Tackling climate change through craft development: The case of rural women in uPhongolo Local Municipality

Abstract

Climate change is a global phenomenon that is affecting all humanity. Bearing the harshest brunt of environmental, social and economic shocks are the world’s poorest and those in vulnerable conditions such as women in rural areas. Rural areas have experienced a decline in the dependence on agriculture and livestock farming because of climate change, thus forcing people especially women to look for alternative sources of sustainable livelihoods (SLs). The objective of this study was to establish the extent to which craft development can be used as an alternative livelihood by women in uPhongolo Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal to mitigate the effects of climate change. This study adopted a SL theoretical framework to explain how women in the study area used craft development to improve their livelihoods. A survey method was adopted for this study using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Non-probability sampling strategy using a purposive sampling technique was used to select 50 women crafters from uPhongolo Local Municipality. Face-to-face interviews using questionnaires, which had both closed and open-ended questions, were conducted. These allowed for the collection of numeric data and simultaneously allowed respondents to express themselves and elaborate on the structured questions. The Software Programme for Social Science (SPSS) was used to analyse quantitative data that had been generated using structured interviews and categorised qualitative data. The findings indicated that innovative entrepreneurship using natural capital readily available in the area for craft development and linking the products to the market play a significant role in improving SLs of women in the study area. The study recommends that capacity-building programmes be provided to equip rural women with skills that would enhance their ability to respond to natural hazards such as climate change.

Rural Entrepreneurship: An Analysis of Current and Emerging Issues from the Sustainable Livelihood Framework

“…Our analysis reveals that governance is also articulated with other issues related to political cooperation and citizen participation, since greater participation of communities leads to inclusion and entrepreneurship promotion (Joshi et al 2019), contributing to poverty alleviation (Nambiar 2019). Likewise, corporate governance is devoted to provide a foundation for comprehensive resource managing practices to promote enterprise development in small businesses (Dixit and Sakunia 2022;Nzama 2021).…”

“…Therefore, public policy and decision-making agendas should support women, highlight their needs and achievements (Anand and Josse 2002), and guarantee the same access to opportunities and resources for success as their male counterparts (Ojo et al 2015). Women empowerment can drive rural community development (Kumari and Eguruze 2022), boost the rural economy (Dixit and Sakunia 2022), and overcome vulnerable conditions of women in rural areas since they represent powerful change agents (Nzama 2021). Consequently, empowering rural women by promoting entrepreneurship could improve the livelihood of rural communities (Muhamad et al 2017).…”