TY - JOUR
T1 - Thirty years of multilevel processes for adaptation of livestock production to droughts in Uruguay
AU - Cruz, G.
AU - Baethgen, W.
AU - Bartaburu, D.
AU - Bidegain, M.
AU - Giménez, A.
AU - Methol, M.
AU - Morales, H.
AU - Picasso, V.
AU - Podestá, G.
AU - Taddei, R.
AU - Terra, R.
AU - Tiscornia, G.
AU - Vinocur, A. M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Between the 2008/09 and 2015 droughts, public policies and regulations were implemented to improve the adaptation of livestock farmers to climate change and variability, in addition to reactive measures to the event as mentioned above. The development and implementation of these actions came from the science-policy nexus (V. Picasso et al. 2013, meeting presentation). For example, MGAP started to fund projects for family livestock farmers that also promoted an adequate use of forage, shade for animals, and associative use of water resources between farms (MGAP 2015a). The projects also aimed at strengthening the production, economic, and sociocultural dimensions of family farmers’ organizations (MGAP 2015b). To inform these policies, MGAP (with FAO funding) asked the Interdisciplinary Center in Response to Climate Change and Variability of UdelaR to conduct an analysis and synthesis of relevant climatic, agricultural, and social information for assessing the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of livestock farmers to drought (Astigarraga and Picasso 2015; Bartaburu et al. 2013). These policies, designed to foster the adaptation of livestock farmers to climate variability, were funded by two initiatives: the ‘‘Livestock Family Farmers and Climate Change’’ project (sponsored by the Adaptation Fund of the Kyoto Protocol) and the ‘‘Development and Adaptation to Climate Change’’ project (DACC; funded by a loan from the World Bank). Within the framework of the DACC, the development of a National Agricultural Information System (SNIA) is also being implemented (Table 1). The objective of the SNIA is to support farmers in the sustainable use of natural resources by generating improved adaptation to climate change and variability and promoting a modernization of the Ministry of Agriculture’s capacities in the area of information and services related to climate and natural resources. The SNIA promotes a climate risk management approach (MGAP 2013), proposed by IRI–Columbia University (Baethgen 2010).
Funding Information:
Acknowledgments. This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) CRN3106, which is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Grant GEO-1128040), and the support of the Scientific Research Commission (CSIC) from Universidad de la República (UdelaR; Uruguay). G. Podestá’s participation was partially supported by U.S. National Science Foundation Grant 1211613.
PY - 2018/1
Y1 - 2018/1
N2 - Most countries lack effective policies to manage climate risks, despite growing concerns with climate change. The authors analyzed the policy evolution from a disaster management to a risk management approach, using as a case study four agricultural droughts that impacted Uruguay's livestock sector in the last three decades. A transdisciplinary team of researchers, extension workers, and policy makers agreed on a common conceptual framework for the interpretation of past droughts and policies. The evidence presented shows that the set of actions implemented at different levels when facing droughts were mainly reactive in the past but later evolved to a more integral risk management approach. A greater interinstitutional integration and a decreasing gap between science and policy were identified during the period of study. Social and political learning enabled a vision of proactive management and promoted effective adaptive measures. While the government of Uruguay explicitly incorporated the issue of adaptation to climate change into its agenda, research institutions also fostered the creation of interdisciplinary study groups on this topic, resulting in new stages of learning. The recent changes in public policies, institutional governance, and academic research have contributed to enhance the adaptive capacity of the agricultural sector to climate variability, and in particular to drought. This study confirms the relevance of and need to work within a transdisciplinary framework to effectively address the different social learning dimensions, particularly those concerning the adaptation to global change.
AB - Most countries lack effective policies to manage climate risks, despite growing concerns with climate change. The authors analyzed the policy evolution from a disaster management to a risk management approach, using as a case study four agricultural droughts that impacted Uruguay's livestock sector in the last three decades. A transdisciplinary team of researchers, extension workers, and policy makers agreed on a common conceptual framework for the interpretation of past droughts and policies. The evidence presented shows that the set of actions implemented at different levels when facing droughts were mainly reactive in the past but later evolved to a more integral risk management approach. A greater interinstitutional integration and a decreasing gap between science and policy were identified during the period of study. Social and political learning enabled a vision of proactive management and promoted effective adaptive measures. While the government of Uruguay explicitly incorporated the issue of adaptation to climate change into its agenda, research institutions also fostered the creation of interdisciplinary study groups on this topic, resulting in new stages of learning. The recent changes in public policies, institutional governance, and academic research have contributed to enhance the adaptive capacity of the agricultural sector to climate variability, and in particular to drought. This study confirms the relevance of and need to work within a transdisciplinary framework to effectively address the different social learning dimensions, particularly those concerning the adaptation to global change.
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U2 - 10.1175/WCAS-D-16-0133.1
DO - 10.1175/WCAS-D-16-0133.1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85041461242
VL - 10
SP - 59
EP - 74
JO - Weather, Climate, and Society
JF - Weather, Climate, and Society
SN - 1948-8327
IS - 1
ER -