This study provides an analysis of environmental observations by farmers, as well as of models of blame in Northern Ghana, an agricultural region of high vulnerability to climate change. Qualitative data were collected through a standardised questionnaire on the community’s consensus on how to explain observed changes. Responses were transcribed to allow content analysis. Natural data sets confirmed most local observations, but older age and the affectedness of the respondents were crucial in determining the views. Climate change was generally given a lower priority by the respondents compared to other manifestations of change, such as infrastructural development, human-spiritual relations and changes in social relations. Moreover, the respondents made reference to the blessing of the land and the destruction of the land. The destruction of the land was understood in a metaphorical way as the result of eroding social relationships and stagnation, as well as norm-breaking and lack of unity within the community. Thus, climate change was perceived in local social terms rather than based on global natural science knowledge. The article concludes that the anthropological analysis is meaningful and may serve as an entry point for further planning of adaptation and public education.

This anthropological study provides an analysis of environmental observations by farmers and their perceptions of change, as well as models of blame in Northern Ghana, a poor agricultural region of high vulnerability to climate change. Qualitative data were collected through a standardized questionnaire which was directed to twenty‐five individuals to collect data on community consensus on how to explain this change. Responses were transcribed to allow content analysis. Natural data sets confirmed most local observations but older age and affectedness of the respondents were crucial in determining the views of the respondents. Farmers observed more changes than younger people who were not yet decision‐makers on their family farms. Climate change was generally given a lower priority by the respondents compared with other manifestations of change that have occurred over the past decades, such as infrastructural development, human‐spiritual relations and changes in social relations within the community. When referring to these changes, the respondents often made reference to the blessing of the land and the destruction of the land. The destruction of the land was always understood in a metaphorical way as the result of eroding social relationships and stagnation, as well as norm‐breaking and lack of unity within the community.

During the 1970s, when severe droughts affected West African farmers, cereal banks became popular in the region. However, things quickly became very quiet again about this type of food security scheme, probably also because many of the cereal banks failed. Scientific surveys addressing the topic are scarce. A study in The Gambia in 2014 investigated how such cereal banks function and what the important variables for their success are.

Key characteristics of 29 migrant households from Dano, Lare, Kpélégane - Burkina Faso.

Water storage can help to safeguard livelihoods and reduce rural poverty. However, ill-conceived water storage will fail to deliver intended benefits and, in some cases, may worsen the negative impacts of climate change. More systematic planning is required to ensure suitable storage systems that support development targets, as an international research project demonstrates.

Migration presents a common livelihood strategy in the South-West region of Burkina Faso. Cross-border return migration is deeply embedded in the society. This study generates new knowledge about the shared ‘cultures of migration’. It was conducted in Dano, a small market town located in the Ioba province. The local livelihoods are mainly based on rain-fed agriculture. These are exposed to various vulnerabilities such as increasing rainfall variability and land scarcity. Additionally, missing employment opportunities and the low availability of credits to invest in own business ideas limit the choice of livelihood strategies. Although these factors impact the decisions to migrate, the persistent migration flows cannot solely be explained by the current conditions. This is why a theoretical along with a methodical triangulation was conducted. The concept of ‘cultures of migration’ combined with Bourdieu’s ‘theory of practice’ and livelihoods re-search was applied to enrich the understanding of the continuity of these movements. Thus, this study takes a look at the ‘discursive space’ of return migration. By focusing on qualitative methods and including the perceptions and valuations of people who were left behind a differentiating picture of the impacting factors on the migration patterns can be drawn. Additionally, the historical background has been embedded into the analysis. Consolidated dur-ing colonial times return migration towards the neighbour countries Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are part of one of the largest migration systems on the continent nowadays. Despite the climate induced seasonal division and less income opportunities during the dry season, most migration flows do not amount to seasonal periods only but for two to three years. Migration is mainly performed by young men who commonly work on plantations abroad. The number of women, however, is increasing. The study shows that many mi-grants link their journeys to certain individual goals. Common target objects include clothing, bicycles and motorbikes as well as the construction of houses. The study argues that role models, set by former migrants, play a crucial role in the maintenance of the migration flows. Through their behaviour and position within the society they perpetual inspire young people in taking the decision to migrate. Moreover, former migrants can provide important knowledge and social networks for the success of future migrants. Despite economic motivations also social conflict and curiosity lead people to take the decision to migrate. However, for the implementation of this social practice other things such as a certain degree of economic and social capital are necessary. Moreover, family presents a considerable factor influencing the decision-making. During their time abroad, most migrants maintain strong links with their place of origin and especially their relatives, which enables them to return, even in cases of failed targets. Overall, the study concludes that a positive discourse about male migrants and the acknowledgement which they receive after their return influenced the persistence of the migration patterns. However, also certain changes could be detected. After the political crisis in Côte d’Ivoire 2002/2003 the perception as well as the migrant’s behaviour changed significantly. Through the perceived higher risks abroad people expect the migrants to in-vest more at their place of origin. The migrants tend to invest especially in buildings, which also symbolize their willingness to return. The engagement in artisan gold mining and dry season agriculture could be identified as new emerging livelihood strategies, which ‘compete’ with the long developed return migration patterns. Even though the cultures of migration change over time, they also sustain several changes and impacts, therefore also future migrations patterns will be influenced by them.

Climate change adaptation (CCA) has emerged as a new paradigm of development politics. But as adaptation has turned out to be not as tangible as mitigation, controversies about the meaning and implementation have arisen parallel to the concept’s ascent. Experience about political CCA interventions is rare, due to the fact that the major changes are supposed to occur in the future and have uncertain outcomes. The question of how to avoid being passive and rather being proactive in this unknown territory is shaping the discourse of the contested political arena of adaptation and discusses the relationship between adaptation and development. Even though there is evidence that adaptation is linked to processes of societal transformation and development, these linkages pose challenges to scientists and decision makers alike, especially because adaptation has the same target group - the most vulnerable people in the most vulnerable countries. Critical voices increasingly warn that adaptation might be misunderstood, misused and integrated into business as usual development frameworks. During a research in The Gambia the ongoing process of mainstreaming CCA into development strategies was followed. Analysing the policy documents, conducting (expert)interviews and working with the leading national environment authority of the country provided a practical way of understanding the mainstreaming process and its linkages to other processes. These insights are discussed in view of the possible future pathway of adaptation. Hereby, the concepts of resilience and transformation serve as central framework. The study concludes that there is a lot of actionism noticeable on the political scale which offers windows for transformative processes. Many of these chances are, however, not seized due to a tangle of country-intern and extern factors. Nevertheless some pragmatic but simultaneously creative approaches from the Gambian climate change network might provide some adaptation and development co-benefits.

This chapter supports the argument that social science research should focus on adaptation to climate change as a social and political process, by analyzing the politics and interest of actors in climate change adaptation arenas and by acknowledging the active role of those people who are expected to adapt. Most conventional climate research depoliticizes vulnerability and adaptation by removing dominant global economic and policy conditions from the discussion. Social science disciplines, if given appropriate wight in multidisciplinary projects, contribute important analyses by relying on established concepts from political science, human geography, and social anthropology. This chapter explains relevant disciplinary concepts (climate change adaptation arenas, governance, politics, perception, metal models, culture, weather discourses, risk, blame, traveling ideas) and relates them to each other to facilitate the use of a common terminology and conceptual framework for research in a developmental context.

This study provides an analysis of environmental observations by farmers, as well as of models of blame in Northern Ghana, an agricultural region of high vulnerability to climate change. Qualitative data were collected through a standardised questionnaire on the community’s consensus on how to explain observed changes. Responses were transcribed to allow content analysis. Natural data sets confirmed most local observations, but older age and the affectedness of the respondents were crucial in determining the views. Climate change was generally given a lower priority by the respondents compared to other manifestations of change, such as infrastructural development, human-spiritual relations and changes in social relations. Moreover, the respondents made reference to the blessing of the land and the destruction of the land. The destruction of the land was understood in a metaphorical way as the result of eroding social relationships and stagnation, as well as norm-breaking and lack of unity within the community. Thus, climate change was perceived in local social terms rather than based on global natural science knowledge. The article concludes that the anthropological analysis is meaningful and may serve as an entry point for further planning of adaptation and public education.

This historical timeline summarizes the most important events of the CCA Policy Process in The Gambia.