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Understanding drought impacts on livelihoods and risk management strategies: South African smallholder farmers' perspectives

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Abstract

Drought is one of the main causes of food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty. It is therefore important to understand the perception of farmers on socioeconomic and environmental impacts of drought and the strategies employed to manage it. Using data collected from 301 smallholder households in Thaba Nchu, South Africa, the study contributes to three perspectives: analyse the perceived impact of drought, examine the determinants of the perceived impact, and identify factors affecting the intensity of drought-risk management (DRM) practices employed by smallholder farming households. The findings from the principal component analysis (PCA) revealed three main dimensions of the perceived drought impact: social, economic, and environmental impacts. The results from the seemingly unrelated regression analysis applied to the three PCA dimensions indicated that different socio-economic and institutional factors have a different influence on the three dimensions. In addition, the results from the count data modelling showed that factors such as age, household size, non-farm work and extension services are significant in determining the intensity of DRM strategies implemented by farmers in the study area. The study therefore recommends that climate risk management be integrated into the provision of extension services, particularly in drought-prone areas such as the Free State Province. Furthermore, encouraging farmers to engage in non-agricultural economic activities is also crucial, as this can serve as insurance against events such as drought.

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The datasets used to analyse this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The paper is based on research that was conducted as part of a research project, “farmers’ coping and adaptation strategies to drought and other water related risks in a changing climate (TTK160610170148)”, which was funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) through the Thuthuka funding instrument (NRF rating track) grant. Financial and other assistance by the NRF are gratefully acknowledged. Financial assistance by the University of the Free State through the Central Research Fund (CRF) of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences is also gratefully acknowledged.

Funding

The study did not receive direct funding for publication.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agribusiness, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

    Gideon Danso-Abbeam

  2. Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

    Gideon Danso-Abbeam, Collins C. Okolie, Temitope O. Ojo & Abiodun A. Ogundeji

  3. Department of Agricultural Economics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

    Temitope O. Ojo

  4. Department of Plant, Food and Environmental Sciences, Dalhousie University, Truro, Canada

    Temitope O. Ojo

Authors
  1. Gideon Danso-Abbeam
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  2. Collins C. Okolie
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  3. Temitope O. Ojo
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  4. Abiodun A. Ogundeji
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the different stages of the study. GDA conceptualized the idea, was involved in the analysis of the data, and wrote the draft manuscript. AAO supervised the study and provided comments on the manuscript. TOO was actively involved in the data analysis and interpretation. CCO collected the data and was actively in the methodology write-up. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Gideon Danso-Abbeam.

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Appendix I

Appendix I

1.1 Number of selected households

 

Community names

Number of Household

 

1

Rakhoi

78

44

2

Ratabane

72

42

3

Longridge

35

26

4

Middeldeel

114

53

 

165

1

Noga's Post

99

50

2

Eureka

39

28

3

Yorksford

47

32

 

110

Area: Central Thaba Nchu

 

1

Thubisi

96

49

 

Total

324

  1. Sources: (Profile Mangaung Metro 2020).

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Danso-Abbeam, G., Okolie, C.C., Ojo, T.O. et al. Understanding drought impacts on livelihoods and risk management strategies: South African smallholder farmers' perspectives. Nat Hazards (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-024-06561-w

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