Sustainable adaptation under adverse development?

Afar pastoralists manage their livelihoods in one of the hottest and driest environments on Earth. At the same time, they face rising temperatures and more frequent droughts induced by climate change, as well as increasing socio-economic and political pressures on pastoral lifestyles. Adaptation and development are closely intertwined for the Afar of Ethiopia, illustrating the importance of identifying adaptation approaches that can contribute to social sustainability, equity and justice on the ground. In the climate change literature, there are increasing calls for new types of development that are not mere adjustment to practices, technologies and institutions within the current development regime, but which instead address the shortcomings of current development pathways (see O'Brien 2012). In this chapter, we draw on the case of Afar pastoralists in Ethiopia to examine how sustainable adaptation, a concept that focuses specifically on development–adaptation interactions and on addressing the vulnerability of the poor (Eriksen and O'Brien 2007), can be broadened to transform development pathways.