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Highlighting local coping strategies for drought:The CRiSTAL Tool: Community-based risk screening tool – adaptation and livelihoods
Summary:
The “Community-based Risk Screening Tool – Adaptation and Livelihoods” (CRiSTAL) is a decision support tool. Drawing on the environmental impact assessment model and the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, CRiSTAL aims to provide a logical, user-friendly process to help users better understand the links between climate-related risks, people’s livelihoods, and project activities.
Adaptation Experience:
In the Malian Sahel, the CRiSTAL has shown that rural communities have developed coping strategies for extreme climate events such as droughts. The process has also identified an increase in the disaster risk of heavy rainfall, in line with climate change predictions, for which no traditional coping strategies have yet been developed. CRiSTAL was developed by Inter cooperation (the Swiss Foundation for International Development and Cooperation), the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Stockholm Environment Institute, with funds provided by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC). The CRiSTAL approach also provides a gender-specific vulnerability analysis for different parts of the population, highlighting the specific coping strategies of women, and resulting in clear pointers for how gender specific measures will need to be incorporated into projects. The tool was applied so project planners could better understand the vulnerabilities of local livelihoods to climate hazards, especially hydro-meteorological extremes. It brings to light the strategies people use to cope with the increasing stresses. It is also of particular use for the communities themselves, in deepening their understanding of the impact of climate change; specifically how it affects and will affect their daily activities and their production strategies.
Results and Learning:
Better collaboration between men and women is needed to deal with climate risks. Sharing the risks of production between all members of the household is a strategy for dealing with climate insecurity. The impact of climate change will worsen the exclusion of women involved in agriculture, due to their lack of fertile land. Particular support has to be given to women so that they not only have access to natural resources, but can also make decisions on the management of trees, for example multipurpose tree species. Gender inequity has a negative impact on the management of the land and the agroforestry parks. The clarification of tenure and propriety rights on the local, but also on the national level will be essential. Local communities have some coping strategies; however, they will not prove sufficient should current conditions continue. Additional support by the government and NGOs is needed to protect rural communities.
Sustainability:
n/a
Replication:
The analysis in Mali is part of Inter cooperation overall approach, and many projects are currently using CRiSTAL as a tool for understanding vulnerability and for checking on-going coping strategies. CRiSTAL is also being used for adjusting concrete programmes and projects in order to increase livelihood resilience. It is highly recommended to incorporate these kinds of analyses into country programmes and projects.
