Abstract
Although governments across the globe have pledged resources and efforts to minimise the factors contributing to climate change, it is a concern that climate change continues to exert significant hardship on many rural communities of which South Africa is no exception. The Eastern Cape Province in South Africa is one of the driest provinces with prolonged water scarcity challenges. The purpose of this study is to investigate coping strategies adopted by the rural poor to build resilience against food insecurity. Primary data was collected from a total of 385 respondents in three rural communities using semi-structured questionnaires and interview. The findings suggest that farmers have been proactive in responding to climate change and food security. The study revealed that farmers are engaged in different coping strategies to ensure that there is enough food for the household. Although some of the coping strategies might assist, others would have severe consequences on the health of the population, especially children. Based on the findings, it is recommended that there should be regular engagement by the local municipality, the community and rural farmers on climate change events. The focus should be on the management of drought, heatwaves, flood, and soil erosion. The government within the local municipality should also focus on building a dam for rural farmers. The dam will serve as a reservoir of water for irrigation during drought.
Highlights
Climate change (CC) has become recognised as a global challenge. Romm (2018, p. 2), for example, concludes that “the warming of the climate system is an unequivocal and consolidated fact”
It is widely acknowledged that CC has become a global issue, there is little empirical evidence on the impact that the rural poor have experienced, and how the rural poor have responded and adapted to ensure food security
This study examined the impact that climate change has on rural livelihoods and their adaptation response to climate change in three rural communities in Eastern Cape, South Africa
Summary
Climate change (CC) has become recognised as a global challenge. Romm (2018, p. 2), for example, concludes that “the warming of the climate system is an unequivocal and consolidated fact”. Climate change (CC) has become recognised as a global challenge. 2), for example, concludes that “the warming of the climate system is an unequivocal and consolidated fact”. Climate change adversely affects families, communities and the economy in general and is argued to be one of the major drivers of environmental change facing many countries, those in the developing south, Samset et al (2018), for example, have established that regions with high population growth experience greater variations in temperature, precipitation and extreme weather conditions and these combine to trigger environmental changes. In addition to environmental changes, Cunsolo and Ellis (2018) believe that changes in climate variability impact people’s mental health and well-being and this can adversely affect their ability to engage in productive activities
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