A Proposal for Climate Change Adaptation at the Local Level in C

The aim of our proposal is to create a model for implementing a participatory strategy of adaptation to climate change at
the municipal level. We believe in the power of municipalities to make meaningful impact on the climate change front,
and this idea was highly recognized by the judges and members of the Climate CoLab community, an MIT initiative for
global collaboration on climate change. While our winning project on the Adaptation to Climate Change contest is focused
on one municipality in Costa Rica, our intent is for this to serve as a model strategy that can be replicated around the
country and in Central America. Despite the important efforts that are made at the international and national levels through
policies, programs, and projects for vulnerability reduction and adaptation to the effects of climate change, we believe that
each of these efforts will positively impact those in need only if they are executed effectively at the local level. Our proposed
approach is fundamental for the integration of initiatives that would otherwise leave actions uncovered, resulting in a slower,
less effective, and more expensive adaptation process.
Although in the past decade Costa Rica has chosen a process of decentralized governance, municipalities still suffer from
multiple deficiencies and limitations given the assigned responsibilities. Furthermore, municipalities, including our initial
chosen case, Santa Barbara of Heredia, with a population of over 35,000 inhabitants, often suffer from pollution, rapid and
disorganized urbanization, and a variety of productive pressures, putting significant stress on the remaining forest
ecosystems and the hydrological network. In addition to these anthropogenic pressures, there are also those created by
climate, climate variability, and climate change. This will put significant challenges on our biodiversity and production
systems. Unfortunately, this scenario will revert significant efforts achieved over the last three decades in terms of
development and poverty alleviation.

Costa Rica, along with the rest of Central America, has been identified as a climate change hotspot in the tropics (Giorgi
2006, Baettig et al. 2007). According to climate models, the Central Valley of Costa Rica, where the county of Santa Barbara
is located, will suffer a significant temperature increase, up to 4.05 degrees centigrade, and a decrease in precipitation of 16
percent during the last decade of the 21st century compared to the period 1961-1990 (IMN 2012). Although these regional
models offer important information, vulnerability differs substantially at the county level because it is directly related to the
exposure to the threats, the degree of local resilience, and the adaptability capacity of each county. It is estimated that more
than 85 percent of the Costa Rican economy is vulnerable to risks mostly related to climate change (UNISDR and
CEPREDENAC 2014).
Therefore it is urgent to develop and implement local participatory strategies for adaptation to climate variability and change.
The final goal is to manage local risks by adjusting the natural and human systems in order to create greater resilience. This
adaptive capacity of the population depends on the proper management of the county´s resources (e.g., social, economic,
educational, political, technological) requiring local inter-agency participation with an articulated agenda between national
and local initiatives.

Through this project we expect to have an inter-institutional commission formed, organized, trained, and empowered for
decision-making and taking action to make this local territory more resilient to the effects of climate variability and
change. Beside a concerted climate strategy, we expect to create risk management plans at the district level and a
technological application for an early warning system. The following section explains the proposed methodological
approach in detail.

Methodological Approach
We focus our proposal on agriculture and water resource actors given their key role in the local dynamics of production and
their high level of exposure to climate risks. Furthermore, both sectors are intrinsically connected, where water use (e.g.,
drinking and irrigation) and water pollution (e.g., agrochemicals, soil sedimentation) are urgent aspects to address under
new climate regimes. On one side agricultural practices significantly influence water quality and quantity, and on the other
side, farmers are dependent on water for their activities.

During the process we intend to develop the capacity of stakeholders for local governance and agricultural and water
management through education and training in order to empower them for decision-making, increasing climate change
resilience.

Thus, our approach is divided into three main steps, with several actions taking place simultaneously.

STEP I: Creation of a participatory and concerted municipal climate change strategy

A. Mapping the Current Situation
Our aim here is to understand the current situation in the municipal territory. This includes an assessment of socioeconomic,
political, and environmental characteristics, including key actors to create a baseline for analysis.

B. Organizing an inter-institutional commission

A municipal climate change strategy will be developed, executed and monitored by an inter-institutional commission.
Members of this commission will function as representatives from the multiple sectors, districts, and businesses within the
municipal territory.

STEP II: Development of risk management plans at the district level through a multi-stakeholder approach
A. Assessing risks and vulnerabilities
Maps of risk perception will be made with projections and scenarios considering future national and local climate scenarios.
Through this process, risk management plans for each of the districts will be developed in a participatory form considering
 the views and perceptions from organized groups, institutions, private sector, local development associations, producer
associations, and other key actors at the district level.

B. Early warning system

With the aim to prevent or manage emergencies caused by climate related events, we intend to make accessible a
system/application for early warnings taking into account the current resilience and potential climate change risks of each
district.

STEP III: Implementing in the local context specific strategies and techniques for agricultural farmers and water
suppliers
A. Specific practices/techniques to implement with farmers
In the agricultural sector we expect to implement technologies and practices within the local context that are aligned with
agroecological principles aimed at making the biological, socio-cultural, and economic systems more resilient. Among these
practices are: use of traditional knowledge, organic fertilizers and biological pest control, establishment of local seed banks
and greenhouses, rotating crops and multi-cropping, agroforestry production, composting, efficient irrigation, water
reservoirs, biodigestors and constructed wetlands.

B. Specific practices/techniques to implement with water suppliers

Besides the work with farmers, working with water suppliers is imperative given the increasing demand for water and the
challenging rain projections. Our goal with this target group is to implement a program to increase their operational
capacities to deal with socio-economic and climate change related pressures.

Concluding Remarks
We recognize that the active participation of all these actors is fundamental for the development and execution of specific
strategies. Since ours is a multi-disciplinary and experienced team of trusted experts from public universities in Costa Rica,
we will facilitate a legitimate process, in close coordination with municipality officials, and a wide range of stakeholders
from government, businesses, and local organizations. We currently estimate a total cost of $500,000 (U.S.) for the
implementation of the project over a three-year period. Half of this amount could be a counterpart funding from the National
University of Costa Rica (most salaries, equipment, labs), and the Municipality of Santa Barbara; however, we are looking
at this point for some financial support as seed money to start this feasible and urgent project. Financial support will be used
to map the current situation, aided by interviews, surveys, and on-site measurements, and move forward into the training
and empowering of the local commission on climate change, which entails developing educational materials, and organizing
focus groups and workshops.

Abstract

Climate change influences vegetable production worldwide. However, its nature and impact vary, depending on the degree
of climate change, geographical region, and crop production system. Possible impact of climate change may be visualized
by change in productivity with reference to quality of crops; changes in agricultural practices like use of water, fertilizers,
and pesticides; and environmental influences particularly in relation to the frequency and intensity of soil drainage which
may lead to loss of nitrogen through leaching, soil erosion, and reduction of crop diversity. Vegetables are in general more
sensitive to environmental extremes such as high temperatures and soil moisture stress. CO 2 , a major greenhouse gas,
influences growth and development as well as incidence of insect pests and diseases of vegetable crops. Under changing
climatic situations, crop failures, shortage of yields, reduction in quality, and increasing pest and disease problems are
common, and they render the vegetable cultivation unprofitable. Agriculture production needs to be adapted to the
changing climate by mitigating its impact. Unless measures are undertaken to adapt to the effects of climate change on
vegetable production, nutritional security in developing countries will be under threat.

Abstract
Vegetables are an important component of human diet as they are the only source of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. They
are also good remunerative to the farmer as they fetch higher price in the market. Likewise other crops, they are also being
hit by the consequences of climate change such as global warming, changes in seasonal and monsoon pattern and biotic and
abiotic factors. Under changing climatic situations crop failures, shortage of yields, reduction in quality and increasing pest
and disease problems are common and they render the vegetable cultivation unprofitable. As many physiological processes
and enzymatic activities are temperature dependent, they are going to be largely effected. Drought and salinity are the two
important consequences of increase in temperature worsening vegetable cultivation. Increase in CO2 may increase crop
yields due to increased CO2 fertilization, but decreases after some extent. Anthropogenic air pollutants such as CO2, CH4
and CFC's are contributing to the global warming and dioxides of nitrogen and sulphur are causing depletion of ozone layer
and permitting the entry of harmful UV rays. These affects of climate change also influence the pest and disease occurrences,
host-pathogen interactions, distribution and ecology of insects, time of appearance, migration to new places and their
overwintering capacity, there by becoming major setback to vegetable cultivation. Potato, among the all vegetables, is most
vulnerable to climate change due to its exact climatic requirement for various physiological processes.