The SAbERES project promotes adaptation to climate change among small-scale Mexican rural producers across ten key Mexican states, through financial tools, Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EbA) strategies and technical support. The project integrates the expertise of local organizations, academic institutions, and international stakeholders to support the development of effective public policies, innovative financial instruments, and local initiatives that promote sustainable land use.

SAbERES © Adapted from WRI Mexico

Climate change adaptation and farming resilience of small-scale farmers to the fluctuations brought by it, must be supported by the formulation of robust public policies, and accompanied by the creation of innovative financial mechanisms. These mechanisms can allow farmers to execute localized actions that foster responsible land use and long-term ecological resilience. SAbERES seeks to ensure that territories and communities have better capacities to confront the consequences of climate change.

Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Strategies for the SAbERES Project

Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) is a key approach for addressing climate change impacts by leveraging biodiversity, ecosystem functions, services, and diverse knowledge systems (such as scientific, local, and ancestral)  to help communities reduce vulnerability and adapt to climate change effectively. This method is part of a broader adaptation strategy, taking into account a holistic, landscape-level perspective.

The broader strategy promotes knowledge exchange, participatory governance, sustainable natural resource management, climate-smart production practices, green infrastructure, and conservation and restoration efforts. It also fosters collaboration across sectors and government levels, informs public policy, and ensures the implementation of localized measures for effective climate adaptation.

Reducing vulnerability to climate change involves minimizing the likelihood that a system will be negatively affected or unable to cope with the adverse effects of climate shifts. Key elements of this strategy include integrated landscape management (ILM), land-use planning, economic diversification, ecosystem conservation, and the adoption of sustainable practices. Additionally, it emphasizes the active participation of communities and organizations in capacity building, collaborative decision-making, and agreements that enhance their ability to resist, adapt to, and recover from climate-related challenges.

Partners

SAbERES is a consortium made up of seven partners who work with producer organizations, federal and state governments, and different actors to implement EbA strategies, innovative financing mechanisms, and territorial planning for small producers to adapt to climate change. The consortium includes:

Tools © NODES

IIASA’s tools for supporting territorial planning to increase resilience to climate change

IIASA’s role is to advice and develop tools for territorial planning, including a dashboard for stakeholders, ranging from local organizations to municipalities, states and cross-sectorial institutions, but also a mobile app to be used on the ground by small-scale farmers and people with diverse productive models, the SAbERES app. These tools will provide benchmarking information at different scales to enhance the decision-making process. At the same time, the mobile application will enable its users to collect in-situ data regarding their productive models, allowing them to track how the EbA measures are progressing and how their productive models are responding to these.

 

The project is funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI), supported by the German Federal Government.