Identify relevant stakeholders

Key questions for stakeholder mapping:

• Which organizations (governmental and nongovernmental) are involved in addressing key issues related to climate change and coffee?
• What are the policy or strategy documents that guide their work?
• What activities are they currently undertaking that are relevant to adaptation?
• Which organizations and institutions have a mandate to address climate change issues?
• What are their levels of influence in addressing adaptation?
• What are their relationships with other organizations?
• What are their strengths and weaknesses, e.g. is there a lack of clarity regarding responsibilities? Where do knowledge gaps exist?

Answers to these questions will determine the composition of any stakeholder consultation activity.

The complexity of climate change adaptation means that there are often a number of different strategies or measures that could be taken. Stakeholders can play an important role in helping to identify and support adaptation measures in a given locality and providing information on how farmers can be best supported in managing climate risks. They can also provide valuable information on the socio-cultural context and maladaptation techniques that should be avoided. Taking a broad range of perspectives into consideration will further increase the likelihood of the proposed measures being accepted, and will ensure their effectiveness.

Stakeholder mapping is a collaborative process of research and discussion that draws from multiple perspectives to determine a key list of stakeholders taken from a broader spectrum.

Mapping can be broken down into four phases:

• Identification: Listing relevant groups, organizations, and people
• Analysis: Understanding stakeholder perspectives and interests
• Mapping: Visualizing relationships to objectives and other stakeholders
• Prioritization: Ranking stakeholder relevance and identifying issues

The process of stakeholder mapping is as important as the result, and the quality of the process depends heavily on the knowledge of the people participating. The first step in the mapping process is to understand that there is no unique, predefined list of stakeholders. The final list will depend on the local context and current engagement objectives. As a result, it should be a dynamic list that is continuously reviewed.

Once a list of stakeholders has been identified, further analysis will help you to better understand their relevance, the perspectives they offer and their relationship to the issues. Prioritize them based on these factors:

I. Venn diagram

Objective: To understand the relationships and differences in power between different stakeholders.

Expected output: A map showing the different stakeholders and the relationships between them (see example below).

Required time: One to three hours.

Procedure

• A Venn diagram is an easy-to-use, visual tool that helps participants explore and question the current situation, while also suggesting ways to improve it through strengthening relationships and making connections.
• It can be used in focus groups to initiate discussions.
• Ask participants to choose differently sized circles (e.g. small, medium and large) to represent the stakeholders in the situation. The size of the circle signifies their importance in the project; the bigger the circle, the greater the importance of that stakeholder.
• The circles are then placed in relation to a central circle, which represents the project (or program) being implemented. The stakeholder’s degree of influence is represented by the distance between their circle and the central circle. Influence is related to power and control over decisions, including how they are made and how they are (or will be) implemented. The distances between individual circles represent the degree of contact and cooperation between stakeholders. Where there is little contact, the circles should be far away from one another and where there is close contact and collaboration, the circles should touch or even overlap.
• Once the group has prepared the map, use it to start a conversation about who the group believes are the relevant stakeholders that should engage in the project at different stages. Also use it to note where there may be disagreements and how they might be resolved.

Objective: Matrixes are another tool to help participants think of who would have a useful perspective or experience to offer, and who is either affected by the adaptation process or influential in it. It can also reveal whose absence will mean that important information will be missed and ways of how to encourage them to participate.

Expected output: A map showing the influences of different stakeholders.

Required time: Stakeholder engagement takes place alongside the other steps, which means there is no specific amount of time allocated to this individual activity.

Procedure:

Identify who the important stakeholders are:

• These are people who are key to the successful achievement of the climate adaptation project or program; people whose problems, needs, interests and capacities directly relate to the project; if you do not involve them, the project cannot be considered a success.
• The following questions will help in identifying important stakeholders:
  • Do they have a need or problem related to the project? Will they be affected by the results?
  • Do they have information you need?
  • Do they look after the interests of people who will be affected by the results?
  • Do they have interests that may conflict with the project?

Identify who the influential stakeholders are:

• These are people who have power to impact the project or program. For example, they might be making important decisions, control how decisions are implemented or have some other influence that affects decision-making, e.g. through coercion or persuasion of others.
• Guiding questions for identifying influential stakeholders:
  • Do they control decisions about the project? Do they have an influence on the project?
  • Do they have important connections (e.g. to politicians or budget holders)?
  • Do they have an influence on financial decisions or access to additional funding?
  • Do they have a high standing within the community (e.g. religious or social influence)?
  • Can they affect the image of the project?
  • Do they have authority, either formal or informal (e.g. charisma, political or familial)?
• Represent these influences in a visual map of different stakeholders.