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CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS, VULNERABILITY & ADAPTATION ACTION. 5 th WWF, Istanbul TURKEY 16-22 March 2009 Chris Moseki* & Rashid Khan** *Water Research Commission; **Dept of Water Affairs & Forestry.
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CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS, VULNERABILITY & ADAPTATION ACTION 5th WWF, Istanbul TURKEY16-22 March 2009 Chris Moseki* & Rashid Khan** *Water Research Commission; **Dept of Water Affairs & Forestry
FOR EFFECTIVE RESILIENCE AGAINST CC IMPACTS, VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT SHOULD PRECEED ADAPTATION ACTION MEASURES UNDERTAKEN IN THE CONTEXT OF EXISTING SITUATION
POORLY RESOURCED NATIONS HAVE VERY LOW ADAPTIVE CAPACITY • Already situated in drought prone areas, most developing countries are relatively more vulnerable to climate effects • These poorly resourced communities, depend on the natural environment (which is overexploited) for livelihoods • The situation is worse due to other stressors (lack of access to resources)
The Process followed… • Communities’ sustained livelihoods guided the process of the investigations: • Consider current/indigenous adaptive strategies used by affected communities • Assess the degree to which those strategies are effective in addressing the problem (note successes & gaps); • Recommend remedial measures (provide climate info/data & tools) for reinforcement
Small-scale rural farmers in the Muden area of KZN • 4 groups (block comm. Chairs, farmers, extension officers & locals) were interviewed • Constraints to livelihoods and capacity to cope with climate-related issues emerged from the results of the research interviews
Small-scale rural farmers in the Muden area of KZN (2) • Human capital (labour) • Bulk of the workforce comprise women (>50yrs) • Few farmers in the field (sickness & mortality) • Lack of knowledge regarding markets & info (planting dates, fertilizer types, etc) • Social Capital (networks, relationships) • Each block of farm-land has a block committee • Comm. links to DoA through extension officer • Issues raised at meetings are rarely addressed (water management, crop eating goats & infrastructure problems)
Small-scale rural farmers in the Muden area of KZN (3) • Natural Capital (resource stock) • Plots allocated by local induna (headman) & water accessed through the irrigation scheme • Poor quality often during low flows • Failure to adhere to scheduled watering days often cause problems to downstream users • Physical Capital (infrastructure & goods) • Infrastructure entails canal, the weir, small storage dams and the tractor (owned by DoA) • Relationships strained by “poor service delivery” • Lack of transport, lack of access to markets
Commercial farmers vulnerability assessment • Factors that enhance risks identified • Climate variability & extreme events • Environmental degradation • Sugar price, currency & taxes (financial sustainability) • Subsidies by foreign countries & trade • Sustainability of sugarcane farming versus increased variability in rainfall, etc • Responses to survey questions
Research issues and objectives for vulnerability assessments (Wall et al., 2004)
LIMITS TO ADAPTATION • No more dam sites PHYSICAL • No more water LIMITS ADAPTATION FEASIBILITY FINANCIAL i.e. Adjustment to LIMITS LIMITS altered circumstances • Physically feasible but politically, socially or environmentally difficult CAPACITY LIMITS • Capacity of organisations • Capacity of individuals After Arnell (2005) and Schulze (2007)
Climate Monitoring & awareness On farm trials Greenhouse/nursery trials Preparedness workshops Reports
