LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF RAINFALL SCARCITY AND ITS IMPACTS ON WATER AND FOOD RESOURCES: A CASE STUDY OF MOLETJIE COMMUNITY IN LIMPOPO PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA

First author: MODISE Trevor Rehaugetswe (rehaugetswe.modise@gmail.com)
Affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Limpopo, South Africa
Second author: RANKOANA Agnes
Affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Limpopo, South Africa
Third author: MALATJI Moshohli Kenneth
Affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Limpopo, South Africa

Abstract:

Local communities are conscious of changing climatic conditions, the main variables, and their impacts on human livelihood requirements. This study describes the local community members’ perception of rainfall scarcity and its impact on water and food resources. Semi-structured interviews with a sample of 150 participants produced data about the perceptions of rainfall scarcity, its main variables and the impacts on water and food resources. The health impacts of poor status water resources and poor production of subsistence crops involve lack of reliable water provision for household consumption, and malnutrition and poverty as a result of subsistence crop production. A major recommendation from the study is an exploration of coping, adapting, and building the resilience capacities of local communities towards the impacts of climate change on water and food resources.

Keywords: climate change; rainfall scarcity; drought; food insecurity; water resources

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54989/msd-2022-0014
Pages: 34 - 37
Volume: 14
Issue: 2
Publication date: December, 2022

MODISE Trevor Rehaugetswe & RANKOANA Agnes & MALATJI Moshohli Kenneth, 2022. "LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF RAINFALL SCARCITY AND ITS IMPACTS ON WATER AND FOOD RESOURCES: A CASE STUDY OF MOLETJIE COMMUNITY IN LIMPOPO PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA", Management of Sustainable Development, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 14(2), pages 34-37, December. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54989/msd-2022-0014