Figure 2 . In this graphical representation of adaptation and mitigation, where adaptation (in red) rests on the y-axis and mitigation (in blue) on the x-axis, anticipatory capacity falls within the expanse between the two elements. This region is characterized by the mutual relationship between adaptation and mitigation. This third dimension is driven by action. The process, revealed through our behavior, not only impacts the outcome but also enters a causal loop that re-informs future actions. It is therefore a matter of reforming our practice to create change.
The adaptation-mitigation continuum, specifically anticipatory capacity, is not solely a thought experiment. It reflects real-world struggles for food security and survival. Imagine the magnitude of anxiety a subsistence agropastoral farmer endures under climate change. The unpredictability is threatening their livelihoods, only to be heightened by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (Kassam & McDonald, 2021). Furthermore, being in a state of anticipation can be cause for additional anxiety if remediation is not underway. Rather than awaiting the consequences, being proactive is a method of lowering anxiety. This preemptive condition, precisely located within the adaption-mitigation continuum, manages fear of uncertainty, and maintains human well-being.
Take two agropastoral communities located in the high altitudes of the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan as an example. The villages of Savnob and Roshorv, nested within the Bartang Valley (Figure 3), are subsistence agropastoral communities. Specifically, each village consists of various households that primarily engage in agricultural activities supplemented by maintaining small livestock herds, cultivating orchards, and gathering from the land. Members of Savnob and Roshorv historically utilized ecological calendars encompassing the diversity of opinions and experiences based on their respective ecological professions and locations. The calendars were formed by the accumulation of knowledge. Actively passed down, the knowledge is creating possibilities for the next generations (Kimmerer, 2013; Whyte, 2017). Indigenous knowledge, cumulative in nature, accepts plurality and builds on our understanding thus far (Kassam 2009a).