Human response and adaptation to drought in the arid zone: lessons from southern Africa

Abstract

Human adaptation and response to drought is primarily through evasion or endurance. A review of historical agricultural practices in southern Africa demonstrates evidence of drought evasion response strategies in well-established transhumance routes, where herders move livestock on a seasonal basis in order to exploit resources subject to different climatic regimes. European settlers to the arid regions of South Africa quickly recognised the necessity of these evasion options to survive drought, and adopted the transhumance practices of indigenous farmers. Areas of geographically diverse resource bases became hotly contested by settlers and indigenous farmers. The success of evasion systems are shown to hinge on good social and institutional support structures. When movement is not an option, drought endurance is pursued by attempting to limit the damage to the natural resource base. This is through a number of means such as forage conservation, varying livestock types and numbers, water and soil conservation and taking up alternative livelihood options. State responses to drought over the last century reflect the general South African pattern of racially divided and unjust policies relating to resource access. Historically the state provided considerable support to white commercial farmers. This support was frequently contradictory in its aims and generally was inadequate to enable farmers to cope with drought. Since the advent of democracy in 1994, the state has intervened less, with some support extended to previously disadvantaged and poor communal farmers. Climate change predictions suggest an increase in drought, suggesting that the adoption of mitigating strategies should be a matter of urgency. To do this South Africa needs to build social and institutional capacity, strive for better economic and environmental sustainability, embed drought-coping mechanisms into land restitution policy to ensure the success of this programme, and acknowledge the diversity of the agricultural sector.

Propagation of Drought: From Meteorological Drought to Agricultural and Hydrological Drought

“…Therefore, the impacts of drought could be mitigated by managing water demand through crop management, modifying water allocation rules during times of water scarcity, developing various water resources (such as groundwater recharge and salt water desalination), managing multiple water use, setting up water-trading mechanisms in advance of times of drought or scarcity, and physically redistributing available supplies during times of scarcity [26]. However, while drought is a climatic phenomenon with relatively predictable biophysical repercussions, social perceptions of and responses to drought from the individual through community and up to the state level are highly varied [27]. At the same time, interactions between natural water availability and societal water demand and management are complex, and drought mitigation strategies in some sectors (e.g., agricultural and energy sectors) may increase the vulnerability of other systems (especially ecosystems) [28].…”

Managing Climate Risks Using Seasonal Climate Forecast Information in Vhembe District in Limpopo Province, South Africa

“…According to Mpandeli, 2006, farmers in the Vhembe district farmers describe drought based on the following factors such as food and feed shortages, low rainfall, decrease in water availability, dying vegetation and animals etc. These factors were also highlighted by O' Farrell et al, 2009. Accroding to O' Farrell et al, 2009 farmers described drought in terms of the way it affected the agricultural systems.…”

Vulnerability, institutional arrangements and the adaptation choices made by farmers in the Western Cape province of South Africa

“…Adaptation can be applied both after experienced events and based on predictions for the future (Agrawal 2010). In comparison to coping measures, which are defined as short-term responses to an immediate threat using existing resources (Agrawal 2008), adaptation measures are more profound changes (O'Farrell et al 2009). To carry out adaptation measures, the actor needs adaptive capacity, which is the ability to adapt to changes and proceed to action (Adger et al 2005).…”