Climate change-induced livelihood adaptive strategies and perceptions of forest-dependent communities: The case of Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

Many South African rural communities depend directly or indirectly on natural forests to meet their livelihoods. Climate change can alter many of the mutual relationships between rural communities and natural resources (forests) by posing a variety of new challenges to these resources, agriculture, biodiversity, rural livelihoods and food (in) security. This study aimed to assess how forest-dependent rural communities perceive climate change and how that perception and other socio-economic factors affect their adaptation. In doing so, it identifies the barriers and enablers to adaptation in response to changes in the community forest status that threaten their livelihoods. The study employed a multinomial logit (MNL) model to analyse how socio-economic and institutional factors influence their choices among the alternative livelihood strategies. The study reveals that factors such as the capacity of community forests to support rural community livelihoods, awareness of community members about the change in temperature and rainfall, and the trend in the availability of natural forest products play important roles in enhancing adaptation capabilities. In addition, households with better knowledge about the trend in temperature and rainfall and also those endowed with human capital are less likely to create pressure on natural forests. Taking forests and their services as impure public goods, the study recommends the need for public-private partnerships (between local municipalities/government and/or non-government entities and the private sector) to invest in building institutions that improve community forest governance, capacity empowerment on collective management of common-pool resources, and creating employment and livelihood opportunities to forest-dependent rural communities.