Change is inherent to the human context. Whether the need is catalysed by extreme events such as floods, droughts and economic collapse or more gradual processes of change in environmental, technological or economic systems, we survive via adaptation. Strengthening the adaptive capacity of populations at all levels from the local to the global is, as a result, among the most important challenges facing development. The results of our research point, among other things, to the critical importance of trans-boundary flows of information, funds, goods, services, ideas and often people in determining the adaptive capacity of local populations. The ability to adapt to local problems such as floods and droughts often depends on systems and flows that connect to regional and global levels. Understanding this and addressing the inherent implications for trade, migration and other sensitive global policy arenas is, perhaps, one of the most significant challenges facing society in the coming century.

The focus of this research is on flood, drought and climate variability along with the factors that governs the adaptive capacity in wider array of situations. Results of the study indicate that vulnerability and adaptive capacity in flood and drought contexts are heavily influenced by a number of factors including the nature of livelihood systems, existing patterns of vulnerability, information flow, etc. Furthermore, natural resource condition and the nature of physical infrastructure can also magnify the risk to livelihood systems and thereby exacerbate the scale of humanitarian disaster.

The paper concludes by highlighting the following five key points:

Factors governing migration (of people, finance, goods, services and information) are critical for policy research;
Need for better understanding of the factors that enable adaptation;
Need for improved understanding of the humanitarian implications of floods, droughts and changing patterns of climatic variability;
Increase importance of issues related to urbanisation and the quality of life in urban areas; and
The potential for expanding watershed programmes and others like it and shifting their focus to include many of the factors central to adaptation should be explored.