Progress and Challenges in Achieving Vertical Integration in Adaptation Processes

The document argues that vertical integration is essential for inclusive and effective climate adaptation, as it ensures local realities and marginalized voices shape national policy. It identifies four enabling factors for this process: financing mechanisms, institutional arrangements, information sharing, and capacity development. Through case studies from countries like Malawi, Botswana, Ghana, Nepal, Cambodia, and Peru, the briefing highlights that while decentralization and local participation improve targeting, they are often hindered by power imbalances, elite capture, and a lack of financial resources reaching the local level. The author recommends using knowledge brokers to bridge the gap between national and local visions and empowering local authorities through stronger mandates and capacity building.

• Vertical integration in NAP processes relies on four primary enabling factors: financing mechanisms that reach sub-national levels, institutional arrangements for cross-scale dialogue, the sharing of information among stakeholders, and capacity development for actors at all levels.
• The inclusion of marginalized groups, such as women, in adaptation processes is critical for ensuring local agendas are represented nationally and increasing government accountability. In Malawi, an NGO acted as a bridge to bring small-scale women farmers into national and international forums, while in Botswana, participatory workshops helped national officials better understand the specific challenges faced by women during droughts.
• Decentralization can improve the targeting of adaptation policies, but it is ineffective without corresponding financial and technical resources. In Ghana, while decentralization has increased local autonomy in decision-making, progress is limited by insufficient capacity of local government staff and a lack of environmental officers in district assemblies.
• Local institutional structures for adaptation can be undermined by elite capture and short-term, project-based funding. In Nepal, Local Adaptation Plans of Action (LAPAs) have been impaired by the influence of local elites and higher castes, as well as insufficient participation of women.
• A significant global gap exists in climate finance reaching the local level, with less than 10% of international funding arriving at sub-national scales. In Cambodia, the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) has successfully addressed this by investing USD 3.5 million across 85 districts to implement over 250 adaptation measures.
• The integration of Indigenous knowledge with Western science can facilitate the scaling of effective local practices. In Peru, the national government's support and the use of hydro-geological studies to legitimize the ancestral rainwater harvesting method known as 'qocha' led to its promotion in both policy and practice.
• National policy-makers may disregard community visions as 'climate illiteracy' or 'irrelevant,' while local communities may view national strategies as distant. Overcoming this requires co-developed strategies and the use of inclusive language to bridge different conceptualizations of adaptation.

APA

Morchain, D. (2021). Progress and Challenges in Achieving Vertical Integration in Adaptation Processes. NAP Global Network. https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/napgn-en-2021-vertical-integration-in-adaptation-processes.pdf

Chicago

Morchain, Daniel. Progress and Challenges in Achieving Vertical Integration in Adaptation Processes. NAP Global Network, 2021. https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/napgn-en-2021-vertical-integration-in-adaptation-processes.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Morchain |first1=Daniel |title=Progress and Challenges in Achieving Vertical Integration in Adaptation Processes |publisher=NAP Global Network |date=September 2021 |url=https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/napgn-en-2021-vertical-integration-in-adaptation-processes.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{morchain2021progress, author = {Morchain, Daniel}, title = {{Progress and Challenges in Achieving Vertical Integration in Adaptation Processes}}, institution = {NAP Global Network}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/napgn-en-2021-vertical-integration-in-adaptation-processes.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }