Climate change responses in urban low-income groups, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Doctor of Philosophy in Geography. University of KwaZulu-Natal. Pietermaritzburg, 2017.South Africa is urbanising at an unsustainable rate such that the levels of urban poverty and inequality are rising, taking the country further from its attainment of the sustainable development goals, mainly, the elimination of poverty alleviation (Goal 1) and the reduction of inequalities (Goal 5). Climate change, which was voted the second greatest threat to national security in 2017, is exacerbating the situation, making it difficult for governments to juggle the demands of the increasing population with responses to climate-related impacts. Hence, urban low-income groups, due to the pre-existing high levels of poverty and inequality, lack the resources to respond to the current and future impacts of climate variability and change. They are disproportionally vulnerable and these impacts are not gender-neutral as gender inequalities and women’s socio-economic vulnerability contribute to their susceptibility to climate-induced impacts. Attempts are being made by the global community to address this ‘wicked problem’ via mitigation and adaptation measures, however, given the complexities and multi-scalar nature of the issues, the governance system is met with challenges. Central to addressing climate change are local governments who are at the forefront of vulnerability and are better positioned to design and implement climate change response strategies that minimise the impacts on local livelihoods and vulnerable communities. In light of this, the research investigates how low-income groups in the urban areas of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and their local governments, are responding to the current and future impacts of changing climatic conditions. Pietermaritzburg is an inland city and the second largest urban centre in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, a province that has a high vulnerability to climate-related risks and a low adaptive capacity. In addition, the city is confronted with growing rates of urban poverty, unemployment and unequal development. Using a case study approach, a questionnaire survey was conducted within four socio-economically marginalised urban communities. The respondents identified eight climate stressors that negatively impact their lifestyles and livelihoods, however, they lacked the knowledge as to the causes of climate change and how to cope. As a consequence, less than half of the respondents had adopted coping strategies, many of which were stop-gap reactive-type measures that provide limited capacity to build resilience and response capacity. In-depth interviews were conducted with local governments responsible for the case study communities, to assess their responses to climate variability and change. The municipalities have adopted measures to institutionalise climate responses, however, they are relatively new and implementation is slow, complex and fraught with limitations and competing socio-economic demands. In view of these findings, it is argued that with South Africa’s rapid rate of urbanisation and the projected climate changes, there is an urgent need to create enabling conditions for the adoption of engendered, cost-effective, long-term and sustainable coping strategies that are responsive to the needs of vulnerable groups. Furthermore, local governments must transform their governance structures and enlarge their knowledge base by engaging non-state actors, including the citizens, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, faith-based organisations, research institutions, and the private sector in the policy-making and implementation process. A transdisciplinary approach and a hybrid and inclusive governance are necessary to holistically address the combined impacts of climate change and rapid urbanisation. Moreover, the local government must increase investment in urban pro-poor climate change projects, which have, to some effect, been successful, and educate the communities on climate-related risks so as to increase their knowledge and response capabilities

Wealth creation through green economy in urban areas : a case study of poor urban women's use of environmental services to generate income in Msunduzi Municipality, South Africa.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.Urbanisation is an inevitable process that creates opportunities for economic growth and development, however, it can come at the cost of urban poverty and environmental degradation - two of the greatest challenges facing policy-makers. The global failure to develop in a sustainable manner has led to the adoption of green economy in the context of poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Given South Africa’s high rates of urbanisation, the nation’s government, in partnership with civil society and the private sector, is taking steps to green its economy, with the transition ranging from large-scale solar installation projects to small-scale grassroots level projects where the green jobs are created for the poor, predominantly women, by paying them for environmental services. This research investigates how urban poor women in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, under the management of a local environmental non-governmental organisation (ENGO), Wildlands Conservation Trust (WCT), are using the green economy concept to generate income and contribute to environmental sustainability. Using a case study approach, three areas were selected in which semi-structured questionnaires were administered to women who are involved in a ‘green-preneurship’ initiative, consisting of three project nodes, namely, waste-, tree-, and food-preneurship. The women registered under the project collect and segregate waste for sale to the ENGO (waste-preneurs), while others grow indigenous trees for sale to the ENGO (tree-preneurs), and some grow food crops for subsistence and sale of any excess to community members (food-preneurs). The project is reducing poverty levels and empowering the women both economically and socially. Furthermore, while the primary incentive for participating in the green economy initiative was found to be financial, the project has helped to raise environmental awareness and is a mechanism through which women can contribute to environmental sustainability. Their voluntary participation in the project indicates the importance of urban poor women to green economy. This role stems from understanding the importance of the environment to their livelihood, and in this regard, green economy can be said to be addressing the social and environmental externalities of urbanisation, with women at the forefront

Policy gaps and food systems optimization: a review of agriculture, environment, and health policies in South Africa

South Africa faces the triple burden of malnutrition, high poverty levels, unemployment, and inequality. “Wicked problems” such as these require innovative and transdisciplinary responses, multi-stakeholder coordination and collaboration, managing complex synergies and trade-offs, and achieving sustainable outcomes. Through qualitative content analysis of national and provincial sector-based policies, we explored the interlinkages between the agriculture, environment, and health sectors in South Africa in the context of sustainable food and nutrition security and the extent to which these interlinkages are integrated into policy and planning. A systemic analysis of the review outcomes was performed to identify its main learning outcome, the status quo in the policy process. The nature of feedback loops was identified, and a leverage point was suggested. The review highlighted that policymakers in the agriculture, environment and health sectors are aware of, and have understood, the relationships among the three sectors. They have also made attempts to address these interlinkages through collaboration and coordination. Unfortunately, this has been met with several challenges due to fragmented sector-specific mandates and targets and a lack of resources for integrated solutions. This creates implementation gaps and unintended duplication of activities, leading to poor service delivery. Transitioning to sustainable and healthy food systems will only be possible after these gaps have been closed and implementation optimization has been achieved. Focusing on meta-level problem-framing, functional collaboration through transdisciplinary approaches, and integrated targets are critical to successful policy implementation and progressive realization of national goals related to sustainable food and nutrition security, unemployment, poverty, and inequality

Migration under Climate Change in Southern Africa: A Nexus Planning Perspective

Population increase is exacerbating resource insecurities due to increased demand for already depleted resources. Coupled with climate change, they are the main drivers of both intra- (rural-urban and urban-urban) and inter-migration (from one country to the other). We carried out a systematic review of literature, focusing on available options to ensure water and food security, as well as improve the socio-economic environment, highlighting the drivers of migration in southern Africa. The aim was to develop informed adaptation strategies and build resilience in the advent of accelerated migration. We developed a migration conceptual framework based on the nexus between water, food and socio-economic interlinkages. Urban areas in southern Africa are under immense pressure to accommodate climate refugees from resource stressed rural areas, a situation that is impacting on agricultural production. Most urban areas are exceeding their ecological thresholds to support the built environment, causing some socio-ecological challenges. Nexus planning can inform adaptation planning on permissible migration that are aligned with regional goals such as regional integration, poverty reduction and improved livelihoods. This would also contribute to the region’s achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, through the identification of synergies and trade-offs, nexus planning can inform regional adaptation strategies for positively managing migration leading to sustainable outcomes

The Future of Food: Domestication and Commercialization of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa over the Third Decade (2012–2021)

This paper follows the transition from ethnobotany to a deeper scientific understanding of the food and medicinal properties of African agroforestry tree products as inputs into the start of domestication activities. It progresses on to the integration of these indigenous trees as new crops within diversified farming systems for multiple social, economic and environmental benefits. From its advent in the 1990s, the domestication of indigenous food and non-food tree species has become a global programme with a strong African focus. This review of progress in the third decade is restricted to progress in Africa, where multi-disciplinary research on over 59 species has been reported in 759 research papers in 318 science publications by scientists from over 833 research teams in 70 countries around the world (532 in Africa). The review spans 23 research topics presenting the recent research literature for tree species of high priority across the continent, as well as that in each of the four main ecological regions: the humid zone of West and Central Africa; the Sahel and North Africa; the East African highlands and drylands; and the woody savannas of Southern Africa. The main areas of growth have been the nutritional/medicinal value of non-timber forest products; the evaluation of the state of natural resources and their importance to local people; and the characterization of useful traits. However, the testing of putative cultivars; the implementation of participatory principles; the protection of traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights; and the selection of elite trees and ideotypes remain under-researched. To the probable detriment of the upscaling and impact in tropical agriculture, there has been, at the international level, a move away from decentralized, community-based tree domestication towards a laboratory-based, centralized approach. However, the rapid uptake of research by university departments and national agricultural research centres in Africa indicates a recognition of the importance of the indigenous crops for both the livelihoods of rural communities and the revitalization and enhanced outputs from agriculture in Africa, especially in West Africa. Thus, on a continental scale, there has been an uptake of research with policy relevance for the integration of indigenous trees in agroecosystems and their importance for the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. To progress this in the fourth decade, there will need to be a dedicated Centre in Africa to test and develop cultivars of indigenous crops. Finally, this review underpins a holistic approach to mitigating climate change, as well as other big global issues such as hunger, poverty and loss of wildlife habitat by reaping the benefits, or ‘profits’, from investment in the five forms of Capital, described as ‘land maxing’. However, policy and decision makers are not yet recognizing the potential for holistic and transformational adoption of these new indigenous food crop opportunities for African agriculture. Is ‘political will’ the missing sixth capital for sustainable development

Table_1_Policy gaps and food systems optimization: a review of agriculture, environment, and health policies in South Africa.DOCX

South Africa faces the triple burden of malnutrition, high poverty levels, unemployment, and inequality. “Wicked problems” such as these require innovative and transdisciplinary responses, multi-stakeholder coordination and collaboration, managing complex synergies and trade-offs, and achieving sustainable outcomes. Through qualitative content analysis of national and provincial sector-based policies, we explored the interlinkages between the agriculture, environment, and health sectors in South Africa in the context of sustainable food and nutrition security and the extent to which these interlinkages are integrated into policy and planning. A systemic analysis of the review outcomes was performed to identify its main learning outcome, the status quo in the policy process. The nature of feedback loops was identified, and a leverage point was suggested. The review highlighted that policymakers in the agriculture, environment and health sectors are aware of, and have understood, the relationships among the three sectors. They have also made attempts to address these interlinkages through collaboration and coordination. Unfortunately, this has been met with several challenges due to fragmented sector-specific mandates and targets and a lack of resources for integrated solutions. This creates implementation gaps and unintended duplication of activities, leading to poor service delivery. Transitioning to sustainable and healthy food systems will only be possible after these gaps have been closed and implementation optimization has been achieved. Focusing on meta-level problem-framing, functional collaboration through transdisciplinary approaches, and integrated targets are critical to successful policy implementation and progressive realization of national goals related to sustainable food and nutrition security, unemployment, poverty, and inequality.</p