J.1.10 Working With Marginal Populations.pdf

WORKING WITH

MARGINAL POPULATIONS

AN ANNEX TO THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

SEPTEMBER 2015

This publication is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International

Development (USAID). It was prepared by Engility Corporation, Stratus Consulting Inc., and University of South Carolina.

This report has been prepared for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), under the Climate

Change Resilient Development Task Order No. AID-OAA-TO-11-00040, under the Integrated Water and Coastal

Resources Management Indefinite Quantity Contract (WATER IQC II), Contract No. AID-EPP-I-00-04-00024.

Engility Corporation Contact:

Michael E. Cote, Michael.Cote@EngilityCorp.com

Engility Corporation

1320 Braddock Place

Alexandria, VA 22314

Contact: USAID Global Climate Change Office, climatechange@usaid.gov

Cover photos:

Woman being interviewed in Senegal: Edward R. Carr, University of South Carolina

Man driving sugarcane cart in India: Nimmi Damodaran, Stratus Consulting Inc.

Women gathered in Mali: Edward R. Carr, University of South Carolina

Women harvesting eggplants in India: USAID

Farmer explaining rain gauge use in Mali: Andre Mershon, USAID

Woman washing clothes in the Philippines: Jason Vogel, Stratus Consulting Inc.

mailto:Glen.Anderson@EngilityCorp.com file://SBOFS/project/AID-Adapt-Water/GuidanceReview/CRDPguidance/Final.Final.2.12.13/climatechange@usaid.gov

WORKING WITH

MARGINAL POPULATIONS

AN ANNEX TO THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT

FRAMEWORK

September 2015

Prepared for:

United States Agency for International Development

Global Climate Change Office, Climate Change Resilient Development Project

Washington, DC

Prepared by:

Edward R. Carr, University of South Carolina

Kwame N. Owusu-Daaku, University of South Carolina

Nimmi Damodaran, Stratus Consulting, Inc.

Jennifer Peers, Stratus Consulting, Inc.

DISCLAIMER

The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government

WORKING WITH MARGINAL POPULATIONS:

AN ANNEX TO THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK V

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................ VII

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................. IX

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................... XI

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Why Should I be Concerned about Climate Change among so Many Other Important

Issues?

1.2 Why Should I Read this Annex?

1.3 What is Climate-Resilient Development?

1.4 What is the USAID Climate-Resilient Development Framework?

1.5 How Does This Annex Relate to the Framework?

2. MARGINAL POPULATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE-RESILIENT

DEVELOPMENT

2.1 What Are “Marginal Populations?”

2.2 Climate Vulnerability of Marginal Populations

3. MARGINAL POPULATIONS AND THE CLIMATE-RESILIENT

DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

3.1 Scope

3.1.1 Framing the Planning Process

3.1.2 Identifying Development Inputs and Enabling Conditions

3.1.3 Considering Impacts of Climate and Non-Climate Stressors

3.2 Assess

3.3 Design

3.3.1 Identifying Adaptation Actions

3.3.2 Selecting Evaluation Criteria

3.3.3 Analyzing Options and Selecting a Course of Action

3.4 Implement and Manage

3.5 Evaluate and Adjust

4. REFERENCES

4.1 Cited References

4.2 Additional Resources

APPENDIX A: SAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERING MARGINAL

POPULATIONS WHEN USING THE CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT

FRAMEWORK

AN ANNEX TO THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK VII

ACRONYMS

AIDS acquired immune deficiency syndrome

ARCC African and Latin American Resilience to Climate Change

HIV human immunodeficiency virus

IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

PSROI Participatory Social Return on Investment

USAID United States Agency for International Development

USG U.S. Government

AN ANNEX TO THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK IX

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge the overall guidance of Jason Vogel of Stratus Consulting as this annex took shape, and the comments and inputs of Andre Mershon, Diane Russell, Kyle Rearick, Martin

Hayes, and William Breed (USAID); Natalie Elwell and Moushumi Chaudhury (World Resources Institute);

Patti Cristjanson (CGIAR); Carolyn Wagner, Christine Teter, and Stephanie Renfrow (Stratus Consulting);

and Glen Anderson (Engility Corporation).

AN ANNEX TO THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK XI

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Climate change and development initiatives are likely to have varying impacts on different populations or members of a single population, even within a single geographical region where development assistance is undertaken. Marginal populations include people whose social, political, economic, ecological, or biophysical circumstances limit or prevent their access to resources, assets, and services. Marginality is not an essential characteristic of a person; rather, it occurs in the context of a particular development initiative; climate or non-climate stressor; or social, economic, or political situation. Compared to others in their households, communities, and countries, members of marginal populations are often exposed to different climate impacts, affected by the same climate impacts to a different degree, or have different resilience to climate and non-climate stressors. It is therefore particularly important to identify these populations when development initiatives are undertaken. Development initiatives include strategies, programs, projects, and activities.

Climate-resilient development is development that enables people to cope with current climate variability and adapt to future climate change. Development that considers climate impacts will help preserve development gains and minimize damages related to climate impacts. Climate risks cannot be eliminated, but negative effects on people and economies can be reduced or managed. Climate-resilient development is not about implementing development activities in a completely new way; rather, it is about considering climate-related risks during regular development planning and implementation to help minimize the consequences and costs of climate impacts so they do not hinder progress toward development goals. The United States Agency for

International Development (USAID) has developed a framework for development practitioners and other relevant stakeholders to help them systematically include climate considerations in their development planning and implementation. This Climate-Resilient Development Framework (https://goo.gl/SqxR7T) takes a development-first approach and builds on the conventional project cycle management framework that development institutions use to manage their projects and programs.

The purpose of this annex is twofold. First, it serves to help development practitioners understand the importance of identifying and addressing the situations that influence marginal populations. Second, the annex helps development practitioners understand how to identify and incorporate the perspectives, needs, and capacities of marginal populations into each phase of the Climate-Resilient Development Framework.

IMPORTANCE OF IDENTIFYING AND ADDRESSING SITUATIONS

THAT INFLUENCE MARGINAL POPULATIONS

Development initiatives often fail to produce equal outcomes across an entire population. This is especially true of initiatives that address climate change, because vulnerability to climate change is determined by a range of factors: exposure to a climate-related stressor, sensitivity of the individual or group to that stressor, and the adaptive capacity of that individual or group to adapt to or address the impacts of the stressor.

Exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity come together in the context of particular activities, stressors, and social roles that shape group and individual roles and responsibilities. Because marginal populations often have different access to livelihoods and other resources and play different roles within livelihoods, marginal populations can experience:

https://goo.gl/SqxR7T

XII AN ANNEX TO THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

Distinct exposure, where the marginal population is uniquely exposed to a climate stressor. For example, members of a community that live in a floodplain will be uniquely exposed to flooding relative to the members of the community who live above that floodplain.

Differentiated sensitivity, where the marginal population shares exposure to a climate stressor with the rest of the population, but has a different sensitivity to that stressor. For example, among those living in the floodplain, sedentary agriculturalists are more sensitive to flooding than their pastoralist neighbors because while pastoralists can move herds to higher ground, farmers cannot move their crops out of the way of floods.

Differentiated adaptive capacity, where the marginal population shares exposure to a climate stressor with the rest of the population, may have the same or different sensitivity to that stressor, but has a different adaptive capacity to address the impacts of that stressor. For example, if flooding becomes a persistent challenge among the pastoralists who live in the floodplain, those who can obtain pastureland from upland relatives have a greater capacity to shift their herds permanently to higher ground compared to those without any such access.

These distinct exposures and differentiated sensitivities and adaptive capacities must be identified and addressed to ensure that the benefits of implemented actions do not exclude vulnerable groups within target populations. Furthermore, practitioners must ensure that the costs and unintended consequences of these actions do not fall solely or disproportionately on particular groups. Adaptation actions should not enhance existing inequalities that contribute to the current marginality and vulnerability of any group. The “do no harm” principle applies here as it does to all development interventions. Often, such exclusions and inequalities affect development inputs that can compromise the effectiveness of an initiative, not only for the marginal population but also for the target population in general. Historical, social, political, and economic inequalities that have created the marginal nature of certain groups can drastically shape their exposure, sensitive, and adaptive capacity leading to stark vulnerabilities. Therefore, when possible, adaptation actions should attempt to address and improve conditions that lead to inequalities.

Marginal populations may not always be the most vulnerable populations. They often have valuable assets for managing climate and other risks because of their particular livelihoods, roles and responsibilities, or knowledge of the local environment. In some cases, marginal populations may be better able to address climate-related stresses than the wider population. Identifying the specific capacities of marginal groups is critical to avoid harming them by inadvertently changing their exposure, sensitivity, or adaptive capacity to climate and non-climate stressors.

INCORPORATING PERSPECTIVES, NEEDS, AND CAPACITIES OF

MARGINAL POPULATIONS INTO EACH PHASE OF THE

CLIMATE-RESILIENT FRAMEWORK

A common theme throughout this annex is stakeholder engagement. Marginal populations often have a limited voice and are often not used to being engaged by authorities, and therefore development practitioners may find it difficult to identify and incorporate them into the design of initiatives. Marginal populations may sometimes be unable to or actively choose not to participate in a process because of its timing and setting, or out of concern for reprisals from other groups in the community. At all five stages of the climate-resilient development framework, practitioners must be sensitive to the ways in which certain groups could be marginalized and consider ways to better include them. Key activities at each stage are summarized below:

Scope

Carefully consider whose development goals are represented in the framing of an initiative

Identify potentially marginalized populations in the context of the initiative

Consult with members of marginal populations to identify development inputs to ensure these populations’ unique activities and needs are incorporated into the scoping process

Consult with members of marginal populations to identify climate and non-climate stressors on these inputs to ensure that the scoping process addresses their vulnerabilities

Assess

Identify whether a marginal population has a distinct exposure to a stressor, compared to the rest of the population

Identify whether a marginal population has a differentiated sensitivity to the stressor, compared to the rest of the population

Develop an understanding of the baseline adaptive capacities of the marginal population as well as their vulnerabilities to potential climate stressors with and without interventions, and identify any differences between the marginal group and the rest of the population

Design

Engage with marginal populations to identify adaptation actions that might not otherwise be considered

Ensure that criteria for evaluating options are designed to evaluate the effectiveness, feasibility, unintended consequences, and additional benefits of any proposed intervention for the population as a whole, and for marginal groups within that population

When analyzing options and selecting a course of action, consider how to weight evaluation criteria, such as those that identify unintended negative consequences to marginalized populations. Such weighting, where possible, should reflect the thinking of the target population, including the associated marginal populations

Implement and manage

Involve and engage representatives of marginal populations in implementing and managing initiatives, using culturally appropriate communication methods

Select required indicators that are most likely to capture a range of intra-population experiences

Develop custom indicators that capture the experience of marginal populations to facilitate monitoring members’ experiences

Develop and facilitate other non-indicator-based means of monitoring the implementation and impact of initiatives (e.g., using informal focus groups or interviews with representatives of the larger population and the marginal population)

XIV AN ANNEX TO THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

Evaluate and adjust

Evaluate monitoring data to specifically address the outcomes of marginal populations to ensure they are receiving expected initiative benefits

Consider how any adjustments to implementing the initiative might have disproportionate or unintended effects on marginal populations

This annex is structured as follows:

Section 1 introduces readers to the annex and explains its purpose and relationship to other USAID documents

Section 2 introduces the concept of marginal populations and how marginality can lead to distinct exposure and/or differentiated sensitivity and adaptive capacity to climate change that can undermine development goals

Section 3 focuses explicitly on the climate-resilient development framework and how the needs of and concerns for marginal populations can be integrated into each stage of the framework

Section 4 suggests resources for further reading; many of these resources have been cited throughout this annex, but additional resources are included that may be of interest to development practitioners

Appendix A provides example questions to help development practitioners ensure that they consider marginal populations as they proceed through the climate-resilient development framework

1. INTRODUCTION

Floating market on the Mekong River, Vietnam. Photo credit: Michael E. Cote, Engility Corporation.

1.1 WHY SHOULD I BE CONCERNED ABOUT CLIMATE

CHANGE AMONG SO MANY OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES?

Climate change may seem like a low-priority issue for developing countries that face a range of other pressures. However, climate change affects human health, agriculture, urban development, and many other sectors – sometimes creating new challenges, and sometimes exacerbating existing challenges. Climate change can put development goals – such as increasing economic growth, reducing poverty, enhancing access to education, improving child health, combating disease, and sustaining the environment – at risk, both in the short- and long-term (USAID, 2012b). Because of this, incorporating climate considerations into development planning and implementation will help development practitioners make the best use of limited resources. Approaching climate change planning with this type of “development-first” or “mainstreaming” philosophy helps support development over the long-term by ensuring the enduring positive effects of contemporary investments.

1.2 WHY SHOULD I READ THIS ANNEX?

The Summary for Policymakers of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) Fifth

Assessment Report states, “People who are socially, economically, culturally, politically, institutionally, or otherwise marginalized are especially vulnerable to climate change and also to some adaptation and mitigation responses” (IPCC, 2014, p. 6). The impacts of climate variability and change can exacerbate or ameliorate the marginalization of people by affecting their economic and ecological circumstances. Therefore, it is particularly important to identify marginal populations, work with them to ensure that initiatives address unique opportunities and challenges, and assess the ways that development interventions could affect their lives and livelihoods. This ensures broad and enduring benefits from development interventions. This is why the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Climate-Resilient Development

Framework considers addressing marginal populations “critical for climate-resilient development” (USAID, 2014d, p. 6).

This annex complements USAID policies and resources and provides an important resource supporting

USAID programming. The term “marginal populations” is used by USAID as much of its work requires engagement with traditionally marginalized populations such as women, and vulnerable populations whose vulnerability is often caused or increased by their marginalized status.

2 AN ANNEX TO THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

COMPLEMENTARY USAID POLICIES AND DIRECTIVES

Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy: USAID investments are aimed at three overarching outcomes that are especially important for people who are marginalized or excluded due to ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, lack of income, disability, or other factors and reflect the gamut of activities that USAID undertakes across multiple sectors and fields:

1. Reduce gender disparities in access to, control over, and benefit from resources, wealth, opportunities, and services – economic, social, political, and cultural

2. Reduce gender-based violence and mitigate its harmful effects on individuals and communities

3. Increase the capability of women and girls to realize their rights, determine their life outcomes, and influence decision-making in households, communities, and societies

Source: USAID, 2012d.

ADS Chapter 205 – Integrating Gender Equality and Female Empowerment in USAID’s Program

Cycle: This directive provides guidance on conducting gender analyses and integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment in all phases of programming, budgeting, and reporting.

Source: USAID, 2013.

ADS Chapter 201 – Planning: This directive identifies social soundness analysis as an important tool to analyze:

1. The compatibility of the project with the socio-cultural environment in which it is to be introduced (its socio-cultural feasibility)

2. The likelihood that the new practices or institutions introduced to the initial project target population will be diffused among other groups (the spread effect)

3. The social impact or distribution of benefits and burdens among various groups, both within the initial project population and beyond (the incidence).

Source: USAID, 2014a.

Policy and Program Guidance on Building Resilience to Recurrent Crisis: This policy specifically states, “Our efforts to build resilience will contribute to a sustainable reduction in vulnerability and more inclusive growth. In this pursuit and in the areas where we apply this policy and program guidance, we intend that our efforts will result in:

Increased adaptive capacity

Improved ability to address and reduce risk

Improved social and economic conditions of vulnerable populations.”

Source: USAID, 2012a.

Assistance to Internally Displace Persons Policy: This policy ensures USAID advocates for and takes an integrated approach to reduce the human costs of population displacement and that long-term development is not reversed. It emphasizes protection measures for IDPs and other vulnerable populations; and directs the Agency to coordinate with appropriate U.S. government entities, UN agencies, host governments, local institutions, and relevant organizations.

Source: USAID 2004.

Continued…

Vision for Ending Extreme Poverty: This major Vision document defines USAID's role in the global effort to end extreme poverty. Broadly, extreme poverty is defined as earning below the international poverty line of $1.25 per day. To achieve this goal USAID will:

Focus and integrate existing efforts

Enhance work in fragile contexts and prioritize resilience

Invest in science, technology, and innovation

Expand partnerships

Source: USAID 2015.

Disability Policy Paper: This paper presents USAID's commitment to the inclusion of both people with, and advocates for, disabilities. It aims to avoid discrimination in programs, and stimulate engagement of stakeholders to promote equal opportunities for people with disabilities. The objectives are to:

Enhance the attainment of United States foreign assistance program goals by promoting the participation and equalization of opportunities of individuals with disabilities

Increase awareness of issues of people with disabilities within USAID programs and in host countries

Engage other U.S. government agencies, host country counterparts, governments, implementing organizations, and other donors in fostering a climate of nondiscrimination against people with disabilities

Support international advocacy for people with disabilities.

Source: USAID 1997.

1.3 WHAT IS CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT?

Climate-resilient development is development that enables people to cope with current climate variability and adapt to future climate change. Development that considers climate impacts will help preserve development gains and minimize damages related to climate. Development practitioners cannot eliminate climate risks, but they can help reduce negative effects on people and economies. Climate-resilient development is not about implementing development activities in a completely new way; it is about considering climate-related risks during regular development planning and implementation to help minimize the consequences and costs of climate impacts so they do not hinder progress toward development goals.

1.4 WHAT IS THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT

FRAMEWORK?

USAID has developed a framework for development practitioners and other relevant stakeholders to help them systematically include climate considerations in their development planning and implementation. This

Climate-Resilient Development Framework takes a development-first approach and builds on the conventional project cycle management framework that development institutions use to manage their projects and programs. The framework consists of five stages: (1) scope, (2) assess, (3) design, (4) implement and manage, and (5) evaluate and adjust (Exhibit 1). For more information on the framework, its stages, and the

4 AN ANNEX TO THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

tasks involved in each stage, please refer to Climate-Resilient Development: A Framework for Understanding and

Addressing Climate Change (USAID, 2014d), as well as the documents listed in Section 4.

EXHIBIT 1. USAID’S CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK.

1.5 HOW DOES THIS ANNEX RELATE TO THE FRAMEWORK?

The objective of this annex is to help readers, particularly development practitioners, understand the importance of considering marginal populations, and to assist them in negotiating the challenges associated with identifying, incorporating, and addressing the needs and interests of marginal populations. It presents specific issues, challenges, and opportunities related to identifying, engaging with, and addressing these needs and interests at each step of the framework so that development initiatives improve marginal populations’ resilience to future climate and non-climate stressors. Development initiatives include strategies, programs, projects, and activities.

Development practitioners may wish to use this annex in conjunction with several other companion documents to the main USAID framework document:

Climate Vulnerability Assessment: An Annex to the USAID Climate-Resilient Development Framework [USAID, Forthcoming (a)] describes approaches and good practices for conducting a climate vulnerability assessment and can thus assist with assessing the vulnerabilities of marginal populations.

Climate Change and Water: An Annex to the USAID Climate-Resilient Development Framework (USAID, 2014b) and Climate Change and Coastal Zones: An Annex to the USAID Climate-Resilient Development Framework

(USAID, 2015a) each elaborate on the climate-resilient development framework in specific circumstances.

These documents can help inform development practitioners about the ways in which climate stressors and adaptation actions could affect marginal populations.

Governing for Resilience: An Annex to the USAID Climate-Resilient Development Framework [USAID, 2015b)] offers insights on issues related to governance, which can be particularly applicable to marginal populations.

6 AN ANNEX TO THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

2. MARGINAL POPULATIONS

IN THE CONTEXT OF

CLIMATE-RESILIENT

DEVELOPMENT

Women and children returning from the farm in southern Mali. Photo credit: Edward R. Carr, University of South Carolina.

2.1 WHAT ARE “MARGINAL POPULATIONS?”

Marginal populations are those that have limited access to resources, assets, and services (von Braun and Gatzweiler, 2014); and little social, political, or economic standing to change their situation.

Marginality is created and continues through the experience of one or more social, political, economic, ecological, or biophysical circumstances that can limit an individual’s or group’s ability to benefit from opportunities and reduce their resilience to climate and non-climate stressors.

Marginality is not an essential characteristic of a person; rather, it takes shape in the context of a particular social, economic, or political context; a climate or non-climate stressor; or a particular initiative – a development strategy, program, or project aimed at addressing a development challenge. For example, a young, educated woman might hold a wage-paying job in which she is given significant responsibility based on her performance, but when she returns to her husband’s house she might have little say over how her wages are spent to support the household. In the context of her job, this woman is not marginal. However, she is marginalized with regard to household livelihood decisions in her own home. This woman would likely be marginalized in stakeholder consultations on an adaptation initiative in her home area focused on climate-smart agriculture, even though her wages provide much of the capital needed by the household to conduct agricultural activities. Marginality depends not only on gender, but on the context of the situation and the power relationships which may be influenced individually or jointly by a number of factors, including age, gender, ability, class, religion, sexual identity, ethnicity, and nationality.

“Marginality is a multidimensional and interdisciplinary concept integrating poverty, discrimination, and social exclusion; the degradation of ecosystem function; and access to services, markets, and technology.”

Source: von Braun and Gatzweiler, 2014, p. 4.

Additionally, marginality can sometimes be fluid with attributes such as age and financial status, which may change over time. For example, a woman marginalized because of her poverty might find gainful employment and no longer be marginalized, and some communities may marginalize the elderly while others may accord them greater respect and influence.

Exhibit 2 provides an initial list of attributes that development practitioners can consider in identifying relevant marginal populations and discusses how they may be linked to climate vulnerability. In this annex, the term “marginal populations” is used to refer to members of these marginalized groups.

EXHIBIT 2. FACTORS POTENTIALLY CONTRIBUTING TO MARGINALITY AND CLIMATE

VULNERABILITY

Factor Potential contribution to marginality and climate vulnerability

Gender Social processes, structures, and expectations based on a person’s gender can play a significant role in his or her overall climate vulnerability. For example, in the aftermath of floods and cyclones in

Bangladesh in 1991, women were more vulnerable to flooding because of social factors – women were less likely to leave their houses unaccompanied and girls had not been expected to learn how to swim

(Röhr, 2006). In contrast, during Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua in 2001, more men than women lost their lives from gender norms that encouraged “heroic” yet high-risk behavior in the midst of the hazard (World Bank, 2001; Röhr, 2006). Longer-running disasters also have gender-based vulnerabilities; for example, women often receive less of the household resources than men and may be more vulnerable to climate impacts such as drought and famine (Demetriades and Esplen, 2010).

Age An individual’s age and associated status in society can affect his or her climate vulnerability. Among the Malinké of southern Mali, social organization is structured such that senior male heads of household designate communal household agricultural lands (usually dedicated to the cultivation of staple grains) and fields for individual household members (usually of lower fertility) (Assé and Lassoie, 2011, p.250). In smaller households (i.e. a husband and wife), there is evidence of what Assé and

Lassoie (2011, p.255) call “gender inclusive decision-making”, where men treat women as joint partners in agriculture. Larger polygamous households practice “gender exclusive decision-making”

(Assé and Lassoie, 2011, p.255) where women are explicitly excluded from communal household agricultural decisions. Thus, as they mature and their households gain assets, women’s husbands will marry again and, as a result, as women age they gradually lose decision-making authority in agriculture and become marginalized with regard to this livelihoods activity.

Physical/ mental ability

Individuals with disabilities tend to face inequalities in access to services such as education, health, and employment, as well as in opportunities to accumulate assets and to participate in community life. In the event of a disaster or conflict, or an emergency related to climate impacts, these individuals would most likely struggle with accessibility in evacuation, response, and recovery efforts. This is mainly because disaster planning and preparedness often neglect to consider the needs of the disabled (GPDD and World Bank, 2009). Increasing heat exposure could also exacerbate the clinical condition of people with mental health problems (WHO, 2009).

Health status

Individuals with chronic or socially stigmatized diseases tend to suffer from social exclusion, which increases their climate vulnerability (Grammenos, 2003; Harris, 2006). For example, the Pwani project, which seeks to conserve coastal ecosystems in Tanzania, has found that individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) or caring for individuals with HIV/AIDS are less able than healthy individuals to engage in the sustainable use of natural resources (USAID, 2012c), a practice conducive both to a mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. Individuals with chronic health conditions that require regular treatment, such as diabetes or renal disease, can be vulnerable during extreme events like floods.

8 AN ANNEX TO THE USAID CLIMATE-RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

EXHIBIT 2. FACTORS POTENTIALLY CONTRIBUTING TO MARGINALITY AND CLIMATE

VULNERABILITY

Factor Potential contribution to marginality and climate vulnerability

Minority status

(racial, ethnic, religious)

Climate impacts tend to affect minority groups disproportionately, either because of such groups’ close relationship to the natural environment through their livelihoods or based on their residing in locations more vulnerable to climate change (Baird, 2008). For example, the Mekong Adaptation &

Resilience to Climate Change Study found that the lack of skills to adapt to climate impacts was more pronounced among ethnic minorities living in remote areas with poor access to state services (ICEM, 2013).

Financial status

Climate impacts tend to affect impoverished people – those with the fewest resources and the least capacity to adapt – disproportionately. During extreme events, people living in poverty do not have appropriate shelter and may live in a lowland area, hillside, or in a slum with improper drainage; and thus may die or suffer injuries from natural disasters. Climate impacts also adversely affect the impoverished because of their greater reliance on the natural environment and lack of livelihood options (IPCC, 2014). Individuals trapped in chronic cycles of poverty are also less likely to participate in and benefit from climate-risk mitigation strategies, such as weather-based insurance (Barret et al., 2007). Lack of access to savings and credit also contributes to vulnerability.

Location Physical location can greatly affect the climate-related vulnerability of already marginalized groups

(Baird, 2008). For example, in urban areas, groups marginalized by ethnicity or poverty tend to live along rivers or canals where they are more exposed to flooding and sea level rise than other members of the general populace (IPCC, 2014). Poor-quality or non-existent infrastructure in these areas may also contribute to greater vulnerability.

LINKS BETWEEN “MARGINAL” AND “MAINSTREAM” POPULATIONS

Marginal populations do not exist in isolation.

Instead, they have specific roles and responsibilities within the populace; these roles and responsibilities enable their own lives and livelihoods, as well as those of the wider population. For example, the majority Wolof-speaking agriculturalists in Kaffrine, Senegal, often rely on a relatively small number of minority Puel pastoralists to herd their cattle; cattle are a significant source of wealth. The Puel often live amongst themselves within a larger community and may not have the same access to community decision-making as their Wolof neighbors;

however, the community as a whole relies on the

Puel to take care of their cattle. Therefore, while the Puel are often a marginal population in

Kaffrine, any negative impacts on their lives and livelihoods would likely extend to some degree to the majority Wolof population that relies on them.

Korani School in Kaffrine. Photo credit: Edward R. Carr, University of South Carolina.

Marginal populations can be difficult to identify, reach, and engage; they may be excluded from social and political processes, be a lower priority for governments, or have constrained access to means or venues of communication. For example, marginal populations may be largely illiterate or unable to speak the official language in a country. Despite the challenges, USAID has determined that identifying and working with marginal populations in the context of development initiatives is an important step in achieving development objectives including an end to extreme poverty (see, for example, USAID, 2012e and USAID, 2015). When designing and implementing development initiatives, USAID has focused on a number of characteristics that can contribute to marginality: sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographic area, migratory status, and forced displacement; as well as having medical conditions, such as HIV/AIDS (see, for example, USAID, 2012d, 2013). However, this list is neither exhaustive nor prescriptive; a group’s or individual’s status as marginal depends on context – the place, time, and activity under consideration.1

2.2 CLIMATE VULNERABILITY OF MARGINAL POPULATIONS

Vulnerability to climate variability and change is determined by a range of factors: exposure to a climate-related stressor, sensitivity of the individual or group to that stressor, and the adaptive capacity of that individual or group to adapt to or address the effects of the stressor (IPCC, 2007). Marginal populations can experience unique challenges and opportunities from climate variability and change through three pathways: distinct exposure, differentiated sensitivity, and differentiated adaptive capacity.

With distinct exposure, the marginal population is uniquely exposed to a climate stressor. For example, in coastal communities along the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, ethnic majorities primarily derive their livelihoods from farming, whereas ethnic minorities lack access to land and instead rely heavily on fishing for their livelihoods. The primary effects of climate change on the majority of farmers are changes in the amount and timing of precipitation, whereas the primary effects of climate change on the marginalized minority of fishermen are changes in the timing and duration of oceanic upwelling, which reduce fish hauls (Brashares et al., 2004; Carr, 2011), as well as changes in sea surface temperature and ocean acidification.

Differentiated sensitivity is another way that marginal populations can experience unique climate-related challenges and opportunities. In this situation, the marginal population shares exposure to a climate stressor with the rest of the population, but has a different sensitivity. For example, an entire agricultural community might experience variability in the timing and amount of rainfall from season to season; however, those with irrigated fields will be far less sensitive to this stress than those who depend on rainfall.

Differentiated adaptive capacity is a third way that marginal populations can experience unique climate-related challenges and opportunities. For example, wealthier people with access to larger landholdings or diverse economic opportunities will likely have greater adaptive capacity in the context of long-term declines in rainfall than those populations who are land-poor and/or completely dependent on rainfall for their subsistence (Carr, 2014).

Despite their increased vulnerability to climate, marginal populations often have valuable assets for managing climate and other risks. This may stem from knowledge of their local environment or their particular livelihood roles and responsibilities. For example, men in semi-arid (Sudanian) Mali are generally responsible for rain-fed agriculture, while women participate most heavily in hand-irrigated gardening. Women in this part

1. For example, a politically marginalized population could be identified as “any group that has historically been excluded from fair participation in a country’s political processes,” while a physically marginalized population could be a community living on a mountain plateau with limited roadways or with no electricity (USAID, 1998, p. 13).

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of the world are often marginalized as they have little decision-making authority over household activities and their activities are generally not sufficiently valued by their households and fellow community members.

However, women’s unique engagement with irrigated agriculture makes their livelihoods less sensitive to seasonal variations in the timing and amount of precipitation (Carr, 2014). In some cases, marginalized populations may even be better able to address climate-related stresses than the wider population. Identifying the specific capacities of marginal groups is critical to designing and implementing climate-resilient development initiatives that benefit target populations and also avoid harming marginal groups within target populations.

Understanding the ways that marginal populations are relevant to and intersect with the goals of an initiative is integral to all of the stages outlined in the USAID Climate-Resilient Development Framework – scoping, assessing, designing, implementing/managing, and evaluating/adjusting the initiative. Section 3 discusses how marginal populations should be considered at every stage of the framework.

CONTEXTUAL NATURE OF MARGINALITY AND CLIMATE VULNERABILITY

Marginality is often simplistically associated with particular groups in society. For example, women are often presumed to be marginal to livelihood decision-making and opportunities. In general, such marginality would render women more vulnerable than men to climate impacts; however, this is not always the case. For example, a study of gender and adaptation in agrarian settings found gender to be a critical marker of marginality and differentiated vulnerability to climate impacts among populations in Ghana’s

Central Region – but largely irrelevant in communities at the base of the Mount Mulanje Forest Reserve in

Malawi. In short, the factors that define marginality and that shape vulnerability to climate impacts are contextual and are not easily identified through assumptions about the status of broad categories of people.

In the Ghana case, men and women in the same household often farmed distinct plots of land, and controlled crop selections, agricultural decisions, and the yields of those farms independently. Men controlled the allocation of land within the household, and tended to assign themselves six or more times the amount of land given to their wives. Further, gender-based responsibilities within households, and gender-based expectations of appropriate behaviors and decisions, led men and women to emphasize different crops. Men focused on tree crops which are relatively resistant to fluctuations in precipitation;

while women grew vegetables which are susceptible to precipitation changes. Thus, women’s marginality – their limited voice with regard to land tenure and their focus on subsistence crops – produced differentiated sensitivity and adaptive capacity to climate variability.

In Malawi, however, men and women in a household farm the same plot and crops, and share in the income from the farm. Although women conduct a greater amount of domestic and farm labor than men, and often have limited input on crop selection, these forms of marginality do not always translate into vulnerabilities to climate based on gender, as both men and women share in and rely upon the yields of the household farm. In Malawi, distinct exposure, differentiated sensitivity, and differentiated adaptive capacity to the impacts of climate change did eventually emerge based on location (i.e., the distance between a community and the forest reserve affecting access to key resources), and on the marital status of the household head (i.e., women who headed households experienced specific challenges).

The case studies in Ghana and Malawi demonstrate that gender is not always a singularly important factor influencing vulnerability to climate change impacts. Therefore, simplistic gender analyses that rely on the simple disaggregation of data by “men” and “women” are likely to be insufficiently precise in their identification of marginal groups, and the specific vulnerabilities of these groups. To truly identify and address the sources of vulnerability to climate variability and change, gender analysis involves considering the contextual social factors that delineate the roles and responsibilities of both genders.

Source: Carr and Thompson, 2013.

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3. MARGINAL POPULATIONS

AND THE CLIMATE-

RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT

FRAMEWORK

Women and children in a market in Pokhara, Nepal. Photo credit: Michael E. Cote, Engility Corporation.

In this section, we discuss how to incorporate considerations of marginal populations in each stage of the

Climate-Resilient Development Framework. Appendix A provides examples of key questions that development practitioners can ask to assist in this process. A common theme throughout this section is stakeholder engagement. Marginal populations are frequently less engaged in the development planning process than the general population, and thus are left out of the decision-making process, often to their detriment and to the detriment of the broader community. When development practitioners do not consult with members of marginal populations at each stage of the framework, unique local knowledge, adaptive capacity, and ways of sharing and gathering information may be overlooked. It is important to note, however, that marginal populations may sometimes actively choose not to participate in a process for contextually specific reasons (Cornwall, 2008). For example, those who have been excluded from the educational system might find a school to be an uncomfortable meeting place. Others may fear reprisals for their participation in the design and implementation of initiatives, especially if these initiatives deliver unique benefits to the marginal population. Understanding why a population might decline to participate, and respecting or working with that decision, are important for addressing and incorporating the population’s concerns and needs into the Climate-Resilient Development Framework. Therefore, although it is important to engage all stakeholders in climate-resilient development, particular effort is required to reach out to marginalized populations and engage them on their terms. We discuss some approaches to this type of engagement throughout this section and provide additional resources in Section 4.

3.1 SCOPE

The scoping stage is the starting point for planning development initiatives. This stage establishes the development context and assesses vulnerability at an appropriate level of detail to support initial planning. It involves (1) framing the planning process, (2) identifying development inputs and enabling conditions, and

(3) considering the impacts of climate and non-climate stressors on these inputs and enabling conditions.2

The implementation of each of these tasks presents opportunities to identify and consider potential marginal populations and their specific challenges and opportunities.

3.1.1 FRAMING THE PLANNING PROCESS

This task involves identifying country-, community-, or sector-relevant development goals and the critical requirements to meet these goals. When framing the planning process, development practitioners need to identify any affected marginal populations and explore ways to involve them in the planning process. This does not necessarily require that initiatives make reduced marginalization one of their main development goals. However, the question of whether affected marginal populations exist should be asked at the outset.

When identifying and prioritizing development goals, development practitioners should consider whose needs they represent and whether or not the goals and needs are representative of both the marginal populations and the population as a whole. The entire focus of some initiatives may be on addressing the circumstances that cause marginalization. For initiatives with an initial focus that may do little to address the opportunities and challenges of the marginalized populations, development practitioners might consider making the improvement of their conditions a key development goal. Or, to a lesser extent, development practitioners could consider how to reduce the disproportionate negative impacts of climate change on these marginalized populations as a development goal.

Identifying marginal populations in this stage of the Climate-Resilient Development Framework requires attention to the particular positions and interests of marginal groups. For example, the Climate-Resilient

Development Framework notes that identifying development goals can often be accomplished by reviewing

“existing national development frameworks as well as climate change strategies, policies, and plans” (USAID, 2014d, p. 10); however, these plans often do not address marginal populations. As such, development practitioners may begin to define marginal populations by examining which populations are absent in these documents. Similarly, information on current infrastructure can also provide contextual clues about marginality (see text box).

2. For definitions of the terms “input,” “enabling condition,” “climate stressor,” and “non-climate stressor,” from the perspective of the climate-resilient development framework, please refer to the climate-resilient development framework document (USAID, 2014c).

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CONTEXTUAL CLUES ABOUT MARGINALITY

The character of infrastructure, or the lack of infrastructure, can tell us much about marginality. The paved portions of a country’s regional north-south highway might skip certain areas by ending at certain points and continuing at others. In this case, whether this infrastructure gap represents a limitation of infrastructural funding, an unseen technical challenge, or a conscious effort to exclude a particular group from the benefits of this infrastructure, is not clear.