National level policies versus local level realities – can the two be reconciled to promote sustainable adaptation?

Climate change poses multiple threats to economic growth, poverty reduction, food security and, crucially, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in developing countries (Agrawala, 2005; DFID; 2006, Parry et al., 2007a; Stern, 2007). The need for adaptation to reduce the potential adverse impacts of climate change is now widely recognized. At the same time, there is a growing body of evidence pointing to the range of adaptation strategies to climate impacts being employed by households and communities. However, there is so far little evidence of whether and how these agendas are linked, in particular to what extent national policies are supporting poor and vulnerable groups’ ability to adapt. We investigate this issue using three case studies in Africa: South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.