Abstract
Southwest China’s Yunnan province has been affected throughout history by climate-induced water stresses, with the 2009 drought as a recent example. To deal with such stresses, mountain farmers have developed many local coping strategies. This paper provides case studies of these coping mechanisms in three mountain communities in Baoshan Municipality, Yunnan province. To minimize water-related environmental and economic vulnerabilities, our results show that upland farmers employ strategies both individually and collectively, which vary according to agroecological zone, economics, and historical period. Climate change is also emerging as an ongoing environmental challenge. We explore China’s options for introducing and implementing adaptation policies that link with farmer strategies to respond more effectively to water stresses induced by climate change and other forces.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Mats Eriksson, Julie Dekens, Lisa Schipper, and Tighe Geoghegan for their advice throughout this research. We acknowledge the editing support of our colleagues Rajesh Daniel, and Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt at the World Agroforestry Centre. The research was funded by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). This research was also supported by the CGIAR Research Program 6: Forests, Landscapes and Governance, and Research Program 7: Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.
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Su, Y., Xu, J., Wilkes, A. et al. Coping with climate-induced water stresses through time and space in the mountains of Southwest China. Reg Environ Change 12, 855–866 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-012-0304-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-012-0304-7