Solomon Islands PACC project. It was written by Mary Taylor, with input from Casper Supa. It was reviewed by Peniamina Leavai (SPREP), Dr Netatua Pelesikoti (SPREP) and Damien Sweeney and Martin Pritchard (Pacific Research and Evaluation Associates). iv PACC TECHNICAL REPORT NO. 19 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In Solomon Islands, the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) project focused on food security, with a goal ‘to contribute to reduced vulnerability and increased adaptive capacity to adverse effects of climate change in Solomon Islands’. The pilot sites for the demonstration projects were the low lying atolls of Ontong Java and, in a second phase, Sikaiana. These atolls are extremely isolated and are highly vulnerable in many respects. Climate- related threats mainly come from sea level rise and extreme weather events, and impacts on food security include contamination of the freshwater lens affecting crop production. Associated soil salinisation, as well as loss of land through erosion, also have serious implications for subsistence food production in locations that are already stressed. Project activities began in 2011, building on the experience gained by the Anglican Church of Melanesia which had implemented a food security project in Luaniua, Ontong Java. A comprehensive vulnerability and adaptation assessment was conducted in Ontong Java in May 2011. The PACC project decided to focus its activities in Pelau, the second most populated island in Ontong Java. The project conducted training in atoll farming practices, including permaculture and backyard gardens. Atoll permaculture is an agroforestry gardening system containing diverse trees and food plants and using all layers and levels, and which in time is self-mulching and self-regenerating. Demonstration plots for atoll permaculture and backyard gardens were established with the communities. Different tree crops, root and tuber crops, vegetables and nitrogen-fixing plants were evaluated for their tolerance to the environment, their suitability to the permaculture system, and their acceptability to the community. The project worked closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development in the selection of planting material for the project and assessment of biosecurity risk where planting materials were moved to the atoll. Water resources are also vulnerable on the atolls. Most families do not have water storage tanks, and therefore capacity to capture and store water for household and agriculture purposes is limited. Families depend on underground water, which is increasingly contaminated. The project provided water tanks for the communities to assist with the management of water resources. A simple solar dryer was developed and piloted by the project. Research was conducted on the optimum methodology for processing cassava for long-term storage using the dryer. The Sikaiana community in Honiara was trained in building and using the dryer. In working with the community based in Honiara, the project put in place a measure which would enable the supply of dried cassava to communities on Sikaiana atoll when food gardens were damaged during natural disasters. In parallel, the project team has been addressing food security and climate change at the strategic level through involvement in the development of the National Climate Change Policy. PACC DEMONSTRATION GUIDE: PILOTING CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION ON ATOLLS OF SOLOMON ISLANDS v ABBREVIATIONS ACOM Anglican Church of Melanesia CBA Cost−benefit analysis CePaCT Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees EDA Eastern Development Agency ENSO El Niño Southern Oscillation GCM Global Climate Model HHS Household survey ITTA Indigenous Traditional Temotu Agriculture KGA Kastom Gaden Association MAL Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development MECDM Ministry of Environment, Climate Change Disaster Management and Meteorology NAPA National Adaptation Program of Action NDS National Development Strategy NDMO National Disaster Management Office NSC National Steering Committee OJWA Ontong Java Women’s Association PACC Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (programme/project) PACCSAP Pacific–Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Planning program PCCSP Pacific Climate Change Science Program PMU Project Management Unit PRA Participatory rural appraisal SPC Secretariat of the Pacific Community SPREP Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme SWoCK Strogem Waka Lo Communiti for Kaikai (UNDP project – enhancing resilience of communities in Solomon Islands to the adverse effects of climate change in agriculture and food security) UNDP United Nations Development Programme V&A Vulnerability and adaptation assessment vi PACC TECHNICAL REPORT NO. 19 1. INTRODUCTION The Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) programme is the largest climate change adaptation initiative in the Pacific region, with projects in 14 countries and territories. PACC has three main areas of activity: practical demonstrations of adaptation measures; driving the mainstreaming of climate risks into national development planning and activities; and sharing knowledge in order to build adaptive capacity. The goal of the programme is to reduce vulnerability and to increase adaptive capacity to the adverse effects of climate change in three key climate-sensitive development sectors: coastal zone management, food production and food security, and water resources management. The programme began in 2009 and ended in December 2014. In Solomon Islands, the PACC project focused on food security, with a goal ‘to contribute to reduced vulnerability and increased adaptive capacity to adverse effects of climate change in Solomon Islands’. The project focused on the densely populated low-lying atolls which are highly vulnerable to sea level rise and saltwater intrusion into wells and cropping areas. The main activities of the project involved developing atoll permaculture and backyard gardens and trialling solar dryers for food processing and preservation. The project team also worked on mainstreaming of climate change at the strategic level, and helped to develop the National Climate Change Policy. This demonstration guide provides a comprehensive description of the Solomon Islands PACC project, from inception and early planning stages, through design and implementation, to monitoring and evaluation. Aimed primarily at climate change practitioners across the Pacific region, it gives details of the planning and execution of this food security project, with a focus on lessons learned along the way and best practices identified. As with the demonstration guides from the other PACC projects, the hope is that future projects can build on these experiences, contributing to a more resilient Pacific region. PACC DEMONSTRATION GUIDE: PILOTING CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION ON ATOLLS OF SOLOMON ISLANDS 1 2. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 2.1. Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an archipelagic