Assessing forest-based rural communities' adaptive capacity and coping strategies for climate variability and change: The case of Vhembe district in south Africa

Ofoegbu, Chidiebere; Chirwa, Paxie W.; Francis, Joseph; Babalola, Folaranmi Dapo

doi:10.1016/j.envdev.2016.03.001

Cited by 29 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…In rural South Africa, households rely heavily on natural resources for both daily sustenance as well as materials for products sold at market (e.g. Ofoegbu et al 2016). In this way, access to natural capital may provide a safety net of sorts, from which livelihoods may be further diversifi ed -including through temporary migration.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation by Geographic Scale in the Migration-Environment Association: Evidence from Rural South Africa

Hunter

Leyk

Maclaurin

et al. 2017

CPoS

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Scholarly understanding of human migration’s environmental dimensions has greatly advanced in the past several years, motivated in large part by public and policy dialogue around “climate migrants”. The research presented here advances current demographic scholarship both through its substantive interpretations and conclusions, as well as its methodological approach. We examine temporary rural South African outmigration as related to household-level availability of proximate natural resources. Such “natural capital” is central to livelihoods in the region, both for sustenance and as materials for market-bound products. The results demonstrate that the association between local environmental resource availability and outmigration is, in general, positive: households with higher levels of proximate natural capital are more likely to engage in temporary migration. In this way, the general findings support the “environmental surplus” hypothesis that resource security provides a foundation from which households can invest in migration as a livelihood strategy. Such insight stands in contrast to popular dialogue, which tends to view migration as a last resort undertaken only by the most vulnerable households. As another important insight, our findings demonstrate important spatial variation, complicating attempts to generalize migration-environment findings across spatial scales. In our rural South African study site, the positive association between migration and proximate resources is actually highly localized, varying from strongly positive in some villages to strongly negative in others. We explore the socio-demographic factors underlying this “operational scale sensitivity”. The cross-scale methodologies applied here offer nuance unavailable within more commonly used global regression models, although also introducing complexity that complicates story-telling and inhibits generalizability.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation by Geographic Scale in the Migration-Environment Association: Evidence from Rural South Africa

Hunter

Leyk

Maclaurin

et al. 2017

CPoS

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“…According to recent national census results (2011), this area faces ongoing challenges with poor service provision and development, high dependency ratios and youth unemployment rates, and low levels of education (Statistics South Africa 2014). Government pension and social grants and migrant remittances make an important contribution to household income, with limited local employment opportunities (Venter and Witkowski 2013;Statistics South Africa 2014;Ofoegbu et al 2016). On average, 54% of households are female headed, a legacy of South Africa's former homeland system and a reflection of the ongoing reliance on migrant labor (Statistics South Africa 2014).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Archetypes of Climate-Risk Profiles among Rural Households in Limpopo, South Africa

Paumgarten

Locatelli

Witkowski

2020

Weather, Climate, and Society

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More frequent and intense climate hazards, a predicted outcome of climate change, are likely to threaten existing livelihoods in rural communities, undermining households’ adaptive capacity. To support households’ efforts to manage and reduce this risk, there is a need to better understand the heterogeneity of risk within and between communities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revised their climate vulnerability framework to incorporate the concept of risk. This study contributes toward the operationalization of this updated framework by applying a recognized methodology to the analysis of the climate-related risk of rural households. Using a mixed-method approach, including a cluster analysis, it determined and assessed archetypical patterns of household risk. The approach was applied to 170 households in two villages, in different agroecological zones, in the Vhembe District Municipality of South Africa’s Limpopo Province. Six archetypical climate-risk profiles were identified based on differences in the core components of risk, namely, the experience of climate hazards, the degree of exposure and vulnerability, and the associated impacts. The method’s application is illustrated by interpreting the six profiles, with possible adaptation pathways suggested for each. The archetypes show how climate-related risk varies according to households’ livelihood strategies and capital endowments. There are clear site-related distinctions between the risk profiles; however, the age of the household and the gender of the household head also differentiate the profiles. These different profiles suggest the need for adaptation responses that account for these site-related differences, while still recognizing the heterogeneity of risk at the village level.

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“…The term forest, as used in this study, includes natural forests, woodlands, and tree plantations. Together, they are a major contributor to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and a key provider of employment in most developing countries (Ofoegbu et al 2016a;Dlamini 2014). In South Africa, the forestry sector provides direct and indirect employment for between 200,000 and 260,000 people (Ofoegbu et al 2016a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Together, they are a major contributor to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and a key provider of employment in most developing countries (Ofoegbu et al 2016a;Dlamini 2014). In South Africa, the forestry sector provides direct and indirect employment for between 200,000 and 260,000 people (Ofoegbu et al 2016a). In many African communities, forests are a significant component of household livelihoods (Chidumayo et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In many African communities, forests are a significant component of household livelihoods (Chidumayo et al 2011). Firewood, charcoal, poles, timber, mushrooms, edible insects, weaving fiber, thatch grass, and fodder for livestock are some of the forest resources that have been identified as a major component of household livelihood strategies in most African societies (Ofoegbu et al 2016a;Chia et al 2013;Chidumayo et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Making climate information useable for forest-based climate change interventions in South Africa

Ofoegbu

Speranza

2021

Environmental Sociology

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Understanding knowledge systems, that is the combination of agents, practices, and institutions that organize the production, transfer, and use of knowledge and their role in making climate information useable for forest-based climate responses, is critical for building resilience to climate change. This study used the concept of a knowledge system to examine how organizational collaboration, in the processes of forecast translation, influences the production of useable information in forest-based climate change interventions in South Africa. Twentytwo key informant interviews were conducted with actors in the fields of climate change and forestry. Results reveal that carbon sequestration and landscape management are the dominant forest-based climate interventions. Consequently, the information translated from the forecasts is tailored towards facilitating the implementation of these two interventions. Network analysis reveals that actors in the categories of small-scale forest companies and community-based enterprises are less integrated into the process of information production. A concerted effort towards the meaningful integration of all categories of actors in the process of information production, as well as the production of information that encourages the implementation of other types of forest-based climate change interventions such as forest bioenergy, is thus recommended.

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Assessing forest-based rural communities' adaptive capacity and coping strategies for climate variability and change: The case of Vhembe district in south Africa

Cited by 29 publications

References 34 publications

Variation by Geographic Scale in the Migration-Environment Association: Evidence from Rural South Africa

Variation by Geographic Scale in the Migration-Environment Association: Evidence from Rural South Africa

Archetypes of Climate-Risk Profiles among Rural Households in Limpopo, South Africa

Making climate information useable for forest-based climate change interventions in South Africa

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