Browsing by Author "Spear, Dian"
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- ItemOpen AccessBarriers and Enablers of Water Conservation in Formal Residential Households in Cape Town, South Africa(2021) Kassam, Zain; Spear, Dian; Norton, MariekeIn recent years, climate change has caused great changes in weather patterns such as extreme changes in rainfall leading to prolonged drought. Rapid urbanization has led to more than half of the world's population living in urban centres, and the growing urban population must share increasing scarcity of water, exacerbated by climate change. Thus, climate change and urbanization has contributed to the emergence of more water-stressed cities. This thesis is concerned with water conservation as a method of adaptation to an urban water crisis. It looks into the water crisis in the City of Cape Town that took place during 2015-2017. The severe water crisis has been attributed to prolonged drought, rapid population growth, reliance on six-rain-fed dams to provide 95% of the city's water supply, and excessively high water use by formal residential households. The City of Cape Town took various measures to manage both the demand and the supply of water in order to alleviate the stress caused by the water scarcity. From January 2016, a public education campaign was paired with progressively increased water restrictions. However, despite the growing water restrictions and the worsening of the water crisis, Capetonians did not reduce water consumption enough. Against this background, this thesis aims at gaining a nuanced understanding of the barriers and enablers to water conservation amongst residents in formal residential households in the City of Cape Town. The study focuses on formal residential households because the residents use 65% of the total municipal water supply. Data collection was carried out primarily in the Southern and Northern suburbs and consisted of in-depth interviews with 44 respondents using a semi-structured interview guide about daily water conservation as well as perceptions of the water crisis and of their role in mitigating the water crisis. The data analysis involved development of a coding system and identification of three categories of water savers amongst the highest, the lowest, and the median levels of water conversation within the data set, referred to as respective the ‘avid', the ‘low' and the ‘moderate' water savers. The key findings are that the main barrier of water conservation for the ‘low water savers' is lack of willingness to inconvenience one-self in relation to water conservation. Other important barriers to water conservation for the ‘low water savers' included lack of information regarding the on-going water crisis, perceptions of the water crisis as non-urgent, limited trust in water governance institutions, and interest in maximising own benefit from the common water resource. The dominant enabler amongst the ‘avid water savers' is the pro-environment identity they possess, combined with a high self-efficacy to make a difference to the water crisis through their actions. The study showed that this dominant enabling factor works as a catalyst to enhance other enabling factors, especially seeking information and engaging in conversations about water conservation within their social networks. Barriers such as the discomfort of taking short showers, standing inside a bucket during a shower and collecting greywater for re-use are seen as necessary actions that align with their identity and altruistic outlook towards the environment. Interestingly, ‘the moderate water savers' held similar proenvironment identity but were constrained, mostly by institutional barriers, to reduce their water use. Thus, the overall argument is that there is not one barrier or one enabler to water conservation. Rather, the main argument is that an overriding enabling factor for increased water conservation in daily life is a pro-environment identity combined with a high sense of self-efficacy. Finally, this study has shown that the factor of Personal Characteristics, serves as the main enabler and as the main barrier to water conservation because Personal Characteristics have a ripple effect on how factors such as Information, Social, Technical, Financial or Institutional factors affect a respondent's water conservation.
- ItemOpen AccessBarriers and enablers to the adoption of practices to improve crop production and reduce vulnerability to climate risks in the semi-arid Omusati Region,Namibia(2018) Chappel, Angela; Spear, DianNamibia is almost entirely semi-arid or arid. With evaporation rates being higher than precipitation rates, farming conditions are extremely adverse. This is exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, namely increased temperature, decreased rainfall and higher rainfall variability, all of which are projected to worsen in the future. More than half of the population is reliant on rain-fed subsistence agriculture for their source of food but these challenging conditions mean that there is widespread food insecurity across the subsistence farming community in Namibia. This leads to a state of vulnerability and dependence on government support in the form of social grants, food aid and remittances from family members in urban areas. The locus for this study is three villages: Omaenene, Okathitukeengombe and Oshihau, in the north-central Omusati region of Namibia. This research investigated local perceptions of climate change vulnerability, farming practices used in other regions that could reduce this vulnerability and finally barriers and enablers to the uptake of new farming practices. These objectives were answered through the use of a systematic literature review and interviews with the local community. Findings revealed that the local population is already experiencing a hotter and drier climate, which has decreased their yield output. Many farmers are concerned about future climatic changes while some are comforted by support from the government or God. In both of these cases, the farmers are vulnerable because they are not currently adapting or planning to adapt to climate change. Although a majority of the farmers claimed that they are willing to try new farming practices, they are inhibited by: limited access to new information, mistrust of new farming practices as well as insufficient labour and resources. Three adaptive farming practices – planting pits, bunds and composting – aimed predominantly at water harvesting, soil conservation and increasing soil quality were selected by the researcher, from a systematic literature review, as appropriate for the village sites. Some of the social and institutional enablers that could be enhanced to promote the uptake of these practices are: i) support from local authorities and possibly enlisting the help of religious and traditional leaders (including building trust within these networks), ii) enhancing information access predominantly through the radio, iii) explaining the severity of climate change and the value of adaptation practices, iv) establishing self-help labour groups and v) the creation of demonstrations sites. In the face of irreversible climate change, this research aims to contribute to empowering local people to adapt their farming practices to the harmful experienced and predicted impacts of climate change and climate variability.
- ItemOpen AccessBarriers and enablers to water access and community wellbeing in the Onesi constituency of Namibia: the case of Okalonga B and Onandjandja villages(2017) Shooya, Omagano Ndapewa; Spear, Dian; Ziervogel, Gina; Hegga, SalmaThe scarcity of water and especially the lack of safe drinking water have been accepted as amongst the most serious challenges facing the twenty-first century. The lack of access to water is a global problem that faces between 460 million to more than 1 billion people as a result of an increasing demand for water as well as a diminishing supply of water resources. The lack of access to potable water poses a great constraint on the societal and individual well-being for the inhabitants of the semi-arid regions of southern Africa and the key area needed to improve the sustainable development of water resources and services has been identified as water governance. The aim of this research is, therefore, to understand how access to potable water affects the well-being of communities living in the Cuvelai-Etosha basin in Namibia and to understand how these communities participate in water governance. The Okalonga B and Onandjandja villages were used as case studies.The objectives of this study are to examine how water is accessed and determine what the barriers are in accessing potable water, to examine how the well-being of the communities in the two villages is affected by water access and to explore how communities are engaged in water governance. The overall methodology of the study was based on a qualitative approach to case study research. Interviews were conducted at the household level, the constituency and regional levels using semi-structured interview guides. The study found that the communities of Okalonga B and Onandjandja access water through hand-dug wells, private and communal taps, Etaka dam and Oshana, and boreholes. A total of 6 barriers to accessing potable water were identified. These included distance to communal taps, amount of water one can carry, administration of water infrastructure, maintenance of water infrastructure, ability to pay the set water fees and specific times allocated for collecting water. The barriers to accessing potable water negatively affect the well-being of communities. Communities felt that they would have better economic opportunities if they had access to potable water which would in turn improve their well-being and livelihood opportunities. Furthermore, the study found that community participation in water governance was poor.
- ItemOpen AccessBarriers to selling livestock in the face of drought in the Omusati Region of North Central Namibia(2021) Joshi, Nivedita; Spear, Dian; Ziervogel, GinaMarginal communities living in semi-arid Namibia face significant challenges in sustaining rural livelihoods due to environmental degradation and poverty. Research has shown that livestock farming depends on rain-fed agriculture among other things, thus making communal farmers vulnerable to climate change in the future. Given this, it often makes sense for farmers to sell their livestock and explore alternative livelihood options. However, farmers in northcentral Namibia are reluctant to sell their livestock despite a noticeable temperature increase and rainfall decrease over the past forty years. This study analyses the barriers to selling livestock in the face of a drought in the Omusati region of north-central Namibia. The study was carried out in three villages namely Omahanene, Okathitukeengombe and Oshihau, in the north-central Omusati region of Namibia. Household livestock distribution, perceptions of climate change, barriers to the sale of livestock and alternative livelihood strategies from other semi-arid regions were explored among 30 households using semi-structured household interviews and a systematic literature review. Results from the study indicate that 80% of communal farmers predict future droughts in the region and able to recall climate change through frequent droughts, increasing temperatures and decreasing rainfall. Farmers claimed that these changes have affected their livestock numbers. However, several barriers including cultural beliefs, lack of financial security, access to information, lack of institutional support and lack of efficient markets hinder livestock sales. The study suggests that the imminent impact of climate change coupled with the reluctance to sell livestock will threaten food security in the future. The study argues that rural livelihood diversification strategies are critical to safeguarding sustainable livelihoods in the future, including those of communal livestock farmers specifically. Additionally, policy recommendations like access to credit through public and private funding, access to markets by providing transportation facilities, encouraging market participation by improving quality of grazing lands, increasing water availability, building veterinary facilities, employing extension officers and access to information through reliable channels can help build a sustainable future in the face of climate risks.
- ItemOpen AccessCredibility and scale as barriers to uptake and use of seasonal climate forecasts in Bobirwa Sub-District, Botswana(2017) Selato, Janet Chatanga; Spear, Dian; Nyamwanza, admireSeasonal climate forecasts (SCF) can play a crucial role in reducing vulnerability to climate variability, particularly for rural populations reliant on agriculture for their livelihood. The use of disseminated SCF by farmers in decision-making could reduce losses and maximise benefits in agriculture. Despite the potential usefulness of SCF, incorporating them into farming decisions is a complex process that navigates through several barriers which constrain their effective use. The first two barriers, namely credibility (trust on SCF) and scale (relevance of SCF in geographical space and time), originate from the limitations of SCF associated with the form in which they are produced. In this study, credibility and scale are investigated as limitations of SCF, which potentially bar the uptake and use of SCF in Bobirwa sub-district. The second group of barriers are beyond the SCF themselves but limit their effective use and emanate from biophysical, socio-cultural and economic factors. This study examines whether credibility and scale are barriers to the use of SCF in Bobirwa farmers' decision-making, investigates how SCF are used in decision-making, and seeks to find out how the barriers are overcome. To make these investigations, qualitative data was collected from subsistence agro-pastoral farmers in eight villages in Bobirwa sub-district of Botswana using semi-structured interviews. Data was collected considering gender to allow for gendered analysis. Themes related to the main study questions were identified from the data and analysed for the number of people who mentioned the themes. It was found that all 47 farmers interviewed coincidentally had access to SCF and the majority used SCF in their decision-making, while only a handful of farmers were non-users of SCF. The results show that scale (both temporal and spatial) is a barrier for users of SCF, whereas credibility is a major constraint for non-users of SCF in Bobirwa. To cope with the barriers, farmers mainly use local knowledge to complement SCF. Additionally, farmers apply advice from Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and use economic information in their decisions to deal with the barriers. Despite the barriers, some farmers indicated that using SCF was beneficial in increasing harvests, providing warnings and minimising losses of crops and livestock. However, disadvantages of using SCF were also highlighted, including lost crops, seeds and harvest, and missed opportunities to plant because of lack of temporal and geographical detail in the forecasts. The barrier of credibility has contributed to a few non-users resorting to using traditional planting, possibly making them vulnerable to the impacts of climate variability. A gendered analysis shows that almost equal proportions of both males and females use SCF. Moreover, women use SCF for crop farming while men use it for livestock management, which is aligned to traditional roles in Botswana. It is also revealed that, unlike women who only use local knowledge and MoA advice to overcome SCF limitations, a few men also use economic ventures, which could make men less vulnerable than women farmers. Strong networks between scientists and farmers can reduce the perceived credibility barrier, and innovative ways of reducing the scale barrier can be devised. Therefore, recommendations from the study include continuous engagement with farmers to understand their decisionmaking context in order to tailor the information to their local context as much as science permits. Government programmes should be designed to integrate SCF to build farmers' resilience to climate variabilities. The impacts on livestock farming, which is dominated by men, need to be given as much prominence in SCF information as arable farming. Forecasters should continue to improve credibility and scale without compromising either factor to avoid chances of contributing to the vulnerability of farmers particularly women, who mostly rely on SCF for crop production.
- ItemOpen AccessStakeholder and influence network mapping exercise with the government, development and research actors in Namibia(2015) Hegga, Salma; Siyambango, Nguza; Angula, Margaret; Spear, Dian; Masundire, Hillary; Molefe, Chandapiwa; Morchain, DanielThis report summarises the outcomes of the Stakeholder and Influence Network Mapping exercise were undertaken on the 23rd of July 2015 in Windhoek, Namibia. ASSAR southern African Team members: Margaret Angula, Nahas Angula, Nguza Siyambango (UNAM); Dian Spear, Salma Hegga (UCT); Hillary Masundire and Chandapiwa Molefe (UB) assisted and participated in the stakeholder mapping workshop facilitated by Daniel Morchain (Oxfam). This event brought together 11 national stakeholders from the government (Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and SME Development, Namibia Energy Institute), NGOs (NNF, IRDNC) and Researcher/ Academic institutions (SASSCAL, DRFN & UNAM) (see Annex 9.2for a list of participants). The Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid (ASSAR) a multi-institutional and multi-national study investigates the factors that restrict effective adaptation to climate change impacts in agriculture-dependent communities in north-central Namibia. A multi-method approach including literature review, household surveys and semi-structured interviews is used to: i) explore the drivers of vulnerabilities to floods and droughts; 2) identify adaptation strategies; and 3) identify the barriers that impede successful adaptation. This report contains five main sections. Section 2 introduces the aims and objectives of the mapping exercise to ASSAR research. The Third section describes the methodology and approaches used, while section 4 describes the framing and analysis procedures employed. Section 5 presents the findings of the Network Influence Mapping exercise from the three groups of stakeholders attending the workshop. The discussion of the results and implication of the results are presented in section 6 and 7, respectively.
- ItemOpen AccessThe use of traditional weather forecasting by agro-pastoralists of different social groups in Bobirwa sub-district, Botswana(2018) Mosime, Bonolo; Spear, DianAgro-pastoralists of Bobirwa sub-district depend mainly on rain-fed agriculture as a source of their livelihood. However, this agro-pastoralism is affected by climatic variability. Advanced warning of upcoming weather information is, therefore, important in informing farming decisions. Traditional weather forecasting is often a major planning tool used to inform agro-pastoralists’ decision making and has been handed from one generation to another. For instance, local knowledge indicators are used to determine onset of rainfall and quality of the rainfall expected. However, there are numerous factors that may have affected the effective use of and dependence on traditional weather forecasting over the years. For this reason, it is critical to examine the current state and use of traditional weather forecasting among the agro-pastoralists. This thesis describes the traditional weather forecasting that agro-pastoralists in Bobirwa sub-district Botswana hold and use in planning for agricultural activities to cope with climate variability. It also examines changes that have been observed in the use of traditional weather forecasting over time. By exploring the knowledge used to generate early warning systems and coping strategies to climate variability of agro-pastoralists, we examine underlying vulnerabilities and resilience possibilities. Data was collected through purposively selecting a total of 101 agro-pastoralists who were further stratified by age and gender. The following qualitative techniques were used in data collection: semi-structured interviews (54 interviewees constituting 37 forecasters and 17 non-forecasters), focus group discussions (47 participants consisting of between 4 and 12 participants), and key informant interviews (11 forecasters who use multiple indicators). The snowballing technique was the main sampling strategy. Knowledgeable traditional forecasters in FGD’s were used to identify key informants with whom semi-structured interviews were conducted. All data was analysed using the thematic analysis method. Data was constructed using a cyclical process to generate themes which consisted of the initialisation (capturing participants’ accounts), construction of themes, relating the themes and developing results. From the study, it was found that male and female elderly agro-pastoralists in Bobirwa are more knowledgeable about traditional weather forecasting and use the traditional weather forecasting techniques to inform their decisions, while the less-knowledgeable adults and youth expressed having limited use of traditional weather forecasting in decision making. There were also differences in the use of specific traditional indicators based on the positionality of an individual in the society as well as age and gender. While the participants indicated that traditional weather forecasting is a reliable technique, climate change is believed to have resulted in unpredictable trends in recent years. For example, excessive floods, patchy and reduced rainfall, extensive heat spells with no specific patterns, changes in biological indicators, and thus, present a challenge to these agro-pastoralists. In all, traditional weather forecasting remains a cultural artefact in the community and will always be practised by the agro-pastoralists. However, many elements threaten the existence of the traditional weather forecasting such as the death of custodians of knowledge, the disruptive nature of climate change, youth migration to cities and the ubiquity of modern practices. Further to this, the prevalence of modern practices, for example Christianity, is transforming the use and beliefs of individuals in traditional weather forecasting leading to reduced intergenerational transfers of the traditional weather forecasting. It is prudent to expect that as cultural practices change within societies, cognisant of the fact that culture is dynamic, it is also expected that the use of traditional weather forecasting will change. It should, however, not be construed that the changes in the use of traditional weather and seasonal forecasting are an indication of the unreliability of traditional indicators, but inability of individuals to forecast. In turn, the study recommends the conservation of the traditional weather forecasting and traditionally important biological indicators. This can be promoted through documentation and teaching of traditional weather and seasonal forecasting techniques in conventional educational programmes. Alongside this, integration of traditional and scientific weather forecasting could be used to develop national policies to facilitate effective drought and flood coping strategies that are inclusive and aimed at limiting the traditional weather forecasting knowledge gap among agro-pastoralists of different age and gender groups. Interventions by the government can be redirected to traditional leaders or elders who bear extensive knowledge on traditional weather indicators to create awareness and facilitate knowledge exchange especially in aiding agro-pastoralists to cope with climate variability. Also, for those who are sceptical of traditional weather forecasting, the use of religious gatherings of different denominations can be an option to facilitate awareness raising of coping strategies that can be explored to reduce vulnerability amongst this group of agro-pastoralists by teaching them to adapt to the changing weather using local knowledge.
- ItemOpen AccessVulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Semi - Arid Regions of Southern Africa(2015-02-01) Spear, Dian; Haimbili, Emilia; Angula, Margaret; Baudoin, Marie - Ange; Hegga, Salma; Zaroug, Modathir; Okeyo, AliciaThe main objectives of the RDS phase are to i) develop a systematic understanding of existing knowledge and perceptions of climate change trends, impacts, vulnerability, adaptation strategies, and barriers and enablers to effective adaptation in SARs; ii) provide a system scale perspective from which ASSAR researchers can undertake research in the Regional Research Programme (RRP); and iii) help inform the more detailed sets of specific research foci for the RRP.
- ItemOpen AccessThe Vulnerability and Risk Assessment in Omusati Region in Namibia(2016-04-01) Salma, Hegga; Ziervogel, Ziervogel; Angula, Margaret; Spear, Dian; Nyamwanza, Admire; Ndeunyema, Elizabeth; Kunamwene, Irene; Togarep, Cecil; Morchain, DanielThis report presents the findings of the VRA workshop held from 8 to 9 March 2016 at Outapi Lodge in Omusati Region in North-Central Namibia. The VRA exercise focused on the Onesi Constituency landscape and it was carried out in the context of the ASSAR project. The VRA contributes to ASSAR’s work on understanding local level vulnerability and potential adaptation responses by engaging diverse stakeholders and supporting Research-into-Use (RiU) processes.