Climate-driven environmental changes bring new risks but also opportunities to populations living along the world's major rivers. Based on ethnoecological fieldwork , in this paper we examine how people living in the cuvette centrale of the Congo basin have adopted flood-recession agriculture on islands in the Congo River, taking advantage of a secular shift since the 1980s in the hydrological regime of the Congo River. Analyses of the hydrological data reveal that this shift decreased flood risk and significantly extended the growing season on the islands, long enough to enable cultivation of fast-maturing varieties of manioc and other crops. Flood-recession farming on islands in the river is today not only an important source of food, but also a source of income for women, who are primarily responsible for seasonal cultivation of fields during the low-water season. Hydrological changes alone are insufficient to explain the adoption of the new agricultural practice; adoption also arose as a result of dynamic interactions among river fishing, trading, and broader socioeconomic forces. Climate-change models project an increased frequency of extreme floods. Our results suggest that this change may limit island cultivation in the future. More generally, our findings point to the importance of looking beyond single-factor, solely environmental explanations in studies of climate-change adaptation

中文翻译：

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刚果河泛滥平原的农业创新和环境变化

气候驱动的环境变化给生活在世界主要河流沿岸的人们带来了新的风险，但也带来了机遇。基于民族生态学的田野调查，在本文中，我们研究了生活在刚果盆地中央比色皿中的人们如何利用自 1980 年代以来刚果水文状况的长期转变在刚果河的岛屿上采用洪水消退农业河。对水文数据的分析表明，这种转变降低了洪水风险并显着延长了岛上的生长季节，足够长的时间可以种植快速成熟的木薯和其他作物品种。如今，河流中岛屿上的洪水消退农业不仅是重要的食物来源，也是妇女的收入来源，他们主要负责在缺水季节对田地进行季节性耕作。仅水文变化不足以解释采用新的农业实践；由于河流捕鱼、贸易和更广泛的社会经济力量之间的动态相互作用，也出现了采用。气候变化模型预测极端洪水的频率会增加。我们的结果表明，这种变化可能会限制未来的岛屿种植。更一般地说，我们的发现指出了在气候变化适应研究中超越单一因素、单纯的环境解释的重要性 以及更广泛的社会经济力量。气候变化模型预测极端洪水的频率会增加。我们的结果表明，这种变化可能会限制未来的岛屿种植。更一般地说，我们的发现指出了在气候变化适应研究中超越单一因素、单纯的环境解释的重要性 以及更广泛的社会经济力量。气候变化模型预测极端洪水的频率会增加。我们的结果表明，这种变化可能会限制未来的岛屿种植。更一般地说，我们的发现指出了在气候变化适应研究中超越单一因素、单纯的环境解释的重要性