Climate change and water insecurity in rural uMkhanyakude District Municipality: an assessment of coping strategies for rural South Africa

The vulnerability of Africa to climate change extremes and eventual impacts is extremely high due to the weak coping strategies prevalent in the continent. The peculiarity of South Africa to these vulnerabilities, especially for water security, is an issue of socioeconomic and policy issue. Based on...

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Autor principal: Hosea Olayiwola Patrick
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: IWA Publishing 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/80a797d9f81c4c5f8422a451c558de98
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:80a797d9f81c4c5f8422a451c558de982021-11-08T07:59:53ZClimate change and water insecurity in rural uMkhanyakude District Municipality: an assessment of coping strategies for rural South Africa2616-651810.2166/h2oj.2021.009https://doaj.org/article/80a797d9f81c4c5f8422a451c558de982021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttp://doi.org/10.2166/h2oj.2021.009https://doaj.org/toc/2616-6518The vulnerability of Africa to climate change extremes and eventual impacts is extremely high due to the weak coping strategies prevalent in the continent. The peculiarity of South Africa to these vulnerabilities, especially for water security, is an issue of socioeconomic and policy issue. Based on the premises of human security, the study assesses the coping strategies of rural communities in South Africa, focusing on uMkhanyakude District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal province, given the effects of climate change-induced water scarcity on the area. The study employed a multilayered descriptive mixed method triangulation approach. It focused specifically on the connection between water and climate change and the adopted everyday vertical and horizontal coping strategies. The findings revealed a strong correlation between the behavioral and traditional coping strategies in the study area, water depletion/scarcity, and climate change. It also showed that government institutions are reactionary in their response to climate change-induced impacts. The study, therefore, recommends a pre-resilience mechanism that makes institutions and individuals proactive rather than adopting a reactionary post-resilience strategy in response to the effects of climate change-induced water security. Highlights Water reuse seems to be the most common community strategy.; Community response is largely traditional and behavioral (such as water reuse, rainwater harvesting, and water rationing) largely due to the poor socioeconomic standing of most households within the area.; State institutions are reactionary rather than proactive in their intervention strategies.; Climate change is exacerbating water stress in the area.;Hosea Olayiwola PatrickIWA Publishingarticleclimate changecoping strategieshuman securityruralsouth africawater securityRiver, lake, and water-supply engineering (General)TC401-506Water supply for domestic and industrial purposesTD201-500ENH2Open Journal, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 29-46 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic climate change
coping strategies
human security
rural
south africa
water security
River, lake, and water-supply engineering (General)
TC401-506
Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes
TD201-500
spellingShingle climate change
coping strategies
human security
rural
south africa
water security
River, lake, and water-supply engineering (General)
TC401-506
Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes
TD201-500
Hosea Olayiwola Patrick
Climate change and water insecurity in rural uMkhanyakude District Municipality: an assessment of coping strategies for rural South Africa
description The vulnerability of Africa to climate change extremes and eventual impacts is extremely high due to the weak coping strategies prevalent in the continent. The peculiarity of South Africa to these vulnerabilities, especially for water security, is an issue of socioeconomic and policy issue. Based on the premises of human security, the study assesses the coping strategies of rural communities in South Africa, focusing on uMkhanyakude District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal province, given the effects of climate change-induced water scarcity on the area. The study employed a multilayered descriptive mixed method triangulation approach. It focused specifically on the connection between water and climate change and the adopted everyday vertical and horizontal coping strategies. The findings revealed a strong correlation between the behavioral and traditional coping strategies in the study area, water depletion/scarcity, and climate change. It also showed that government institutions are reactionary in their response to climate change-induced impacts. The study, therefore, recommends a pre-resilience mechanism that makes institutions and individuals proactive rather than adopting a reactionary post-resilience strategy in response to the effects of climate change-induced water security. Highlights Water reuse seems to be the most common community strategy.; Community response is largely traditional and behavioral (such as water reuse, rainwater harvesting, and water rationing) largely due to the poor socioeconomic standing of most households within the area.; State institutions are reactionary rather than proactive in their intervention strategies.; Climate change is exacerbating water stress in the area.;
format article
author Hosea Olayiwola Patrick
author_facet Hosea Olayiwola Patrick
author_sort Hosea Olayiwola Patrick
title Climate change and water insecurity in rural uMkhanyakude District Municipality: an assessment of coping strategies for rural South Africa
title_short Climate change and water insecurity in rural uMkhanyakude District Municipality: an assessment of coping strategies for rural South Africa
title_full Climate change and water insecurity in rural uMkhanyakude District Municipality: an assessment of coping strategies for rural South Africa
title_fullStr Climate change and water insecurity in rural uMkhanyakude District Municipality: an assessment of coping strategies for rural South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Climate change and water insecurity in rural uMkhanyakude District Municipality: an assessment of coping strategies for rural South Africa
title_sort climate change and water insecurity in rural umkhanyakude district municipality: an assessment of coping strategies for rural south africa
publisher IWA Publishing
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/80a797d9f81c4c5f8422a451c558de98
work_keys_str_mv AT hoseaolayiwolapatrick climatechangeandwaterinsecurityinruralumkhanyakudedistrictmunicipalityanassessmentofcopingstrategiesforruralsouthafrica
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