Abstract
Climate change and rural livelihood capitals remain the major inextricable dimensions of sustainability in this twenty-first century globally. It is known to be an important challenge facing food security status among African countries. Additionally, it is an indisputable fact that climate change and agriculture are intertwined. In view of this, climate change awareness needs to be strengthened in the rural farming households. The study was carried out in Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, in the North West Province of South Africa to determine awareness of climate change. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select three hundred and forty-six (346) farmers who were interviewed from the study area. Data were analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The binary logistic regression model was employed to analyse the factors driving climate change awareness. The study established that majority of the rural farmers in the study area aware of climate change, in which farm size, education, who owns the farm, information received on climate change, source of climate change information, climate change information through extension services, channel of information received on climate change and support received on climate change are statistically significant (p<0.05) determinants of climate change awareness in the study area.
Highlights
Climate change and agriculture are two intertwined entities
The results of the analysis further showed that extension service was statistically significant (p
Source of climate change information Climate change information through extension services Channel of information received on climate change Support received on climate change Mean variance inflation factor (VIF) Source: Author’s computation (2017)
Summary
Climate change and agriculture are two intertwined entities. A change in weather condition over a certain period of time is identified as climate change. The activities of agricultural production impact climate change adversely, vice versa. Climate change has become an imperative challenge facing African countries, while the impact is largely due to little revenue, more dependence on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, and the lack or poor ability to get acclimatized to the changing climate (Belloumi, 2014). According to the United Nation Framework for Climate Change (UNFCCC, 2011), climate change significantly affects rural communities in Africa who rely mainly on farming activities and natural forest resources for their livelihoods. There is a collective confirmation that climate change will intensely affect the African continent and will be one of the thought-provoking concerns for future growth, in the arid regions (Huq et al, 2004; Kurukulasuriya and Mendelsohn, 2006). The African continent is anticipated to be the utmost affected and susceptible to the effects of climate change (Hummel, 2015; Bewket, 2012)
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