{"id":293,"date":"2015-05-06T12:09:36","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T11:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/?p=293"},"modified":"2017-11-07T19:49:39","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07T19:49:39","slug":"cba9-report-community-based-adaptation-and-the-private-sector-nairobi-kenya-26-30-april-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/2015\/05\/06\/cba9-report-community-based-adaptation-and-the-private-sector-nairobi-kenya-26-30-april-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"CBA9 Report: Community based adaptation and the private sector, Nairobi, Kenya, 26-30 April 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Natalie Suckall<\/em><\/p>\n

The role of the private sector in enhancing community adaptation was one of the big questions to emerge during the 9th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation in Nairobi, Kenya.<\/p>\n

During four days of discussion and debate we heard from researchers, practitioners and community members who welcome private sector involvement in adaptation and development … and we heard from those who questioned the morality of profit-making organisations benefiting from the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.<\/p>\n

Amongst the stories of success, Salaton Ole Ntutu and Stephen Ole Kisotu, representatives of Kenya’s Massai community, praised M-Pesa, the country’s mobile-phone money transfer and micro-financing service, which they use to buy cows and send money to remote friends and family. Since the launch of M-Pesa in 2007, over 13 billion Euro has been transferred across the network. For many Massai, the service has been life changing. It has put an end to expensive and time consuming bus journeys to physically deliver money and it has increased business productivity. Both are important aspects of adaptation. Speed of transfer means that during events such as drought money can be sent to family in an instant. And increased business productivity enables a household to invest in resilience enhancing activities, such as education and health.<\/p>\n

We also heard from Jason Spensley from the UNFCCC’s Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) who highlighted CTCN’s involvement in attracting private sector investment in crop drying practices in Mali where post-harvest loss is likely to be increased by climate change. For Jason Spensley, the take home message is that if the private sector can make profit in the face of climate change, investment will be forthcoming.<\/p>\n

But how do we know that investment will lead to successful adaptation? And what about the broader moral question; is it right that profit making companies benefit from poverty?<\/p>\n

The first question is perhaps a little easier to answer. Simply, we can never be sure a new investment will lead to success. But as Salameel Huq (IIED\/BCAS) pointed out, during a session on enhancing the effectiveness of adaptation, perhaps this doesn’t matter. In fact, perhaps we should seek failure in order to understand what works, and more importantly, what doesn’t work. This point was echoed by Clare Shakya, from the UK’s Department for International Development, where failure is now discussed in a more transparent and constructive way than has previously been the norm, and where high-risk entrepreneurial adaptation initiatives are encouraged.<\/p>\n

The second question is more difficult to answer; is it right to make money from poverty? The exploitation of vulnerable farming communities is not new and even in the context of learning from failure, few would suggest we actively follow strategies that we know will lead to mal-adaptation and increased vulnerability. Perhaps though, instead of viewing the private sector as being solely motivated by greed, it is possible to envisage a more nuanced situation; one where both farmer and business gain from a partnership.<\/p>\n

For example, Suresh Patel from the Kenya Private Sector Alliance explained how local farmers’ poor understanding of economics of production and agricultural markets resulted in the small-holders he works with selling their cassava for less than it cost to produce. Conversely, the same farmers expected local buyers to purchase baobab fruit at vastly inflated prices. The buyers refused and the fruit remains unsold and uneaten.<\/p>\n

But if farmers had some understanding of business, as well as access to real-time crop prices, they may be more likely to expect and achieve favourable rates. M-Farm, a Kenyan organisation, is a ‘transparency tool’ that links farmers to buyers and provides information on current market trends. Sellers download an app, or send an SMS, to receive the latest crop prices. The technology can’t prevent the kind of fluctuations in crop prices that climate variability creates. But it can help farmers remain one step ahead.<\/p>\n

Even the most laudable private sector initiatives are, at least in part, driven by self-interest and the drive for profit. Arguably, these qualities are an unavoidable part of the human condition. We cannot avoid them, but we can regulate them. For example, a text based phone service that charges customers excessive prices to receive information is exploitative. Rules around maximum charges could prevent this.<\/p>\n

There is great potential for the private sector to offer innovative solutions to development and adaptation challenges. However, regulation is necessary if the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people are to benefit in an accessible and equitable manner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Natalie Suckall The role of the private sector in enhancing community adaptation was one of the big questions to emerge during the 9th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation in Nairobi, Kenya. During four days of discussion and debate we heard from researchers, practitioners and community members who welcome private sector involvement in adaptation and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2288,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conferences-meetings"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8jyTh-4J","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2670,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/2019\/01\/21\/deccma-findings-presented-to-environment-and-natural-resource-sector-working-group-in-ghana\/","url_meta":{"origin":293,"position":0},"title":"DECCMA findings presented to Environment and Natural Resource Sector Working Group in Ghana","author":"katharinevincent","date":"21st January 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This week Professor Kwasi Appeaning-Addo, deputy PI of DECCMA Ghana and now Director of the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies at the University of Ghana, will be presenting key findings on climate change, migration and adaptation in the Volta delta to a meeting of development partners within the Environment\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Delta"","block_context":{"text":"Delta","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/category\/delta\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2019\/01\/workshop.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1983,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/2017\/11\/20\/deccma-team-discusses-the-forthcoming-bangladesh-delta-plan-with-the-countrys-planning-commission\/","url_meta":{"origin":293,"position":1},"title":"DECCMA team discusses the forthcoming Bangladesh Delta Plan with the country’s Planning Commission","author":"katharinevincent","date":"20th November 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Saiful Alam The Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 (BDP) takes an adaptive management approach and the strategy is based on eight hotspots in the country, one of which is covered within the DECCMA study area. 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These examples, from literature and observation, are being collated into Adaptation Inventories for each area - a database of current adaptation practices that are being utilised to combat climate change in deltas.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Delta"","block_context":{"text":"Delta","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/category\/delta\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"examples of adaptation","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2017\/03\/examples-of-adaptation-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1970,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/2017\/11\/07\/should-we-unpack-community-based-adaptation\/","url_meta":{"origin":293,"position":4},"title":"Should we unpack “community-based adaptation”?","author":"katharinevincent","date":"7th November 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Natalie Suckall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Despite many examples of successful community-based adaptation, DECCMA's extensive household survey\u00a0 across four deltas found very little evidence of collective action. 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