AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

ISSN Print: 2156-1540, ISSN Online: 2151-1559, doi:10.5251/ajsms.2015.6.2.34-39

2015, ScienceHu, http://www.scihub.org/AJSMS

Challenges and Opportunities to the Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate

Change in developing countries: Review
Alefu Chinasho
Forestry Course team, School of Biodiversity and Natural Resources, Madda Walabu
University, Bale Robe, Ethiopia.
Mobile phone +251-938-055-910 P.O. Box 247
Email: chinalefu11@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Developing countries are more vulnerable to climate change than that of developed ones which
caused climate change. This is because of the sensitivity of income source (agriculture, which is
seasonal production) and lack of different opportunities to tackle climate change in developing
countries. Despite their differences, both mitigation and adaptation efforts are necessary due to
their synergic effect in order to decrease climate change risks. Adaptation and mitigation are
differ from each other; in spatial and temporal scales on which they are effective, their costs and
benefits, and the actors and types of policies involved in their implementation. The challenges to
climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries are explained directly or
indirectly by different researchers. However, no researcher gave attention to opportunities to
adaptation and mitigation of climate change in developing countries. Consequently, this review is
needed to provide information on the importance of emphasizing on the opportunities than
challenges to adaptation and mitigation of climate change in developing countries. The building
designs, agriculture/food insecurity, low income, deforestation, and conventional solid waste
management system are major challenges to climate change adaptation and mitigation in
developing countries. However, there are opportunities to climate change adaptation and
mitigation in developing countries. The major opportunities are financing for forests (carbon
trading) in developing countries, organic agriculture, increase of tree cover outside forests, and
presence of better forest coverage in developing countries. So, developing countries should
emphasis on their opportunity in order to improve their adaptive and mitigation potential to climate
change. This is because; once the climate change occurred, it is better if one gives attention to
strategies of coping with climate change and ways to minimize the future negative impact on his
or her life than telling stories about climate change impacts.
Key words: Adaptation, Challenges, Climate Change, Mitigation, Opportunities
INTRODUCTION

mitigation activities will be evidenced in several

decades, whereas many adaptation measures would
be effective immediately. The emission reduction
achieved by one mitigation option can be compared
with that of other mitigation options and if the
implementation costs are known, the costeffectiveness of these options can be determined and
compared. The benefits of adaptation are more
difficult to express in a single metric, impeding
comparisons between adaptation options. However,
its benefits can be expressed in terms of monetary
damage avoided, human lives saved, losses to
natural and cultural values avoided, and so on.
Mitigation primarily involves the energy and
transportation sectors in industrialized countries and
to an increasing extent the energy and forestry

Developing countries are especially vulnerable to

climate change because of their geographic
exposure, low incomes and greater reliance on
climate sensitive sectors, particularly agriculture
(Davies et al, 2009). Climate change impacts
peoples access to natural resources such as water
and their susceptibility to disease or ability to feed
their families (OXFAM, 2013). Both mitigation and
adaptation efforts are necessary in order to decrease
climate risks and capture co-benefits (Bizikova et al
2008), even though they differ from each other in at
least three important ways (FAO 2008). Mitigation
has global benefits, whereas adaptation is regional at
best, but mostly local. In addition, the benefits of

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sectors in developing countries. Compared to

adaptation, the number of sectoral actors involved in
mitigation is limited. Both mitigation and adaptation
strategies in developing countries are facing stiff
challenges than that of developed countries.
However, there are also opportunities that developing
countries have, which developed (industrialized)
countries do not.

constructed, a mixture of impure air masses will be

blown to the building. The air masses in a given area
have some or all of pollutants obtained from vehicles,
industries, metal works and landfill, chemicals from
agriculture and/or horticulture, and mining).
As a result, improper building designs in developing
countries affect the adaptive potential of people by
affecting productivity, personal comfort, building
maintenance costs and even health and safety
(OSHA, 2011, TSI, 2013). Not only this, but also
improper building does not support planting trees for
either wind break (to filter air mixture) or beauty
purpose, which are un intentionally the major carbon
sink(Mitigation).

Significance/necessity of review: Climate change

is increasingly impacting poor countries, whilst rich
countries that have done so much to cause climate
change are least affected and have more resources
to adapt to climate impacts(GERMANWATCH, 2008).
The adaptation and mitigation potential of developing
countries to climate change are weakened as a result
of poor building designs, agriculture, food in security,
and low income, deforestation, and conventional solid
waste management system. These challenges are
explained directly or indirectly by different
researchers. However, no researcher gave attention
to opportunities to adaptation and mitigation of
climate change in developing countries, even though
there are opportunities like financing for forests
(Carbon trade), organic agriculture, presence of
better forest coverage, increase of tree cover outside
forests.

Agriculture, food in security and low income in

developing countries: Agriculture is not only a
fundamental human activity at risk from climate
change, it is also a major driver of environmental and
climate change itself. It has the largest human impact
on land and water resources. According to FAO
2012, about 1.4 billion ha of arable land (10 percent
of total ice-free land) are used for crop cultivation and
an additional 2.5 billion ha are used for pasture.
Roughly 4 billion ha are forested land, five percent of
which is used for plantation forestry. In addition to
this, the major source of income in developing
countries like Ethiopia is agriculture, which is very
vulnerable to climate change and variability. Due to
the sensitivity of the income source, the adaptive
capacity to resist climate change and to carry out the
mitigation projects in developing countries is/or can
be weakened.

As a result, this review is needed to identify the

opportunities and challenges to climate change
adaptation and mitigation, in addition to the
importance of emphasizing on the opportunities for
adaptation and mitigation of climate change than
challenges to climate change in developing countries.
Challenges to climate change adaptation and
mitigation in developing countries

Deforestation: According to FAO (2007 a),

deforestation is the conversion of forest to another
land use or the long-term reduction of tree canopy
cover below the 10% threshold. Deforestation can
result from deliberate removal of forest cover for
agriculture or urban development, or it can be an
unintentional consequence of uncontrolled grazing
(which can prevent the natural regeneration of young
trees). The combined effect of grazing and fires can
be a major cause of deforestation in dry areas. When
forests are cleared or degraded, their stored carbon
is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide
(Houghton 2005). Deforestation in developing
countries like Ethiopia, it is due to past governmental
and institutional changes, insecurity of land tenure,
resettlement
programs,
population
pressure,
agricultural and infrastructure developments. Ethiopia
had 4,344 million ha of natural forest areas, which
are 4% of its total land area in (Gatzweiler, 2007) and
the estimated deforestation rate of 141,000 ha per

Poor Building designs in developing countries:

The design, physical layout, mechanical systems,
equipment and space usage are all essential
elements that can affect air quality. The air
distribution system requires particular attention, such
as identifying ways of outdoor air gets in, filtering air
and checking the circulation of air throughout the
buildings (TSI, 2013). Most of the buildings
constructed in developing countries are based on
only the beauty (attraction) of design, cost feasibility,
number of rooms to be rented, access/nearness to
main street, number of staffs to be accommodated in
one room, ease of movement inside the building and
portions to be included, and so on , without giving
attention to IAQ. If no attention is given to identify
and manage the major sources of indoor air pollution
like direction of prevailing wind before the building is

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year (FAO, 2007 b). Farmers in developing countries

suffer from poverty as well as food insecurity and
cannot bear the costs of forest conservation
(Gatzweiler, 2007).

estimated money term of carbon dioxide sequestered

in one hectare was $6087.429 USD. In common but
differentiated
responsibilities
principle,
the
developed countries should pay for carbon dioxide
sink made in developing countries like Ethiopia. This
implies that the forest managed for carbon trading (to
get money) indirectly sequesters carbon dioxide,
which in other words mitigate climate change and
improve the adaptive capacity of the people.

Therefore, deforestation in developing countries is

one of the challenges to adaptation and mitigation of
climate change due to removal of forest cover to
meet their basic needs (expansion of agricultural
land, grazing land, construction of houses, etc.),
which in other words the major sinks for carbon
dioxide.

Organic Agriculture: Organic agriculture is a holistic

production management system which promotes and
enhances
agro-ecosystem
health,
including
biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological
activity (Muller, 2009). Organic agriculture addresses
key consequences of climate change, namely
increased occurrence of extreme weather events,
increased water stress and drought, and problems
related to soil quality (IPCC 2007). Generally, organic
agriculture is possible in developing countries due to
the availability of organic fertilizer which can be
obtained from animal dung (from live stock), crop
residues, trimmings of trees and shrubs.
Consequently, as agriculture is the mainstay of the
economy of developing countries like Ethiopia; it is
better to use organic agriculture to improve the
adaptive capacity and mitigation potential to climate
change and climate variability.

Conventional solid waste management system:

The conventional solid waste management system
refers to the collection, transport and damping of
solid wastes at the landfill site (Solid waste
management proclamation No.513/2007, of Ethiopia).
As a consequence of conventional solid waste
management practices, many cities in developing
countries are facing environmental and health risks
as well as losing economic opportunities in terms of
the resource value of the waste (Modak, 2010,
Mazhindu et al 2012, Zurbrgg, 2013). In order to
minimize these problems, a paradigm shift to
community based solid waste management is
necessary, because community participation plays a
great role in avoidance, reduction/minimization, reuse
and recycling of solid waste (Alefu 2015, Zurbrgg,
2013). In other words, community based solid waste
management reduce green house gas released to
atmosphere from anaerobic decomposition of solid
wastes by reducing the total mass of solid waste in
the landfill.

Presence of better Forest coverage in developing

countries: Increasing the amount of trees can
potentially slow the accumulation of atmospheric
carbon (Houghton, 2005). During productive season,
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is taken up by
vegetation and stored as plant biomass (Phat et al
2004). According to IPCC (2007) report, on until 2050
on average, forest has a biophysical mitigation
potential of 5,380 Mt CO2/yr. According to Niles et al
2002, the total amount of carbon that could be
sequestered by reforestation to create native forests
over the ten-year period is 316 million tons on 3.5
million hectares of land. The greatest potential exists
in countries of Latin America (56% of the total),
followed by Asia (30% of the total) and Africa (14% of
the total). This shows that there is larger forest
coverage in developing country than the developed
ones, which results in more carbon dioxide sunk,
healthier community and higher biodiversity (species
diversity). In other words, better forest coverage
improves the adaptive capacity and mitigation
potential of developing countries if they use this
opportunity in appropriate manner.

Consequently, the conventional solid waste

management system hinders the communitys
adaptive capacity and mitigation potential to climate
change by causing economical, environmental
(ecological) and socio-cultural problems.
Opportunities for Climate Change Adaptation and
Mitigation in developing countries
Financing for forests (Carbon trade) in
developing
countries:
The
common
but
differentiated responsibilities principle motivated the
developing countries to conserve the existing forest
and expand forest coverage by afforestation,
reforestation, enrichment planting, and natural
regeneration
(restoration)
mechanisms.
The
increment in forest coverage, one way or other
increases their adaptive capacities and mitigation
potential for climate change. According to Alefu et al
2015, the average carbon dioxide equivalent per
hectare of Humbo forest was 829.35 ton, and the

Increase of tree cover outside forests: Trees

outside forests include agro forestry systems on

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agricultural lands and farms, trees in the rural

landscape and along roads, rivers and human
settlements, and trees in and around cities. Trees
outside forests can also have an important role in
climate change adaptation, through diversified landuse practices, livelihoods and sources of income, and
through enhancement of agricultural productivity and
buffering against weather-related production losses,
enhancing resilience against climate impacts in
farming systems (FAO, 2010). As a result of large
proportion of tree cover outside forests in developing
countries than industrialized countries, this is one of
the opportunities developing countries should use to
improve their adaptive capacity and mitigation
potential to climate change and variability.

Bizikova L., Neale. T., and Burton, I., (2008).

Canadian communities guidebook for adaptation
to climate change. Including an approach to
generate mitigation co-benefits in the context of
sustainable
development.
First
Edition.
Environment Canada and University of British
Columbia, Vancouver.

Conclusion

FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of United

Nations) (2007 b). State of the Worlds Forests

Davies, M., Oswald, K., and Mitchell, T., (2009).

Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk
Reduction and Social Protection. OECD.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of United
Nations) (2007a). Online website and documents.
International Conference on Organic Agriculture
and Food Security, Rome.

There are a number of hindering factors to the

adaptation and mitigation of Climate change in
developing countries. Of these factors, the major
ones are building designs, agriculture/food insecurity,
deforestation, and conventional solid waste
management system. On the other hands, there are
also fostering factors to adaptation and mitigation of
climate change in developing countries, such as
financing for forests(Carbon trading) in developing
countries, organic agriculture, increase of tree cover
outside forests, and presence of better forest
coverage in developing countries. So, developing
countries should emphasis on their opportunity in
order to improve their adaptive and mitigation
potential to climate change. This is because; once
the climate change occurred, it is better if one gives
attention to strategies of coping with climate change
and ways to minimize the future negative impact on
his or her life than telling stories about climate
change impacts.

FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of United

Nations) (2008). Climate change adaptation and
mitigation in the food and agriculture sector,
Rome.
FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of United
Nations) (2010). Global Forest Resources
Assessment. Country Report, Ethiopia, FRA
065.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) (2012).
Climate change adaptation and mitigation
challenges and opportunities in the food sector.
Natural
Resources
Management
and
Environment Department, Rome.
Gatzweiler, F.W., (2007). Deforestation of Ethiopia's
Afro-montane rainforests. ZEF Policy 7.
Germanwatch (2008). Climate change adaptation in
developing countries: what the G8 has to deliver:
Discussion paper.

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Houghton, R.A., (2005). Aboveground Forest

Biomass and the Global Carbon Balance. Global
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Alefu Chinasho (2015). Review on community based

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(2007). The Physical Science Basis: Contribution
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Alefu Chinasho, Teshome Soromessa, and Eyale

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