Interface bureaucrats and the everyday remaking of climate interventions: Evidence from climate change adaptation in Zambia

Funder, Mikkel; Mweemba, Carol Emma

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.02.007

Cited by 26 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Another key aspect that much of the literature on farming aspirations has yet to engage with is the ways in which the aspirations of those who farm intersect with the strategies, policies and desires of those above (Bennike et al 2020, p. 47). Specifically, while questions have been raised over the effectiveness of agricultural extension services in sub-Saharan Africa (Davis 2008) they are, nevertheless, understood to play an important role in translating policy objectives onto the ground (Funder and Mweemba 2019) and shaping the livelihood strategies of those who farm (Buehren et al 2019;Norton and Alwang 2020;Verkaart et al 2019). Despite this, there has to date been a lack of attention paid to how the aspirations of those who farm intersect with the goals of extension agents and their programmes.…”

Section: Background and Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This lack of a timely response was supported by government extension agents themselves, who noted the difficulties they had in visiting and providing advice to those who farmed within Meru County. This was primarily linked to low levels of staff and a lack of funding which meant that they do not have the vehicles or fuel to travel to meet farmers throughout the county (see also Funder and Mweemba 2019). This points to issues around resourcing and being able to meet the demands of individual farmers.…”

Section: Extension Services and Aspirationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What’s the Story on Agriculture? Using Narratives to Understand Farming Households’ Aspirations in Meru, Kenya

et al. 2021

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In the limited research on farming aspirations, little attention has been paid to the narratives which frame and shape them, and the ways in which the aspirations of those who farm intersect with the goals of extension services. Drawing on multimethod research conducted in Meru County, Kenya, we demonstrate how aspirations are not only situated within a consideration of personal circumstances, but are shaped in crucial ways by networks of relations and by the perceived possibilities afforded by material and cultural resources. We further highlight the accounts of state extension agents that link a lack of engagement with the desires and needs of those who farm to the failure of agricultural development initiatives. We argue that an engagement with aspirations opens up a route to understanding the obstacles and potentialities that matter to those who farm and, as such, might enable more responsive development initiatives centred on the perceptions and desires of those who farm.

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Section: Background and Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Extension Services and Aspirationmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s the Story on Agriculture? Using Narratives to Understand Farming Households’ Aspirations in Meru, Kenya

et al. 2021

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“…Conceptual reasons suggest that the gap between demand and supply will persist where institutional conditions and constraints negatively affect local government performance [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Hence, further research and evidence-based knowledge are required to understand how municipal institutional arrangements shape public infrastructure outcomes, and how improvements may trigger local government performance.…”

Section: Scope and Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Through decisions, local governments play an important role in DRR, mitigation, adaptation, and sustainable development in terms of Investment and Maintenance [3,13,16]. The local government decisions and outcomes are shaped by complex situations-biophysical, social, and institutional dynamics-that give rise to uncertainties, incentives, and opportunity costs [3,17,18].…”

Section: Introduction 1research Questionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Causes and Consequences of Local Government Efforts to Reduce Risk and Adapt to Extreme Weather Events: Municipal Organizational Robustness

2021

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This research article investigates the causes and consequences of municipal institutional arrangements for the provision of resilient critical infrastructure in municipalities. The study explains how the municipal organizational robustness and external institutional dynamics moderate the relation between capacities, leadership, and local government investment decisions. We examine hypotheses on moderating effects with regression methods, using data from 345 Chilean municipalities over a nine-year period, and analyzing the evidence with support of qualitative data. Our results reveal that municipal organizational robustness—operational rules, planning, managerial flexibility and integration, and accountability—is the most quantitatively outstanding moderating factor. The evidence leads us to deduce that efforts to support local governments in the emerging policy domain of resilient critical infrastructure require special attention to the robustness of municipal institutional arrangements. The results are valid for countries where the local governments have responsibilities to fulfill and their decisions have consequences for the adaptation. Since one of the objectives of the Special Issue “Bringing Governance Back Home—Lessons for Local Government Regarding Rapid Climate Action” is to explore how action is enabled or constrained by institutional relations in which the actors are embedded, this study contributes to achieving the goal.

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“…A policy implementation gap with respect to climate change has received considerable attention (Biesbroek et al 2013;Dupuis and Knoepfel 2013;Naess et al 2015;Uittenbroek 2016), with the influence of politics often noted (e.g. Funder and Mweemba 2019;England et al 2018a). Less focus has, however, been applied to the ways in which various politics-in terms of negotiation and contestation of power by state and non-state actors-affect the formation, evolution and agreement of policies upstream, including the institutional and governance structures in which they are embedded (Eriksen et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of national climate adaptation agendas in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia: the role of national leadership and international donors

et al. 2020

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In this paper, we use an inductive approach and longitudinal analysis to explore political influences on the emergence and evolution of climate change adaptation policy and planning at national level, as well as the institutions within which it is embedded, for three countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia). Data collection involved quantitative and qualitative methods applied over a 6-year period from 2012 to 2017. This included a survey of 103 government staff (20 in Malawi, 29 in Tanzania and 54 in Zambia) and 242 interviews (106 in Malawi, 86 in Tanzania and 50 in Zambia) with a wide range of stakeholders, many of whom were interviewed multiple times over the study period, together with content analysis of relevant policy and programme documents. Whilst the climate adaptation agenda emerged in all three countries around 2007–2009, associated with multilateral funding initiatives, the rate and nature of progress has varied—until roughly 2015 when, for different reasons, momentum slowed. We find differences between the countries in terms of specifics of how they operated, but roles of two factors in common emerge in the evolution of the climate change adaptation agendas: national leadership and allied political priorities, and the role of additional funding provided by donors. These influences lead to changes in the policy and institutional frameworks for addressing climate change, as well as in the emphasis placed on climate change adaptation. By examining the different ways through which ideas, power and resources converge and by learning from the specific configurations in the country examples, we identify opportunities to address existing barriers to action and thus present implications that enable more effective adaptation planning in other countries. We show that more socially just and inclusive national climate adaptation planning requires a critical approach to understanding these configurations of power and politics.

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Interface bureaucrats and the everyday remaking of climate interventions: Evidence from climate change adaptation in Zambia

Cited by 26 publications

References 35 publications

What’s the Story on Agriculture? Using Narratives to Understand Farming Households’ Aspirations in Meru, Kenya

What’s the Story on Agriculture? Using Narratives to Understand Farming Households’ Aspirations in Meru, Kenya

Causes and Consequences of Local Government Efforts to Reduce Risk and Adapt to Extreme Weather Events: Municipal Organizational Robustness

Evolution of national climate adaptation agendas in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia: the role of national leadership and international donors

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