OCTOBER 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


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UBCO study looks at context for climate change Agricultural adaptation will occur within complex regulatory networks


by MYRNA STARK LEADER


KELOWNA—Wildfire, drought and flooding, not to mention new pests and soil conditions, are just a few examples of what’s predicted as global climate changes unfold in BC. While the events themselves


are impactful, they also occur within a complex network of social and institutional relationships that will have to adapt with them. As an example, governments may choose to create new funding programs to address a specific impact, but to be effective they need to know who to help.


These things are on the minds


of researchers who will begin a new two-year study at UBC Okanagan this fall aimed at making farm communities in the Okanagan and Cariboo more resilient. “We want to look at how the


impacts of any new program are distributed, for example by crop type, age of producers, size of operation,” says John Janmaat, an associate professor of economics at UBCO and a member of the BC Agricultural Climate Adaptation Research Network, established in May 2017. Janmaat is lead researcher on the study, which includes two other researchers from UCBO. As producers are well aware, the impacts on agriculture fall within the planning and policy areas


UBCO economics professor John Janmaat. MYRNA STARK LEADER PHOTO


of many BC ministries and agencies, including environment, FrontCounterBC and the BC Liquor and Cannabis Licensing Branch. “We suspect that policies in different BC ministries could better jibe,” says Janmaat. The study builds on earlier work completed by both the network and its partner, the BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative. Janmaat says


project partnerships across academic, government and agricultural sectors will be vital in helping researchers understand interactions as part of the current project.


The Okanagan and Cariboo


regions were chosen for the study because they face unique adaptation challenges and complex socio-ecological systems. The team plans to use case studies to examine decision- making at the individual and producer levels as well as the impact of policies and programs on communities’ adaptation to a changing climate. A program designed to encourage conversion to crops that perform better in a future climate reality has to be effective at actually getting independent- minded producers to change. Part of the project will focus on


producer adaptation decisions and how their decisions are influenced by attitudes, norms and financial return, and and how information flows through


producer networks. “The idea for our work is not to be a one-off and then go away. It’s about building long-term partnerships … and then about getting our findings out to the agriculture community,” says Janmaat. The project is funded by a $180,000 grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).


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