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Current models of adaptation to climate change focus on common causes of vulnerability among individuals and communities in an attempt to improve their capacity to adapt. These models tend to neglect the impact on vulnerability of local relationships that include political and economic power structures. We use social network analysis to examine the connectivity and positions of vulnerable rural households and their capacity to adapt. We collected empirical data from a community of 58 smallholders in upper west Ghana on external relations with 'local actors' that are independent, operate beyond the community yet have direct relations with the community. These connections provide important resources and knowledge to build adaptive capacity that would not be generated from within the community. Our results highlight that certain external relations expose households to knowledge and other forms of capital, which in turn strengthen their ability to access and mobilise resources to respond to environmental change. However, not all external relations offer equal opportunities, which results in a stratified community and variation in the households’ capacity to adapt. The network approach also identifies points where local actors can link communities and households to remote agencies crucial for planning and implementing effective adaptation. Keywords: Adaptation; Adaptive capacity; Rural agriculture; Climate change; Rural community, Social network analysis; Vulnerability [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper combines qualitative and quantitative research methods in an exploratory study of borrowing and debt in rural southern Ethiopia in order to understand the complexities of the rural finance system and frequency of borrowing and debt in rural, smallholder settings. By comparing geospatial location in relation to access to infrastructure, markets and services within a single agroecological setting, we explore the ways in which these factors influence the frequency of borrowing, sources, amounts and interest rates involved, as well as the duration and extent of borrowing and debt. We find great variation amongst the communities studied, highlighting the importance of the localized nature of borrowing and debt and identify barriers and opportunities that will support the (re)adjusting of policies and programs that would enable smallholder households to overcome cycles of borrowing and debt, and build assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Farming among urban dwellers in Sub-Saharan Africa is a common phenomenon. The present study, carried out in a medium-sized town in Kenya, not only confirmed this but also showed that farming by urban dwellers in the rural areas was even more important for these households’ livelihoods than farming in town. However, those who could benefit most from farming, i.e. the urban poor, appeared to be underrepresented among urban farming households and those urban poor who did farm, either in urban or in rural areas, performed worse than the farming non-poor. The importance of farming as a livelihood source is illustrated by the fact that in years with very little or no harvest due to drought, many of the poor farming households faced food shortages. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This briefing interrogates ways in which approaches to reduce rural poverty through agriculture in what has been called the 'second green revolution' will affect rural farmers, especially women. As African governments face pressure to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), there are growing fears that the proposed technological approaches to poverty reduction may be implemented too hastily, without taking into account lessons learnt during the 'first green revolution'. Experts fear that irreversible harm will be caused to both the environment and farmers, especially due to the expected accelerated use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in rural agriculture. This briefing suggests that introduction of changes to rural agriculture should take cognisance of the fact that rural communities are socio-cultural systems in which farmers have extensive knowledge of their ecosystems and developed farming techniques accordingly. External factors may not necessarily bring positive change to rural agriculture unless farmers are included in planning and implementation processes from the beginning. Of concern also are issues of violation of farmers' human rights, particularly those of women farmers, low skills levels and inadequate access to resources and information to make informed decisions. If these are not corrected, the 'second green revolution' will not succeed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]