Page - (000280) - in Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development

domainsofbehavioralchangescanbe identifiedbeforeoraftercollectingstoriesof changes.Thesedomainsareuseful for refiningmetricsof adaptation indicators.. In fact, although attributes of individual behavioral changesmay vary widely, both within and among communities, they can always be located in relatively stable domainsof changes.Thirdly, althoughclaimsabout thegeneralizationof changes’ characteristicsmustbe temperedbyconsiderationof thecontextual socioeconomic factors, behavioral theory can clearly add value to the existing adaptationM&E framework. 14.5 Implications forPolicy,Practice andResearch 14.5.1 ImprovingAdaptationPolicywithBehavioralTheory andModels Adaptionandeconomicpolicies are subject to anumberofbiophysical, social and psychological influences, which future policies must consider. Thus, there are urgent needs for governments to improve the application of social research to enhance and evaluate policy, andmeasure longer-term trends, if adaptation poli- cies, plans andprogramsare to achievepositiveoutcomes (i.e. enhanceadaptation capacities and economic development). Behavioral change theory is one of the most promising elements of social sciences in terms of potential for improving policy outcomes. Indeed, changing individual and group behavior appears to be crucial for the effective delivery of policy outcomes, particularly in the context of climatechangeadaptationandmitigation.Therefore, designingadaptationpolicies that incorporate relevant aspects of behavioral change theory into biophysical frameworkswill improve their outcomesbyhelping toensure that adaptivebehav- ior is initiated andmaintained, while reversion to unhelpful behavior patterns is avoided. 14.5.2 Fitting theHumanBehaviorFramework into AdaptationWorks In light of the above results, current procedures for formulating and implementing adaptationoptionsandstrategiesneed toberevisited to tackle food insecuritymore effectively in the face of climate change. To date, most adaptation programs in developing countries, fromnational to local, have neglected the behavior compo- nent of vulnerability analysis and adaptation action.Of course, the socioeconomic context of vulnerability is addressed togetherwith the environmental context, but questions remain about whether current behaviors of community members are supportiveofdesiredbiophysicaladaptationoutcomes.There is thereforeanurgent 266 J. Somdaet al.