How Do Households Cope with and Adapt to Climate Change in the MENA Region?

Adoho, Franck and Wodon, Quentin (2014): How Do Households Cope with and Adapt to Climate Change in the MENA Region?

Abstract

What are the coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies (apart from migration which is discussed in part III of the study) that households use in order to respond to changes in climate and environmental conditions? Are households forced to sell assets or take other emergency measures in cases of losses due to extreme weather events? Beyond short term emergency responses, are they taking measures to adapt to changing conditions? This paper is based on new household survey data collected in 2011 in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and Yemen, documents the coping and adaptation strategies of households as well as government and community responses to changes in weather patterns and the environment. Overall, the results suggest that coping and adaptation strategies used by households to deal with shocks are diverse, but still limited, as are the community and government responses that could help them.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Climate change, Weather Shocks, Coping, Adaptation, Middle East and North Africa
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty > I31 - General Welfare, Well-Being

References

Adoho, F., and Q. Wodon, 2014a, Perceptions of Climate Change, Weather Shocks, and Impact on Households in the MENA Region, in Q. Wodon, A. Liverani, G. Joseph, and N. Bougnoux, editors, Climate Change and Migration: Evidence from the Middle East and North Africa, World Bank Study, Washington, DC.

Burger, N., A. Grant, S. Kups, Y. Rana, and Q. Wodon, 2014, Focus Countries, in Q. Wodon, A. Liverani, G. Joseph, and N. Bougnoux, editors, Climate Change and Migration: Evidence from the Middle East and North Africa, World Bank Study, Washington, DC.

Burger, N., B. Ghosh-Dastidar, A. Grant, T. Ruder, O. Tchakeva, and Q. Wodon, 2014, Data Collection, A. Liverani, G. Joseph, and N. Bougnoux, editors, Climate Change and Migration: Evidence from the Middle East and North Africa, World Bank Study, Washington, DC.

Elasha, Balgis Osman, 2010. “Mapping of Climate Change Threats and Human Development Impacts in the Arab Region,” mimeo, New York: United Nations Development Program.

IPCC, 2012, Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation, in C. B. Field, V. Barros, T. F. Stocker, D. Qin, D. J. Dokken, K. L. Ebi, M. D. Mastrandrea, and G.-K. P. K.J. Mach, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley, Eds., A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA.

McSweeney, C., M. New, and G. Lizcano, 2009. UNDP Climate Change Profiles: Documentation, mimeo, New York: United Nations Development Program.

United Nations Development Programme and Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development. 2009. Arab Human Development Report 2009: Challenges to Human Security in the Arab Countries. New York: UNDP.

Wodon, Q,, N. Burger, A. Grant, and A. Liverani, 2014, Climate Change, Migration, and Adaptation in the MENA Region, in Q. Wodon, A. Liverani, G. Joseph, and N. Bougnoux, editors, Climate Change and Migration: Evidence from the Middle East and North Africa, World Bank Study, Washington, DC.

World Bank, 2010, World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change, Washington, DC: World Bank.