IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i23p16023-d989413.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Climate Change Impacts and Challenges of Combating Food Insecurity in Rural Somkhele, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Llewellyn Leonard

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa (UNISA), Johannesburg 1709, South Africa)

Abstract

Climate change poses immense challenges for food security in most developing countries. The extent to which residents are able to reduce their impact on food resources and adapt to climate change will have implications for their livelihoods. Although climate change research has explored adaptation strategies to mitigate the negative effects on food security, empirical work on how climate change affects rural household food security in South Africa has been limited. This paper examines not only how climate change affects food security, but also residential challenges in combating climate change and food security. This paper focused on the Somkhele rural community located in the uMkhanyakude District Municipality of Northern KwaZulu-Natal, an area affected by water scarcity induced by climate change. A questionnaire was used to ascertain the views of 424 households on the impacts of climate variability on food security and the coping mechanisms and challenges involved in secure livelihoods. The results indicate that climate change has affected agricultural productivity and the use of water in households, especially since 2015. Food security is shaped by unemployment and a lack of financial capital. The local government did not assist with the required infrastructure to obtain water. Good governance and reflexive approaches are required to take into account household livelihood strategies and indigenous knowledge systems to ensure that support against the impacts of climate change is relevant

Suggested Citation

  • Llewellyn Leonard, 2022. "Climate Change Impacts and Challenges of Combating Food Insecurity in Rural Somkhele, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-17, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:23:p:16023-:d:989413
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/23/16023/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/23/16023/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen Shisanya & Paramu Mafongoya, 2016. "Adaptation to climate change and the impacts on household food security among rural farmers in uMzinyathi District of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(3), pages 597-608, June.
    2. Kashwan, Prakash & MacLean, Lauren M. & García-López, Gustavo A., 2019. "Rethinking power and institutions in the shadows of neoliberalism," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 133-146.
    3. Robert Becker Pickson & Elliot Boateng, 2022. "Climate change: a friend or foe to food security in Africa?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 4387-4412, March.
    4. Lisa Hiwasaki & Emmanuel Luna & Syamsidik & José Marçal, 2015. "Local and indigenous knowledge on climate-related hazards of coastal and small island communities in Southeast Asia," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 35-56, January.
    5. Bethuel Sibongiseni Ngcamu & Felix Chari, 2020. "Drought Influences on Food Insecurity in Africa: A Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-17, August.
    6. Abiodun A. Ogundeji, 2022. "Adaptation to Climate Change and Impact on Smallholder Farmers’ Food Security in South Africa," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-16, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhigang Ye & Ping Miao & Ning Li & Yong Wang & Fanhao Meng & Rong Zhang & Shan Yin, 2023. "Dynamic Relationship between Agricultural Water Use and the Agricultural Economy in the Inner Mongolia Section of the Yellow River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-13, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Temitope Oluwaseun Ojo & Abiodun A. Ogundeji & Chijioke U. Emenike, 2022. "Does Adoption of Climate Change Adaptation Strategy Improve Food Security? A Case of Rice Farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, October.
    2. Gift Nxumalo & Bashar Bashir & Karam Alsafadi & Hussein Bachir & Endre Harsányi & Sana Arshad & Safwan Mohammed, 2022. "Meteorological Drought Variability and Its Impact on Wheat Yields across South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Filippo Menga & Michael K. Goodman, 2022. "The High Priests of Global Development: Capitalism, Religion and the Political Economy of Sacrifice in a Celebrity‐led Water Charity," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(4), pages 705-735, July.
    4. Jane Kabubo-Mariara & Richard Mulwa, 2019. "Adaptation to climate change and climate variability and its implications for household food security in Kenya," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(6), pages 1289-1304, December.
    5. Marina Kovaleva & Walter Leal Filho & Christian Borgemeister & Jokastah Wanzuu Kalungu, 2022. "Understanding Needs and Potentials for Gender-Balanced Empowerment and Leadership in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-27, August.
    6. Ramprasad, Vijay, 2021. "Institutional benefit pathways in development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    7. Nonkululeko Thandeka Brightness Zondi & Mjabuliseni Simon Cloapas Ngidi & Temitope Oluwaseun Ojo & Simphiwe Innocentia Hlatshwayo, 2022. "Impact of Market Participation of Indigenous Crops on Household Food Security of Smallholder Farmers of South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-19, November.
    8. Elzaki, Raga M., 2023. "Challenges of food security in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries: an empirical analysis of fixed and random effects," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 9(1), March.
    9. Mahamadou Roufahi Tankari, 2020. "Rainfall variability and farm households’ food insecurity in Burkina Faso: nonfarm activities as a coping strategy," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(3), pages 567-578, June.
    10. Simin Mehdipour & Nouzar Nakhaee & Farzaneh Zolala & Maryam Okhovati & Afsar Foroud & Ali Akbar Haghdoost, 2022. "A systematized review exploring the map of publications on the health impacts of drought," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 113(1), pages 35-62, August.
    11. Razafindrakoto, Mireille & Roubaud, François & Rua, Linda, 2021. "Hyper-elites and network: Capturing the powerful upper tail in Madagascar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    12. João Carrilho & Jorge Trindade, 2022. "Sustainability in Peri-Urban Informal Settlements: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-35, June.
    13. Zoleka Ncoyini-Manciya & Michael J. Savage, 2022. "The Assessment of Future Air Temperature and Rainfall Changes Based on the Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM): The Case of the Wartburg Community in KZN Midlands, South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-19, August.
    14. Ying Han & Yongjian He & Zhuoran Liang & Guoping Shi & Xiaochen Zhu & Xinfa Qiu, 2023. "Risk Assessment and Application of Tea Frost Hazard in Hangzhou City Based on the Random Forest Algorithm," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, January.
    15. Pedro Jurado de los Santos & Antonio-José Moreno-Guerrero & José-Antonio Marín-Marín & Rebeca Soler Costa, 2020. "The Term Equity in Education: A Literature Review with Scientific Mapping in Web of Science," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-17, May.
    16. Chandni Singh & James Ford & Debora Ley & Amir Bazaz & Aromar Revi, 2020. "Assessing the feasibility of adaptation options: methodological advancements and directions for climate adaptation research and practice," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 255-277, September.
    17. Lim, Krisha & Wichmann, Bruno & Luckert, Martin, 2021. "Adaptation, spatial effects, and targeting: Evidence from Africa and Asia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    18. Thirze D. G. Hermans & Robert Šakić Trogrlić & Marc J. C. Homberg & Hannah Bailon & Rebecca Sarku & Anuszka Mosurska, 2022. "Exploring the integration of local and scientific knowledge in early warning systems for disaster risk reduction: a review," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 114(2), pages 1125-1152, November.
    19. Millner, Naomi & Peñagaricano, Irune & Fernandez, Maria & Snook, Laura K., 2020. "The politics of participation: Negotiating relationships through community forestry in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    20. Aliaa Dirani & Gumataw Kifle Abebe & Rachel A. Bahn & Giuliano Martiniello & Isam Bashour, 2021. "Exploring climate change adaptation practices and household food security in the Middle Eastern context: a case of small family farms in Central Bekaa, Lebanon," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(4), pages 1029-1047, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:23:p:16023-:d:989413. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.