Abstract
Climate change predictions reflect that temperatures in Swaziland will increase by 2.5°C and annual rainfall could decrease by 100 mm by 2050. Drought frequency and intensity is likely to increase in future and its occurrence could not be divorced from climate change. A descriptive research using questionnaire survey procedures and personal interviews was designed to determine drought coping strategies at Lonhlupheko, a semi-arid area in Swaziland. The target population was 150 households with a sample size of 108 households. The data collected was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. Quantitative data were presented as percentages following analysis by Statistical Package for Social Sciences computer software. Results reflected the drought coping strategies practiced by households as vegetables marketing and selling (19.4%), labour for food and money (5.6%), brewing and selling traditional brew (9.3%). External and institutional support obtained by households included food rations and farming inputs from non governmental organizations (32.4%), free primary education and feeding schemes (8.3%). Adaptation measures proposed by households included provision of irrigation water (56.5%), construction of dams and structures for rainwater harvesting (23.1%), agricultural extension services revival (13.0%), access to loans for small and medium enterprises (5.5%) and drought tolerant crops promotion (1.9%). Key words: Adaptation, coping, domestic water, drought mitigation, livelihood. strategies, semi-arid.
Highlights
Drought is considered one of the most severe and costly natural hazards, and it is the most important severe factor affecting world food security (Tallaksen, 2012)
The proportion of households practicing rooftop rainwater harvesting were higher (45.4%) than the national average of 1.3% (WHO and UNICEF, 2010), and the 8% reported by Singwane and Kunene (2010) for a community in the Drought coping strategies utilized by households
The drought coping strategies were identified by the 108 households studied as marketing and selling vegetables (19.4%), brewing and selling traditional brew (9.3%), providing labour for food and money (5.6%), dressmaking (3.7%), selling second hand clothes (3.7%), carpentry (1.9%), collecting and selling thatching grass (1.9%), cutting and selling of building timber (1.9%), and other strategies besides the ones above (52.8%)
Summary
Drought is considered one of the most severe and costly natural hazards, and it is the most important severe factor affecting world food security (Tallaksen, 2012). The most severe human consequences of drought are often found in arid and or semi-arid regions such as the Lowveld of Swaziland, where Lonhluphelo is located. This is evident where water availability is already low under normal conditions, and demand is close to, or exceeds natural availability, and society lacks the capacity to mitigate or adapt to drought. Drought is a direct effect of climate change (Kumwenda, 2012). Farmers and communities lack contextualized information on adaptation in order to cope with the effects of climate change
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