Abstract
Abstract 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
The global challenges of water security in view of climate change have grown in complexity in recent decades
The choice of the study area was informed by the fact that the area is one of the hardest-hit climate change-induced water scarcity areas in South Africa, coupled with it been the poorest municipality in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa (Ntsaluba 2014)
Oxfam’s (2010), Herrfahrdt-Pahle’s (2013), and Department of Agriculture and Forestry (DAFF)’s (2016) studies affirmed the increase in temperature and rainfall variations due to climate change
Summary
The global challenges of water security in view of climate change have grown in complexity in recent decades. There is a consensus as to the existence of climate change and the significant hydrological alteration it would evoke. Cisneros (2015), among others, asserted that the consequence of climate change would predominantly be water-related. Despite the continuous efforts by actors at the global, regional, national, and local levels on mitigation and adaptation to climate impacts, especially on water, the. The responses in terms of coping mechanism and strategies of individuals and societies alike to these uncertainties, especially in African communities, are in most instances blurred
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
