Assessing Climate Adaptability in Madagascar Through U.N’s AFRice Program – UROP Spring Symposium 2021

Assessing Climate Adaptability in Madagascar Through U.N’s AFRice Program

Yasmine Elhagehassan

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Pronouns: she/her/hers

Research Mentor(s): Katherine Browne, PhD Candidate
Research Mentor School/College/Department: , School for Environment and Sustainability
Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Session: Session 6 (4pm-4:50pm)
Breakout Room: Room 8
Presenter: 2

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Abstract

Adaptation to climate change has become an important topic in recent years, as climate impacts have become increasingly severe. Discussion of adaptation has become particularly
important in low-income countries, who are more susceptible to changes in climate. One of the recipients of the UN’s adaptation funds, Madagascar, provides an example of how conflict of
interest among governmental institutions prevent their citizens from being able to adapt, needing financial aid from international groups. One of UN’s funding programs, AFRice, attempts to
prepare rice farmers within the Alaotra-Mangoro region through a series of training seminars and workshops, rewarding participants with agricultural tools and seeds. In order to understand how efficient the AFRice program was in its goals, a survey was conducted on 600 households (among both beneficiary and non-beneficiary households) to understand the living conditions
that could attest to the success of the AFRice program. The collected survey data was analyzed for descriptive statistics in the statistical program R. Three variables were used to determine
differences in the adaptive capacity of beneficiary versus non-beneficiary households: Adaptive Capacity, Long-Term Coping Strategies, and Food Security. During the analysis, the averages were determined for each variable, and multiple independent, two-tailed t-tests were conducted in order to understand significant differences between the two groups. It is hypothesized that
households that participated in the project will have higher adaptive capacity, rely on fewer coping strategies, and will be more food secure than households that did not participate. These
findings would indicate the effectiveness of the UN AFRice project and contribute to better practices of future UN projects that can aid other vulnerable countries as they face climate
impacts.

Authors: Katherine Browne, Yasmine Elhagehassan
Research Method: Data Collection and Analysis

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