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Adaptation and resilience in rural Zimbabwe

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Abstract

As humanity approaches 2030, evidence of human systems vulnerability to climate change is ubiquitous across the planet. However, vulnerability to anthropogenic CO2 emissions that encourage climate change differs from community to community and individual to individual. Nonetheless, there has been little explicit examination of how, when, why, and under what conditions particular adaptations to climate risk actually occur in economic and social systems. This study addresses the above-noted knowledge limitations by giving the rural Zimbabwean perspective of climate risk, adaptation choices and resilience using a case study of three rural districts in Zimbabwe. This paper specifically considers how climate change affects contemporary rural communities in Zimbabwe; the overall household resilience to climate change; relationship between resilience and climate change adaptation practices preferred and adopted and the rationale for adaptation strategies employed by rural households in Zimbabwe. This study employed a mixed research methodology data was collected from rural households using a survey, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Findings show that the adaptation choices made by rural households in Zimbabwe particularly regarding agricultural on-farm livelihood strategies should consider labour expended on production, processing, and consumption; total value of reproductive agricultural assets (incomes and flows) and social perceptions on status related to agricultural production.

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The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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  1. Faculty of commerce, Institute of Development Studies, National University of Science and Technology, 38 Duncan Road Suburbs, Ascot, Box AC939, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

    Nqobizitha Dube

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Dube, N. Adaptation and resilience in rural Zimbabwe. GeoJournal 88, 5331–5352 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-023-10918-2

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