Climate risks in West Africa: Bobo-Dioulasso local actors’ participatory risks management framework

Abstract

The paper focuses on the role of multilevel governance in climate change adaptation and risk management, and draws out lessons from the implementation of the UN Habitat Cities and Climate Change Initiatives (CCCI) in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. It describes the process for the formulation of a participatory risk management framework for local actors drawing from empirical investigations undertaken in Bobo-Dioulasso. The paper argues that adaptation needs to be mainstreamed and implemented at local level and to include risk management. Moreover, regulatory capacity of public authorities and balance of power and resources play a major role in this process. After presenting the specific knowledge on climate and environmental challenges and CCCI implementation in Bobo-Dioulasso, the paper describes challenges and opportunities in the implementation of the participatory risk and management framewor

Participatory analysis of vulnerability to drought in three agro-pastoral communities in the West African Sahel

“…Roudier et al (2014) reported participatory research in two communities in Senegal to assess the role of climate forecasts in smallholder agriculture using participatory modelling approach to integrate local and scientific knowledge. In an attempt to address the paucity of information in the Sahel on participatory vulnerability approaches, Ricci et al (2015) developed a participatory risk management framework for local actors based on the UN Habitat Cities and Climate Change Initiatives (CCCI) in BoboDioulasso, Burkina Faso. However, this framework has not been applied by the authors and thus remains theoretical.…”

Understanding climate adaptation and transformation challenges in African cities

“…As such it has contributed significantly to widening participants' networks and has fostered enhanced understanding of commonalities and divergences of focus, approach and perspective being deployed in different settings. To date, research, knowledge and policy work across Africa in relation to CC has remained both fragmentary and fragmented, being focused very much within the continent's four major historically entrenched linguistic communities of practice (Anglophone, Francophone, Arabophone and Lusophone) and on a handful of mega-and large cities, including some conspicuous 'leaders' in the CC field, invariably driven by the energy and connections of one or two champions in each case, and a handful of smaller and intermediate cities, often through policy-oriented networks such as UN-HABITAT's CCCI, represented in this collection by Ricci et al's study of Bobo Dioulasso [41]. Such networks, of which the South African Cities Network (SACN) linking that country's metropolitan and large city authorities, or the C40 network that brings together a growing number of large cities in all continental regions represent other examples, often provide vital access to resources and information-sharing platforms for otherwise isolated officials and local researchers.…”

“…While some of these arrangements are formal [39][40][41], many rely on relations of trust and personal networking to overcome institutional rigidities or provide access to required skills and capacity -as exemplified by Leck and Roberts [14]; Guè ye et al [60] and Riise and Adeyemi [12]. Such innovations highlight potential pathways to overcome constraints and move beyond the 'helpless victim' stance that reflects a lack of initiative and often either seeks or results from undue external aid dependence.…”

“…While not associated with any particular theoretical approach, several examples of the multi-level governance framework [19,35,36,37 ,38] being utilized to elucidate issues of horizontal relations among adjacent local authorities and vertical relations with regional and national institutions [14,[39][40][41] are included in this Special Issue.…”

“…[56,57 ]). Despite acknowledged limitations, participatory engagements such as those attempted in very different ways through the community-level pilot project in Maputo [25] and at the city level in Bobo Dioulasso [41] probably represent the best available type of approach. This also reflects the workshop participants' acknowledgement of the importance of holistic approaches, such that the frameworks and approaches above were often seen as valuable only in so far as they help to address practical challenges.…”