Barriers to implementing planned community-based adaptation in developing countries: a systematic literature review

Although adaptation to climate change is vital in vulnerable developing country communities, there are limits to what these communities can do autonomously. Many face existing challenges such as poverty, food insecurity and lack of resources. Hence, there seems to be a logical case for planned community-based adaptation (CBA) in these contexts, but there is limited empirical evidence of planned CBA in developing countries. Numerous barriers hinder the implementation of planned CBA. This systematic literature review investigated what these barriers are and how they influence adaptation. Context-specific social, resource and physical barriers are significant, and these overlap and interact with one another. The most pervasive of these barriers relate to poor coordination within and between organizations responsible for planning and implementing adaptation actions, who adhere to discourses that are often technical and managerial and therefore not well suited to supporting CBA, and a lack of, or irrelevant knowledge/information on climate change as well as ineffectual communication between stakeholders involved in CBA actions.