Coastal Zones

Biography

Biography: Dr Justus Kithiia

Abstract

The intensity of future climate change impacts is likely to increase current vulnerabilities and further compound the destitution of the small scale fishing communities in and around coastal cities in East Africa. The current urbanisation of poverty in the region has caused huge intra-urban social inequalities, and presents an enormous challenge for the region to become an economic growth engine in the global network of coastal zones, capable of delivering adequate services and quality of life for their rapidly growing population. The development and implementation of effective responses will not only depend on the improved understanding of how climate change will affect small-scale fisheries, but also on the available response strategies. This paper explores the fisher communities’ response strategies to climate change and variability. The actual case study involved four fisher community groups, with membership ranging from 40 to 60 people per group. The study design used a mixture of in-depth, exploratory and robust data collection techniques, resulting in data that were both qualitative and interpretative. The paper establishes a tendency by local resource users to self-organise through negotiated social practices, which are better suited to respond to changes in local conditions. Furthermore, it finds a strong tradition of collaboration, trust and reciprocal relationships within the groups, which could be leveraged to generate material interventions directed at coping with adverse effects. The implication of the study is that, addressing the impacts of uncertain climate change and variability cost effectively, will of necessity require the utilisation of local scale self-organisation and innovativeness