Abstract
The livelihoods of rural people have been plagued by the precarious impacts of climate change–related disasters manifesting through floods, heat waves, droughts, cyclones, and erratic temperatures. However, they have not remained passive victims to these impacts. In light of this, rural people are on record of employing a plethora of adaptation strategies to cushion their livelihoods from climate change impacts. In this vew, the role of social capital as a determinant of climate change adaptation is underexplored. Little attention has been paid to how social capital fostered through trust and cooperation amongst rural households and communities is essential for climate change adaptation. This study explored how people in Mazungunye communal lands are embracing social capital to adapt to climate change impacts. The researchers adopted a qualitative research approach guided by the descriptive research design. The population of the study was gathered through simple random and purposive sampling techniques. Accordingly, the population sample consisted of 25 research participants drawn from members of the community following the simple random and purposive sampling techniques. In-depth individual interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Data were analysed through the Thematic Content Analysis. This study established that different forms of social capital are being embraced by the community members to withstand the effects of climate change. These include village savings clubs (fushai), chief's granary (Zunde raMambo), collective field work (nhimbe), and destocking of livestock (kuronzera) strategies. These strategies illustrate community reliance on indigenous knowledge adaptation strategies as a community response to impacts of climate change on their livelihoods.
Highlights
Climate change adaptation refers to response strategies employed by human or natural systems to reduce exposure to climate change risks and to minimise harm or exploit the benefits that come with adaptation [1]
In response to the above, Yohe and Tol [8] denote that adaptive capacity has its own determinants that when present in any system, it can be prudent to assert that individuals, communities, and institutions are adapting to climate change; the availability of technological advancements enables adaptation, the equal distribution of resources, availability of human and social capital including literacy levels, and social and personal security and how the public perceive the cause of the disturbances
It is subject to periodic seasonal droughts and prolonged dry spells during the rainy season [1, 29, 30]. e study area is made up of four villages, namely, Chiwawa, Jere, Pfunde, and Maipise. e majority of people in the study area are peasant farmers practicing farming based on growing crops and livestock rearing. ese communities have been riddled by climate change impacts for some time because of the climate volatile ecological region where they are situated [1]
Summary
E livelihoods of rural people have been plagued by the precarious impacts of climate change–related disasters manifesting through floods, heat waves, droughts, cyclones, and erratic temperatures. They have not remained passive victims to these impacts. Rural people are on record of employing a plethora of adaptation strategies to cushion their livelihoods from climate change impacts. In this vew, the role of social capital as a determinant of climate change adaptation is underexplored. Is study explored how people in Mazungunye communal lands are embracing social capital to adapt to climate change impacts.
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