Seite - (000279) - in Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development

biophysicaloutcomesfromadaptationactivitieshasbeen themostcontroversial aspect ofmonitoring andevaluating adaptation.Because adaptation takesplace inaneconomicdevelopmentcontext,adaptationmetricsshouldnotbedefinedin isolation from changes in farmers’ behavior. Otherwise, there is a high risk of measuring development indicators rather than adaptation indicators. Knowing domainswhere adaptation-relevant behavioral changes have been initiated and maintainedwould be helpful for evaluators to trace adaptation components in development outcomes, and reduce risks of confounding adaptation and devel- opment effects. 14.4 Needs for IncorporatingBehavioralTheory into AdaptationM&EApproaches Several authors Olivier et al. (2012) andBours et al. (2013) have recognized the need for modifying conventionalM&E approaches tomeet the needs of climate changeadaptationprograms.Theyadvocateagreater results-orientation inclimate change adaptation interventions. However, there have been minor differences between most attempts to do so and conventional interventions. This may be because designing adaptation projects and appropriate M&E systems requires robust understanding of both adaptation to climate change (Olivier et al. 2012) and behavioral theory. In fact, the differences between adaptation-related and developmentoutcomeswill dependonwhethernewpatternsofbehaviors, actions, activities and relationships have been initiated and maintained by stakeholders, including smallholder farmers, policy-makers, researchers and agricultural exten- sionofficers. It appears important tomainstream behavioral theory into results-basedmoni- toring and evaluation of adaptation, because adaptation comes through various domains of behavioral changes.Behavioral theory is compatiblewith any existing tools, frameworksandapproachesusedinadaptationinterventionprogramsandthe associatedM&E. In addition to assisting projectmanagers to refine existingM&E frameworks, the application of behavioral theorywill contribute to strengthening communities’ownershipof thebiophysical changes inducedbyadaptationactions. Resultsof this researchareconsistentwithconclusionsbyGiffordetal. (2011) that behaviorscienceiscrucial forconfrontingthecomplexchallengesposedbyclimate change.Knowledge of human behavior, cognitions, and psychological adaptation can also help the integration of derived adaptation-relevant indicators with those producedby researchers in related social andnatural science disciplines. Threemajor conclusions can be drawn from this research. First, an adaptation process leads to behavioral changes of the beneficiaries. These changes span variousdomainsofcommunity life,whichmaygobeyondadoptionof technologies in the targeted sector.Theymayormaynotbeadaptation-relevant, but allmustbe addressed to strengthen adaptation capacities or avoidmal-adaptation. Secondly, 14 AdaptationProcesses inAgriculture andFoodSecurity: Insights from. . . 265