Resilience to climate change in Fundo de Pasto Communities in the semiarid region of Bahia State, Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine how to support actions to increase the resilience and adaptation of socio-ecological systems in the semiarid region of Bahia State, focusing on the Fundo de Pasto Communities (FPCs) of the Uauá municipality. Primary (semistructured interviews with decision-makers and community leaders) and secondary data sources were used. Five dimensions of analysis were selected to organize the primary data within a framework of adaptive capacity (AC) for climate change: territorial, socio-cultural, environmental, economic and politico-institutional. For approximately 200 years, FPCs have been communally occupying and using the Caatinga biome based on agrosilvopastoral systems. The results showed the communities’ resilience in dealing with climate stresses in both the territorial and socio-cultural dimensions. This includes processes of self-organization in associations and in networks, which facilitate the flow of knowledge and collective decision-making processes. The results also identified the environmental, economic and politico-institutional dimensions of the climate risks to FPCs, which could potentially limit their AC.