Alvin Chandra

Environmental Earth Sciences

Author Statistics

Papers

Citation

H-Index

i-10 index

Research Trends

Author Order

Document Type

Co-Authors

Karen E. McNamara

University of Queensland

Paul Dargusch

University of Queensland

Ross Westoby

Griffith University

Dante Dalabajan

Oxfam

Ana Maria Caspe

Oxfam

Sonja Ayeb‐Karlsson

University College London

Rachel Clissold

University of Queensland

Tammy Tabe

East–West Center

Petros Gaganis

University of the Aegean

Cooperative Institutions

University of Queensland

Environmental Earth Sciences

Oxfam

University of the South Pacific

University of the Sunshine Coast

University of Prince Edward Island

Palawan State University

East–West Center

University of Bergen

University of the Aegean

Author Statistics

Papers

Citation

H-Index

i-10 index

Research Field

Climate-smart agriculture: perspectives and framings

Climate Policy (2017)

Alvin Chandra Karen E. McNamara Paul Dargusch

This paper offers a systematic analysis of the concepts and contexts that frame the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) discourse in the academic and policy literature. Documents (n = 113) related to CSA and published in peer-reviewed journals, books, working papers, and scientific reports from 2004 to 2016 were reviewed. Three key trends emerged from the analysis: studies are biased towards global policy agendas; research focuses on scientific and technical issues; and the integration of mitigation, adaptation, and food security (the three pillars of CSA) is becoming a popular scholarly solution. Findings suggest that CSA is a fairly new concept used to describe a range of adaptation and mitigation practices without a specific set of criteria. Although CSA is often framed around the three pillars, the underlying issues constructing the discourse differ at global, developing, and developed country scales. Although there is increasing research on developing countries, particularly in relation to how CSA can transform smallholder agriculture, there is a paucity of research documenting the experiences from developed countries. The findings suggest that research on CSA needs to move beyond solely focussing on scientific approaches and only in certain geographical contexts. If CSA is to be applicable for farmers across the globe, then cross-disciplinary research that is underpinned by broad socio-economic and political contexts is essential to understand how differences in narratives might affect implementation on-the-ground in both developing and developed countries.POLICY RELEVANCEAlthough policy makers are increasingly supportive of the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) approach, the rhetoric has largely been developed on the basis of scientific and technical arguments. The political implications of varying perspectives have resulted in a growing divide between how developing and developed countries frame solutions to the impacts of climate change on agriculture under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Different framings are part of the explanation for why the scope of CSA is being rethought, with the scientific community redirecting attention to seeking a separate work programme under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The current policy framing of CSA will give no new policy direction unless it grounds itself in the smallholder farmer and civil society contexts.

Discipline

Globe

Science Policy

10.1080/14693062.2017.1316968

Cite

Citations (208)

Deconstructing vulnerability and adaptation in a coastal river basin ecosystem: a participatory analysis of flood risk in Nadi, Fiji Islands

Climate and Development (2015)

Alvin Chandra Petros Gaganis

Despite the growing discussion on vulnerability and adaptation in urban areas, there is limited research on how smaller towns and cities in Small Island Developing States are being affected by and responding to climate change impacts. This study uses fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM), field visits and semi-structured interviews with 40 stakeholders across 6 different stakeholder groups in the Nadi River Basin, Fiji Islands to identify, analyse and deconstruct climate change vulnerability and adaptation options to manage increasing flood risks. The research evidence suggests that vulnerability to floods in the basin is on the rise due to a complex mesh of three intersecting factors. Firstly, non-climatic pressures such as development, drainage, social change, agriculture, tourism growth and deforestation combine, juxtapose and interact in a rather unique way with global climate variability (interdependent systems) to increase the stress on the river and coastal ecosystems. Secondly, the most vulnerable or at-risk populations like the farmers, squatter households and in particular women within the community have weak coping capacity due to a combination of demographic and social characteristics. Thirdly, vulnerability is on the rise due to climate factors as well as the flurry of unplanned development, redevelopment and degradation of catchment resources. The research findings have implications for adaptation policies. In particular, the basin stakeholders should integrate climate change within sectorial planning processes, actively engage the vulnerable groups, promote knowledge, awareness and social learning, and invest in adaptive management across all levels of decision-making. Structural policy changes to land-use planning and insurance financing schemes are also necessary to address growing risks. These have the potential to enhance local capacities of communities to adapt to climate-induced floods and improve ecosystem integrity for resilience building.

Vulnerability

Adaptive capacity

10.1080/17565529.2015.1016884

Cite

Citations (52)

Gendered vulnerabilities of smallholder farmers to climate change in conflict-prone areas: A case study from Mindanao, Philippines

Journal of Rural Studies (2017)

Alvin Chandra Karen E. McNamara Paul Dargusch Ana Maria Caspe Dante Dalabajan

Vulnerability

Disadvantaged

10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.12.011

Cite

Citations (104)

Climate-Induced Non-Economic Loss and Damage: Understanding Policy Responses, Challenges, and Future Directions in Pacific Small Island Developing States

Climate (2023)

Alvin Chandra Karen E. McNamara Rachel Clissold Tammy Tabe Ross Westoby

Despite mitigation and adaptation efforts, the residual risks of climate change will continue to impact the most vulnerable communities globally. Highly exposed regions, such as the Pacific Islands, will continue to experience profound negative loss and damage as a result of climate change, which will challenge current ways of life. Knowledge on the extent to which regional and national climate change polices can identify and respond to non-economic loss and damage (NELD) is limited. From the perspectives of stakeholders in the Pacific Islands region, this research aims to gain insights into how regional and national policies are responding to NELD, as the well as the barriers, shortcomings, and requirements for future responses. Utilising a mixed qualitative–quantitative approach, this research explores the perspectives of expert informants, including those from the government, donors and development partners, civil society, intergovernmental organisations, and other relevant bodies, such as universities. The key findings of this study indicate that current policy responses include a regional policy that integrates disaster and climate change losses, national efforts to preserve traditional and local knowledge, national adaptation and resilience planning, community-based projects, and relocation and resettlement. Additionally, NELD is a relatively new concept for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers, and it is difficult to conceptualise the diversity of issues related to NELD in the region. Owing to this poor understanding, a key gap relates to the dominance of the economic lens when characterising climate-induced impacts in the region. As such, there is a limited holistic consideration of climate change impacts, and thus a limited appreciation of the interrelated factors of NELD within policy responses that then cascade towards communities. Finally, the paper outlines key policy insights as follows: policies on integration, adaptation, resilience planning, relocation and resettlement have advanced; the economic lens dominates when characterising climate-induced impacts on the region; there is a limited appreciation of the interrelated factors of NELD; and there exists a need to account for residual and intangible losses to land, culture, traditional knowledge, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human agency. The insights gained from this research can provide a practical basis for guiding local to regional action and help support and design comprehensive risk management solutions in order to address NELD associated with climate change.

Relocation

National Policy

10.3390/cli11030074

Cite

Citations (5)

Stories of loss and healing: connecting non-economic loss and damage, gender-based violence and wellbeing erosion in the Asia–Pacific region

Climatic Change (2023)

Sonja Ayeb‐Karlsson Alvin Chandra Karen E. McNamara

Abstract It is well-known that women, children, and other intersectional and marginalised social groups are disproportionately impacted by ‘non-economic wellbeing loss’ in the context of climatic changes. However, few empirical studies investigate its interrelation with violence against women and children (VAWC). We urgently need to widen our perceptions of what falls under the umbrella term ‘Non-Economic Loss (and Damage)’, NEL(D)s, for societies to appropriately be able to avert, minimise, and address losses and damages among vulnerable people. Through stories of loss and healing, we step into the realities of women and children who illustrate how they experience non-economic wellbeing loss within a climate-violence nexus in Bangladesh, Fiji, and Vanuatu. A storytelling and systems approach guided the analysis of personal narratives gathered through a secondary data review and empirical field work. The research findings identified different pathways through which women’s and children’s mental health was compromised in the context of structural violence and climatic risks. In Bangladesh, the narratives described wellbeing erosion in the context of gendered (im)mobility; in Fiji, the findings captured women’s and children’s experiences of sexual violence, domestic abuse, exploitation, and trafficking in the context of natural hazards, while in Vanuatu, hardship, gendered dependence, and healing were narrated by women in their stories surrounding disaster recovery. This article comprehensively lays out the longer-term societal wellbeing consequences of climatic changes and gender-based violence. It also identifies research gaps in need of further attention and proposes policy recommendations as well as methodological and disaster health service solutions to address wellbeing loss in a climate changed future.

10.1007/s10584-023-03624-y

Cite

Citations (8)

Correction to: Stories of loss and healing: connecting non-economic loss and damage, gender-based violence and wellbeing erosion in the Asia–Pacific region

Climatic Change (2023)

Sonja Ayeb‐Karlsson Alvin Chandra Karen E. McNamara

The phrasing of a part of the Abstract has been modified for clarity from "Through stories of loss and healing, we step into the realities of illustrating how women and children experience non-economic wellbeing loss within a climate-violence nexus in Bangladesh, Fiji, and Vanuatu.A storytelling and systems analysis approach guided the analysis of personal narratives gathered through a secondary data review and empirical field work.The research findings identified different pathways through which women and children's mental health was compromised in the context of structural violence and climatic risks." to "Through stories of loss and healing, we step into the realities of women and children who illustrate how they experience non-economic wellbeing loss within a climate-violence nexus in Bangladesh, Fiji, and Vanuatu.A storytelling and systems approach guided the analysis of personal narratives gathered through a secondary data review and empirical field work.

Asia-Pacific

10.1007/s10584-023-03665-3

Cite

Citations (0)

A Study of Climate-Smart Farming Practices and Climate-resiliency Field Schools in Mindanao, the Philippines

World Development (2017)

Alvin Chandra Paul Dargusch Karen E. McNamara Ana Maria Caspe Dante Dalabajan

10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.04.028

Cite

Citations (67)

Exploring climate-driven non-economic loss and damage in the Pacific Islands

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (2020)

Karen E. McNamara Ross Westoby Alvin Chandra

Loss and damage

Job loss

Stock (firearms)

Traditional Knowledge

10.1016/j.cosust.2020.07.004

Cite

Citations (82)

Understanding and responding to climate-driven non-economic loss and damage in the Pacific Islands

Climate Risk Management (2021)

Karen E. McNamara Ross Westoby Rachel Clissold Alvin Chandra

Communities throughout the Pacific Islands region have experienced, and will continue to experience, extensive non-economic loss and damage (NELD) from climate change. Assessments of loss and damage, however, often fall short on their coverage of these non-economic dimensions, which can distort our understanding of climate change impacts, discount the experiences of some and skew future decision-making. This paper explores how stakeholders in the Pacific Islands understand NELD and what they perceive to be the best ways of responding to it. An open-ended questionnaire was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data from representatives from governments, donors and development partners, civil society, intergovernmental organisations, and relevant others. This study found that NELD in the Pacific Islands is understood, perceived and experienced through the lens of intangible values, identity and cultural landscapes, and this is encapsulated by a typology with eight interconnected core dimensions. These eight dimensions include: health and wellbeing, ways of being, future ways of being, cultural sites and sacred places, Indigenous and local knowledge, life sustaining tools, biodiversity and ecosystem services, and connection to land and sea. NELD is complex, entangled and interconnected, thereby significantly undermining entire socio-ecological systems. Moving forward, responding to NELD in the Pacific Islands region will require a comprehensive approach that protects, conserves and restores complex socio-ecological systems, and provides opportunities to work through loss and damage by means of education and training, safeguarding knowledge systems, community activities, cultural connection and maintenance, and strong relationships with land and sea.

Safeguarding

Traditional Knowledge

10.1016/j.crm.2021.100336

Cite

Citations (48)