Variable adaptations: Micro-politics of environmental displacement in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Shinn, Jamie E.; King, Brian; Young, Kenneth R.; Crews, Kelley A.

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2014.08.006

Cited by 23 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…A dimension of micro power analyses was added to get a deeper understanding of the actual practices of stakeholder participation in the cases under study. A micro power analysis allows the identification of who is represented in the process, how accountability to the constituencies of the representatives works, who sets the agenda and objectives for the process, what knowledge and languages of valorization [24] are used in the debates, and how the negotiation between the representatives takes place [25][26][27][28][29]. Table 1.…”

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutionalizing Participation in Water Resource Development: Bottom-Up and Top-Down Practices in Southern Thailand

Singto

Fleskens

Vos

2018

Water

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Substantive stakeholder engagement is increasingly recognized as essential for effective water resource development. Infrastructure development projects and strategies are however typically designed by engineers first before initiating discussions about impacts with stakeholders. In altering this sequence, designing meaningful participatory planning processes needs careful attention. This requires an innovative approach taking into account the institutional and discursive structure of the negotiation arena. This study uses eight features of participation and related micro-politics questions to scrutinize the design process of two water resource development projects in Thailand. The research shows that in one case some of the affected stakeholders were excluded, and in the other case, a lack of trust made one village obstruct the design process from the start. In both cases, the capacity to facilitate the negotiation about alternative designs and compensation was deficient. It is concluded that participation should be institutionalized and facilitated in a way that fosters accountable representation by all stakeholders, builds trust, and recognizes stakeholder interests and knowledge. The approach taken helps to understand the outcomes of the planning process and is useful to design planning processes that foster the accountable representation of all stakeholders and the recognition of their interests and knowledge.

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Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutionalizing Participation in Water Resource Development: Bottom-Up and Top-Down Practices in Southern Thailand

Singto

Fleskens

Vos

2018

Water

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“…As a result of the floods, many Bayei people engaged in the longstanding practice of temporarily shifting to dryland (rainfall dependent) agriculture, with the intention to resume molapo farming as soon as ecological conditions permitted (Shinn, ). Second, in Etsha 13, floodwaters reached “even to houses”, damaging property and displacing hundreds of residents (Shinn et al, ). Bayei people were most likely to be displaced, as they tend to reside closer to the floodplain.…”

Section: Findings: Flooding Ethnicity and Vulnerability In The Okavmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward anticipatory adaptation: Transforming social‐ecological vulnerabilities in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Shinn

2017

Geographical Journal

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The ability of people to respond successfully to environmental variability is determined by their existing vulnerabilities and social‐ecological relationships. At the same time, dominant policy and scholarly approaches to adaptation remain apolitical and pay inadequate attention to the links between structural vulnerability and adaptive capacity. Using a case study from the dynamic wetland environment of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, this paper draws on work in political ecology, vulnerability studies, and the emerging field of transformative adaptation to emphasise the need for an anticipatory approach to adaptation. While flooding variability is an inherent part of life in the Okavango Delta, high floods in 2009, 2010 and 2011 displaced hundreds of residents from their homes and inundated many floodplain agricultural fields past the point of production. A combination of household interviews, participant observation sessions, and household surveys was used to investigate the impacts of these flooding events, responses to them, and the implications of those responses. Findings reveal that the Government of Botswana began to regulate wetland‐based livelihoods more strictly during the years the high floods occurred, and to encourage residents to switch permanently to dryland livelihoods. While these state‐sponsored strategies appear to be practical responses to flooding variability, they ultimately result in decreased adaptive capacity for some people, especially members of the Bayei tribe. This group typically subsists from wetland‐based livelihoods and has strong cultural ties to the waters of the Delta. By situating these findings within the historical context of marginalisation of ethnic minorities and rural communities in the country, and considering them in the light of predictions of future increases in environmental variability in the Okavango Delta, the paper identifies sites of potential transformation that would lead to improved adaptive capacities for vulnerable groups, in advance of the most significant impacts of climate change.

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“…Second, while the two villages are similar in many ways, they have distinct spatial relationships with flooding patterns. Both villages are located within a few kilometers of the floodplain, but flooding events tend to come closer to Etsha 13 and water crossed into the village during the peak floods in 2009-2011 (Shinn et al 2014). Floods damaged molapo fields near both villages, but the damage in Etsha 13 was much more severe (ibid.).…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This includes the practice of transitioning between dryland and floodplain agriculture (known locally as molapo farming) in response to flooding and drought (Motsholapheko et al 2012;Magole and Thapelo 2005). In 2009-2011, higher than average floods inundated many floodplain fields past the point of production, causing many molapo farmers and others living near the floodplain to transition temporarily to dryland areas (Shinn et al 2014). At the same time, the highly centralized Government of Botswana (GOB) began to enforce stricter regulations over access to wetland resources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variable adaptations: Micro-politics of environmental displacement in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Cited by 23 publications

References 20 publications

Institutionalizing Participation in Water Resource Development: Bottom-Up and Top-Down Practices in Southern Thailand

Institutionalizing Participation in Water Resource Development: Bottom-Up and Top-Down Practices in Southern Thailand

Toward anticipatory adaptation: Transforming social‐ecological vulnerabilities in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Adaptive environmental governance of changing social-ecological systems: Empirical insights from the Okavango Delta, Botswana

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