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Adaptation to climate change in Indonesia - livelihood strategies of rural households in the face of ENSO related droughts

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Tropical Rainforests and Agroforests under Global Change

Part of the book series: Environmental Science and Engineering ((ENVSCIENCE))

Summary

Climate change poses a major threat to the livelihoods of many people, especially those dependent on agriculture. Adaptation to climate change is a necessity to reduce social vulnerability. The adoption of agricultural innovations presents a suitable strategy to reduce negative impacts of increased inter-annual variability in rainfall and temperature. Focussing on the dominant agroforestry system cacao in the Indonesian province of Central Sulawesi, we investigate the adaptation strategies of agricultural smallholders to El Nico-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) related droughts. We apply a triangulation of Rapid Rural Appraisal Methods (RRA), semi-structured in-depth interviews and participatory observations. In addition, results from an intensive cacao-study (n=144) on yields, plot history, structure and location are used.

The analysis shows that all interviewed households have been affected by extreme climatic effects such as ENSO related droughts which lead to a decline in agricultural outputs. Our study identifies various types of adaptation strategies on the micro level. Most common strategies are reactive or ex-post adaptations which support the household in coping with the effects of droughts. Further, the study assesses anticipatory adaptation strategies which, if precisely implemented, alter the household’s exposure to future droughts, increase the resilience to cope with changes and reduce the degree of sensitivity of affected households. On the basis of these results we examine why different household types do not implement certain strategies, which could enhance their social resilience. In this context we reveal that the adoption of anticipatory adaptation strategies is strongly influenced by social and human capital. The knowledge transfer - which promotes adaptation - is mainly taking place along ethnic lines and local institutions. For the successful adoption of innovations to cope with ENSO related droughts in the study area, membership in certain ethnic groups, local institutions and networks is of utmost importance.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Geosciences and Geography, Department of Human Geography, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Goldschmidtstrae 5, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Norbert B. Binternagel & Heiko Faust

  2. Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Department for Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Platz der Göttingen Sieben, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Jana Juhrbandt, Stefan Schwarze & Jan Barkmann

  3. Georg-August-University Göttingen, Albrecht-von-Haller Institut for Plant Science, Didactics of Biology, Waldweg 26, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Sebastian Koch

  4. Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Socio-Economics, Brawijaya University of Malang, Jalan Veteran, 65145, Malang, Indonesia

    Mangku Purnomo

Authors
  1. Norbert B. Binternagel
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  2. Jana Juhrbandt
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  3. Sebastian Koch
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  4. Mangku Purnomo
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  5. Stefan Schwarze
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  6. Jan Barkmann
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  7. Heiko Faust
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Norbert B. Binternagel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. FG Agrarökologie, Univ. Göttingen, Waldweg 26, Göttingen, 37073, Germany

    Teja Tscharntke

  2. Albrecht-v.-Haller-Inst. für, Pflanzenwissenschaften, Universität Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, Göttingen, 37073, Germany

    Christoph Leuschner

  3. Fak. Forstwissenschaften u. Waldökologie, Inst. Forstbotanik, Universität Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, Göttingen, 37077, Germany

    Edzo Veldkamp

  4. Inst. Geographie, Universität Göttingen, Goldschmidtstr. 5, Göttingen, 37077, Germany

    Heiko Faust

  5. Dept. Biology, Bogor Agricultural University, IPB Kampus Baranang Siang, Bogor, 16144, Indonesia

    Edi Guhardja

  6. Dept. Forest Management, Tadulako University, Kampus Bumi Tadulako, Tondo Palu, Indonesia

    Arifuddin Bidin

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Binternagel, N.B. et al. (2010). Adaptation to climate change in Indonesia - livelihood strategies of rural households in the face of ENSO related droughts. In: Tscharntke, T., Leuschner, C., Veldkamp, E., Faust, H., Guhardja, E., Bidin, A. (eds) Tropical Rainforests and Agroforests under Global Change. Environmental Science and Engineering(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00493-3_16

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