What shapes the decisions of beneficiary communities to opt-in or opt-out of adaptation projects?

Keywords: climate change adaptation, participation, access, power relations, India
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Critical reviews of formal adaptation intervention outcomes, particularly in the Global South, have found that planned adaptation efforts often underdeliver, redistribute vulnerability or even create new sources of vulnerability. We explore the relationship between the formal choices made for adaptation governance and the socio-political context within which these choices are actualized. To understand what shapes the "real life" of interventions proposed under adaptation policies, we seek to examine a) the often intersecting and compounding factors within local heterogeneous communities of beneficiaries that mediate access to adaptation resources and their interaction with wider social, economic, and political structures within which they are situated and b) how the social and political dynamics of the intervention environment shape the decision to opt-in or opt-out of being beneficiaries of adaptation projects.
Using case-study and participatory methods such as semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and participatory mapping, we explore these questions within an internationally funded adaptation project in Uttarakhand, India. Building on existing evidence of how class and caste dynamics determine vulnerability and access to public goods, including adaptation resources, findings from this study will a) illuminate social factors crucial to subsistence and market-oriented agriculture at the local level, b) document factors that shape decisions of beneficiary communities to opt-in or opt-out of projects and c) contribute to emerging conversations downscaling state action plans and mainstreaming of adaptation concerns.