87
to adapt to climate change (ILO 2013). The case
study attested to the fact that the bottom-up
approach is an efficient approach to empower the
youth and their community to make informed
decisions to enhance their environmental integrity, strengthen economic viability and create a
just society for present and future generations
while enabling them to respect the cultural diversity including the local knowledge of the community (UNESCO 2014).
Strengths of the JEMS Initiative
The unique advantages of JEMS gave rise to the
success of the project. JEMS is an NGO with a
rich history of utilising bottom-up participatory
approaches to develop innovative strategies to deal
with climate change and the environment and sustainable livelihood issues at community and
national levels. All of JEMS’ work is provided by
a cadre of youth volunteers and community leaders across the country who are skilled and committed to working with communities to build their
capacity and resilience to adapt to climate change.
This is compounded by the unique skills and
knowledge possessed by the leadership of the
organisation in project management, sustainable
development, project proposal development and
resources mobilisation which enable them to prepare proposals and access financial support from
international donors to implement CCA projects.
A significant strength of the bottom-up
approach is that the approach does not present
prescriptive advice but describes the factors causing difficulties in reaching the stated goals of the
project (Matland 1995), i.e. ensuring that strategies are flexible to enable them to adapt to local
challenges and the contextual aspects of the
respective programme (OECD 2013).
Weaknesses of the JEMS Initiative
Despite the unique strengths of the organisation
in the CCA project development and implementation process, JEMS has its own set of
organisational weaknesses, which to some
extent have limited the successful outcomes of
the project implementation process. Based on
the current socio-economic situation within the
community, it may not be possible for the
organisation to maintain and deliver CCA projects to these communities using only voluntary
staff and limited resources over an extended
period. Also, if these communities are not supported, it would not be possible for them to
implement these projects for an extended period
without sustained funding and technical expertise. These communities do not have the technical knowledge on CCA, neither do they possess
the financial resources to enable them to implement such projects. Bottom-up approaches do
not consider the long- term implications of climate change (Dessai and Hulme 2004) and can
also overemphasise the level and value of local
communities. While such variation can be a
strength, it can also be a disadvantage
(Stachowiak et al. 2016).
Threats of the JEMS Initiative
There was reluctance on the part of individual
residents and community leaders to participate
actively in the implementation of the CCA action
project. This was due to ignorance on the part of
these community members about climate change.
Due to the socio-economic challenges facing the
youth and community leaders in their respective
community, they claimed that they have to use
their limited time to deal with their personal
needs rather than respond to CCA which they do
not understand. Many youth and community
leaders said their knowledge of climate change
was close to nil.
There was also a lack of political will on the
part of the government to implement CCA projects at community and national levels. The government claimed that they lacked technical and
financial resources to respond adequately to
building resilience at the community level.
However, on close examination of this claim, it
shows that the government only has an interest in
big projects that can give them the visibility and
financial capital gains.
Reflection of the JEMS Case Study
to adapt to climate change (ILO 2013). The case
study attested to the fact that the bottom-up
approach is an efficient approach to empower the
youth and their community to make informed
decisions to enhance their environmental integrity, strengthen economic viability and create a
just society for present and future generations
while enabling them to respect the cultural diversity including the local knowledge of the community (UNESCO 2014).
Strengths of the JEMS Initiative
The unique advantages of JEMS gave rise to the
success of the project. JEMS is an NGO with a
rich history of utilising bottom-up participatory
approaches to develop innovative strategies to deal
with climate change and the environment and sustainable livelihood issues at community and
national levels. All of JEMS’ work is provided by
a cadre of youth volunteers and community leaders across the country who are skilled and committed to working with communities to build their
capacity and resilience to adapt to climate change.
This is compounded by the unique skills and
knowledge possessed by the leadership of the
organisation in project management, sustainable
development, project proposal development and
resources mobilisation which enable them to prepare proposals and access financial support from
international donors to implement CCA projects.
A significant strength of the bottom-up
approach is that the approach does not present
prescriptive advice but describes the factors causing difficulties in reaching the stated goals of the
project (Matland 1995), i.e. ensuring that strategies are flexible to enable them to adapt to local
challenges and the contextual aspects of the
respective programme (OECD 2013).
Weaknesses of the JEMS Initiative
Despite the unique strengths of the organisation
in the CCA project development and implementation process, JEMS has its own set of
organisational weaknesses, which to some
extent have limited the successful outcomes of
the project implementation process. Based on
the current socio-economic situation within the
community, it may not be possible for the
organisation to maintain and deliver CCA projects to these communities using only voluntary
staff and limited resources over an extended
period. Also, if these communities are not supported, it would not be possible for them to
implement these projects for an extended period
without sustained funding and technical expertise. These communities do not have the technical knowledge on CCA, neither do they possess
the financial resources to enable them to implement such projects. Bottom-up approaches do
not consider the long- term implications of climate change (Dessai and Hulme 2004) and can
also overemphasise the level and value of local
communities. While such variation can be a
strength, it can also be a disadvantage
(Stachowiak et al. 2016).
Threats of the JEMS Initiative
There was reluctance on the part of individual
residents and community leaders to participate
actively in the implementation of the CCA action
project. This was due to ignorance on the part of
these community members about climate change.
Due to the socio-economic challenges facing the
youth and community leaders in their respective
community, they claimed that they have to use
their limited time to deal with their personal
needs rather than respond to CCA which they do
not understand. Many youth and community
leaders said their knowledge of climate change
was close to nil.
There was also a lack of political will on the
part of the government to implement CCA projects at community and national levels. The government claimed that they lacked technical and
financial resources to respond adequately to
building resilience at the community level.
However, on close examination of this claim, it
shows that the government only has an interest in
big projects that can give them the visibility and
financial capital gains.
Reflection of the JEMS Case Study