The changing climate and human vulnerability in north-central Namibia (original) (raw)
Related papers
2016
CARIAA aims to build the resilience of vulnerable populations and their livelihoods in three climate change hot spots in Africa and Asia. The program supports collaborative research to inform adaptation policy and practice. Titles in this series are intended to share initial findings and lessons from research and background studies commissioned by the program. Papers are intended to foster exchange and dialogue within science and policy circles concerned with climate change adaptation in vulnerability hotspots. As an interim output of the CARIAA program, they have not undergone an external review process. Opinions stated are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the policies or opinions of IDRC, DFID, or partners. Feedback is welcomed as a means to strengthen these works: some may later be revised for peer-reviewed publication.
Food Security, 2016
It is anticipated that smallholder subsistence farmers will face severe negative impacts from climate change, with household food security being seriously affected. This paper examines the methods of adaptation to climate change used by smallholder farmers and their impacts on household food security. The necessity to adapt to climate change is caused by a combination of sensitivity and exposure and the success in doing so depends on adaptive capacity. Household food security was determined using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Of the surveyed households, 95 % were aware that climate is changing and expected severe impacts on their crop production systems. Households undertake crop and soil management practices in order to respond to the changing climate. About 83 % of households anticipated that they would alter their livelihoods systems in response to climate change, with 59 % of households indicating that government grants would play an important role in this. Of those assessed, 97 % were severely food insecure and the remaining 3 % were moderately food insecure. Householders were worried about the negative impacts of climate change which included droughts, floods and soil erosion. Householders who were vulnerable to climate change recorded high levels of food insecurity. Decline in prices of farm products, increases in costs of farm inputs and anxiety over occurrence of livestock diseases exacerbated household food insecurity. Information will play a critical role in mitigating the impacts of climate change on household food security but farmers should also be assisted with appropriate input packages, such as seeds and fertilizers that can help them adapt effectively. Keywords Vulnerability. Foodpolicy. Subsistencefarming. Food prices. Early warning systems Definitions Climate change: A change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods Exposure: The presence of people, livelihoods, species or ecosystems, environmental function, services and resources, infrastructure or economic, social or cultural assets in places and setups that could be adversely affected Vulnerability: The propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected Impact: The effect on natural and human systems of extreme weather and climate events and of climate change Adaptation: The reductions in risk and vulnerability through actions of adjusting practices and processes and capital response to the threat of climate change. Livelihood: A means of making a living. It encompasses people's capabilities, assets, income and activities required to secure the necessities of life Risk: The potential for consequences where something of value is at stake and the outcome is uncertain, recognising the diversity in values. Risk results from the interaction of vulnerability, exposure and hazard. Food security: Food security exists when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food that meets there dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy lifestyle
Climate Change and Global Warming in Namibia: Environmental Disasters vs. Human Life and the Economy
Climate change is one of the concepts in Namibian languages that does not have any meaning or cannot be easily translated into the native dialects. It is very alien to many Namibians but yet growing in popularity, as it has become a problem that is affecting the economy, natural resources, and tradition and culture of the native people. Climate change is probably going to worsen the dry circumstances that are currently experienced in Southern Africa or Namibia to be specific. If it happens that rainfall does come in good amounts regularly, it will probably erupt in greater power. This will eventually lead to floods and erosion damages in some parts of the country, though these expectations have had very little influence on Namibian policy. Reid et al. (2008) stated that over the past 20 years there has been annual decrease in the Namibian economy of up to 5%, which has been a result of the climate change mostly impacting natural resources in the country. The result was reported using the computable general equilibrium (CGE) model simulations for Namibia. However, this result has negatively impacted the poorest people the most, which is a consequence of decline in wages and employment opportunities, especially for uneducated or unskilled labor in rural areas. It is of utmost importance for Namibia to take initiatives to ensure that most of its policies and activities are environmentally proofed. Namibia should have a unique approach to deal with displaced farmers and farm workers and citizens of such nature by looking into its issues of colonialism. In addition, there is a clear need to mainstream climate change into policies of developing countries like Namibia, because it is the responsibility of these countries to muddle through with climate change impacts and plan for a climate-constrained future.
Regional Environmental Change, 2013
Commercial and small-scale farmers in South Africa are exposed to many challenges. Interviews with 44 farmers in the upper Thukela basin, KwaZulu-Natal, were conducted to identify common and specific challenges for the two groups and adaptive strategies for dealing with the effects of climate and other stressors. This work was conducted as part of a larger participatory project with local stakeholders to develop a local adaptation plan for coping with climate variability and change. Although many challenges related to exposure to climate variability and change, weak agricultural policies, limited governmental support, and theft were common to both farming communities, their adaptive capacities were vastly different. Small-scale farmers were more vulnerable due to difficulties to finance the high input costs of improved seed varieties and implements, limited access to knowledge and agricultural techniques for water and soil conservation and limited customs of long-term planning. In addition to temperature and drought-related challenges, small-scale farmers were concerned about soil erosion, water logging and livestock diseases, challenges for which the commercial farmers already had efficient adaptation strategies in place. The major obstacle hindering commercial farmers with future planning was the lack of clear directives from the government, for example, with regard to issuing of water licences and land reform. Enabling agricultural communities to procure sustainable livelihoods requires implementation of strategies that address the common and specific challenges and strengthen the adaptive capacity of both commercial and small-scale farmers. Identified ways forward include knowledge transfer within and across farming communities, clear governmental directives and targeted locally adapted finance programmes.
Gender, culture and climate change in rural Namibia
Humanities and social sciences, 2014
Gender-based vulnerabilities have taken dominance in climate change adaptation and disasters risk management studies. Climate change impacts affect women's and men's livelihoods and cultures, thereby intensifying already existing gender inequalities. This paper examines gender differentiated impacts and vulnerability to climate change in Namibia. The paper further highlights how culture influences gender inequalities and associated implications for climate change vulnerability among different ethnic communities of Namibia. The data synthesis for this paper applied the Gender Analysis Framework (GAF) and the Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Analysis Framework (CVCA) to map out issues that cause or intensify social vulnerability to climate change in Namibia. Opportunities exist for Namibian women to participate in decision-making, leadership and community-based adaptation programmes. However, there are still feelings of hopelessness among Namibian women in rural areas. This could be caused by cultural attitudes among Namibian societies stemming from long held beliefs that women are weak and should be looked after. Access to information and ownership of technical skills increase the capacity of men and women to balance the vulnerability to impacts of climate variability and change. This paper concludes that climate change impacts are not gender neutral, men and women vulnerability to climate change is not the same and their adaptive capacities are differentiated.
African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2017
There is little awareness among rural farming communities on their vulnerability to climate change. This paper examined the vulnerabilities of the rural small scale farming communities in the uMzinyathi District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa to climate change. A survey among 200 households who were randomly chosen but who had lived in the community for over twenty years was conducted. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were carried out to obtain qualitative data. Over the period 1993 to 2010, average annual temperature had increased by 1.5°C. Rainfall generally decreased over the period 1981 to 2010 with a range of 907 mm. Household perception on extreme climate conditions were a reflection of the quantitative climate data collected. Households were anxious (76%) that they will face negative impacts of climate change in future. Households were evenly distributed across the five vulnerability categories. Perceptions of communities to climate change should be considered by policy makers in advancing strategies to mitigate impacts of climate change. Vulnerability of farmers to climate change could be reduced by investing in early warning systems, providing farmers with information on climate change and farmers seeking alternative livelihood options rather than agriculture. Household specific interventions should be considered in mitigating climate change.
American Journal of Agriculture and Forestry, 2015
The objective of the study was to assess the impacts of climate change faced by rural households in the lowveld of Swaziland, using Malindza as a case study area, and further identify adaptation and coping strategies employed by households. A questionnaire was developed and used to conduct interviews from 160 households randomly selected in four rural communities of the study area. Data were analysed with SPSS software, and reported in forms of tables and figures. More or less all the respondents (99%) were aware of climate change and climate change variability, Sources of information included radios (92.5%), television (5.6%) and agricultural extension officers (2%). The information was however considered inadequate and of short term remedy as it was in the form of daily weather forecast. The perceived effects of climate change included crop failure (99%), loss of livestock (99%) and drying of surface water (99%). Only 9% of the households harvested enough maize to last for a year, and the rest (91%) had to rely on buying maize, exchanging it for labour or receiving food aid. The climate change adaptation strategies practiced included contour ploughing (49%), use of organic fertilisers (29%) and crop rotation (20%). Thirty two percent of the households planted hybrid maize seeds and 15% planted open pollinated maize seeds. Another 26% planted both hybrid maize and open pollinated maize seeds. On the other hand, coping strategies practiced included selling or consuming small livestock and chicken (97%), consuming maize left for seeds (93%) and reducing food intake (23%). It was clear that the effects of climate change in rural areas were severe and needed to be addressed before critical damages like loss of human life manifest. The government should ensure that farmer's knowledge on climate change and variability is increased through education to improve their adaptive capacity.
Environmental Economics, 2017
This study assesses the community vulnerability and existing adaptive strategies to the impact of climate change in semi-arid areas of Tanzania. The study was undertaken in Shinyanga rural district. The study methods included focus group discussions, key informant and household interviews. Findings from the study showed that the local communities are aware that the climate is changing, as characterized by variability in rainfall patterns and increasing temperature. Rainfall amounts have decreased and became more unpredictable, and drought prolonged. Temperatures have also increased. Consequently, there has been declining crop productivity and increasing food insecurity. Such situation has increased the vulnerability of local community livelihoods to the impacts of climate change. Different socio-economic groups of households (the well-off, intermediate and poor) have differently pursued multiple adaptation strategies, including growing of drought tolerant crops, increasing wetlands ...