Research Progress and Conceptual Insights on Drought Impacts and Responses among Smallholder Farmers in South Africa: A Review

Abstract

Drought is a natural phenomenon which can cause widespread socio-economic and environmental impacts. Recent predictions suggest that drought frequency and intensity will increase in Southern Africa; therefore, there is a need for more scientific information on drought impacts and responses by vulnerable groups such as smallholder farmers. This scoping review examines the current state of research and conceptual insights on the impacts of drought on and responses by smallholder farmers in rural and urban settings in South Africa. We used three bibliographic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCOHost) to search for peer-reviewed literature published on South Africa. In total, 18 articles were reviewed, and information on drought impacts and responses among smallholder farmers was analysed and synthesised. Although most of the reviewed papers identified several socio-economic (e.g., loss of livestock, income, and employment) and environmental (e.g., loss of grazing land and vegetation) impacts of drought, the identified impacts were rarely quantified, and there is a lack of analytical depth of these impacts. Smallholder farmers in South Africa implement several drought responses, and these were categorised based on (i) changes in local practices and lifestyles e.g., practising conservation agriculture, (ii) structural measures e.g., government relief programmes, and (iii) technical interventions e.g., rain harvesting. None of the reviewed papers reported on the impacts of and responses to drought on smallholder farmers in urban settings. Overall, the review noted that the literature on drought in South Africa lacks detailed quantification and analysis of drought impacts and responses, the urban drought context is poorly understood, and there is a lack of clarity on the distinction between adaptation and mitigation strategies. Improving our understanding of drought impacts across a rural-urban gradient is important if responses are to effectively reduce smallholder farmer drought vulnerability.

Investigating the effects of drought and lockdowns on smallholder and commercial agricultural production in KwaZulu-Natal using remotely sensed data

“…The decrease and recovery phases observed in this study correlates with Vetter et al (2020) where about 29% of goats herds were lost in , followed by a recovery phase, from 2017. This study also corroborates with Ruwanza et al (2022) , where a survey of eighteen studies on the effect of drought in smallholder farms in South Africa, shows that grazing land and crop vegetation loss were among the most experienced consequences of the drought.…”

Grass composition and distribution patterns as determinants of behavioral activities and weight accumulation of Nguni and Boran cattle post-relocation

“…Breed differences in time spent grazing and browsing could be attributed to different feeding mechanisms shown by the steers. The remarkable ability shown by the Nguni and Boran cattle to obtain the nutritional value from the available natural vegetation proves to be very beneficial to their excellent adaptation under challenging conditions which could be counterproductive to bulk grazers such as exotic cattle breeds (12).…”

“…Animal performance is dependent on forage intake, which, in turn, is influenced by consumption patterns (6). In heterogeneous pastures such as native grassland, animals change the mechanisms of forage harvest and ingestion, keeping nutrient supply constant (12), and similar behavior may occur when animals have access to better quality pasture. In turn, pastures with higher fiber content cause the animal to reduce forage consumption (13).…”

Identifying Common Trees and Herbaceous Plants to Mitigate Particulate Matter Pollution in a Semi-Arid Mining Region of South Africa

“…These six preferred plant species may therefore serve the dual purpose of mitigating polluted air and soil. Although it is important to prove the long-term dust mitigation prospects of the recommended species in field-based experiments and to collect evidence of satisfactory PM mass removal by leaves, cultivating these species holds great potential as a practical and affordable solution to hazardous PM pollution in Sekhukhuneland where dust pollution is increasing due to longer drier spells and rapidly progressing land degradation [44]. More importantly, corroborating past reports, our study also suggests that foliar dust accumulation capacity is largely determined by species traits rather than the type of life form [13,40].…”