Browsing by Person "Nyamwanza, Admire"

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Advancing a transformative human development approach to climate resilience through local innovation in South Africa
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2023-02-04) Nyamwanza, Admire; Jacobs, Peter; Nyezi, Karabo
Climate change continues to exacerbate social and economic development challenges in local communities the world over. This paper advances a human development approach to climate resilience innovations, showing how local innovation initiatives can be conduits for increased equity, agency, efficiency and sustainability vis-à-vis effective responses to climate impacts. Based on a scoping review of literature (journal articles, books, theses, occasional papers etc.), and through a discussion of four case studies focused on technological and institutional innovations in selected rural South African communities, a major finding is that local innovation initiatives vis-à-vis livelihoods are laden with opportunities for improved social, economic and ecological well-being. Appreciating and supporting these local innovations will open up viable and transformative pathways towards effectively responding to the impacts of climate change and variability. The paper contributes to an interdisciplinary integration of innovation and climate change research by exploring climate resilience through a transformative human development lens.
Anticipatory adaptation and the role of decadal climate information in rural African livelihood systems: Lessons from the Mid-Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe
(Emerald, 2016-03-21) Nyamwanza, Admire; New, Mark
Purpose This study aims to explore the utility of anticipatory adaptation to climate variability and related livelihood sensitivities in rural African contexts using the case of Mbire district situated in the mid-Zambezi valley region of Zimbabwe. The provision of decadal climate information (up to ten years), as part of an anticipatory adaptation package, is at the centre of analysis. Design/methodology/approach The study used semi-structured and key informant interviews, with a total of 45 semi-structured interviews being conducted with randomly selected long-term communal farmers in the case study area. Whilst data from semi-structured interviews was arranged in Microsoft Excel, thematic analysis was used in analyzing all data. Findings Anticipatory adaptation and decadal climate projections are shown to potentially enhance flexibility in adaptation planning vis- à-vis responding to climate variability and other challenges, as well as reduce chances of maladaptation in responding to climate challenges in the context of multiple and reinforcing stresses and shocks. Originality/value Anticipatory adaptation, with its three main pillars of future analysis, flexibility of strategies and proactive action, is emerging as key in assisting adaptation planning, the harnessing of opportunities and decision-making vis- à-vis responding to climate uncertainties and related livelihood sensitivities. Yet there have not been much empirically grounded analyses in understanding the role of anticipatory adaptation in rural Africa. This study therefore adds to evidence-based analyses towards understanding the role and utility of anticipatory adaptation in local communities in Africa. Keywords
Assessing Psychosocial Health Impacts of Climate Adaptation: A Critical Review
(SAGE Publications, 2023-05-25) Miller, Mary E.; Nwosu, Chijioke O.; Nyamwanza, Admire; Jacobs, Peter T.
The urgency of dealing with risks associated with climate change and the need for effective response measures to their impacts are increasing daily the world over. Literature abounds regarding the impacts of climate change on physical, psychosocial, and other health outcomes. In contrast, little research exists on the health impacts of response measures to climate change. This critical review seeks to contribute towards closing this gap through a synthesis of current literature on the psychosocial health outcomes of climate adaptation actions. Our results found both positive and negative outcomes associated with psychosocial health that may result from climate adaptation actions. We propose the utilization of well-developed conceptual frameworks and evaluation tools in assessment and analysis of these outcomes. Ultimately, there is need to expand similar and related areas of research more broadly and on psychosocial effects, specifically.
The Big Question: Climate’s Biggest Losers: Who Has the Most to Lose from Climate Change in Your Country
(Duke University Press, 2015) Nyamwanza, Admire; Kayhan, Ali Kerem; Pandit, Maharaj K.; Haque, Afroza; Riedy, Christopher; Doherty-Bigara, Jennifer; Galarraga, Ibon; Dingman, Erica
With a host of climate-driven natural disasters in recent months, and among the worst winters in years in the northern hemisphere, there is an increasing perception that climate change is a critical reality that must be faced by a growing mass of the world’s population. Accordingly, we chose to ask our panel of global experts, weighing in from six continents, who in their country has the most at stake in the face of our changing climate and the forces driving these environmental disruptions. Climate change has had and is projected to continue having huge impacts across all socio-economic sectors in Zimbabwe. However, immediate and critical impacts with huge losses will be felt mostly by smallholder subsistence rural farmers who also form the bulk of the marginalized poor. Smallholder farmers’ dependence on rainfall and temperature dynamics exposes them to climate variability...
Bridging Policy and Practice for Livelihood Resilience in Rural Africa: Lessons from the Mid-Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe
(Rural Development Institute (RDI), Brandon University, 2015-02-27) Nyamwanza, Admire
Building and enhancing livelihood resilience in most rural African communities is becoming a complex policy issue since the principal characteristics of most of these communities in contemporary times have become their increasingly differentiated nature and high socio-economic and environmental uncertainty due to multiple and reinforcing stresses and shocks. A major problem has been the glaring gulf between national policies and realities on the ground with a uniform approach being taken in the interpretation and implementation of general development and livelihoods policies on the ground in most countries. Yet the standard one-size fits-all policy approach is not possible as situations have become increasingly dynamic and conditions continue to differ from community to community. Utilising examples from the mid Zambezi Valley area of Mbire district in Zimbabwe, this paper argues that national policy frameworks should allow ample room for innovation, experimentation and knowledge exchange in local livelihoods. In the same vein, policies and policymakers should exhibit a profound appreciation of the complexity of contemporary, dynamically vulnerable environments and livelihoods therein through increased local stakeholder participation in policy interpretation and implementation as well as in reconceptualising 'sustainability' and viewing it through local lenses.
Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Development: Narratives from Post-Fast-Track Land Reform Female Farmers in Zimbabwe
(Sabinet, 2021-03-01) Karuma, Praise; Bhatasara, Sandra; Nyamwanza, Admire
Rural farmers in Africa, and particularly women, are engaging in various adaptation strategies within and beyond farming. In countries such as Zimbabwe, adaptation is taking place within a socioeconomic crisis context. Analysis of adaptation in this paper is pitched within this specific context in relation to sustainable development. Based on narratives of women farmers in a resettlement area that emerged out of the fast-track land reform programme of the early 2000s, the outcomes of adaptation strategies adopted by these women are examined. The paper is framed using the concept of sustainable adaptation. The study shows that adaptation is, largely, producing undesirable outcomes in terms of sustainable development. Some of the strategies are threatening biodiversity. Competition between people and livestock over natural resources is also producing undesirable outcomes. Income-generating strategies are failing to assist the women to deal with deprivation and poverty. Any policy interventions in promoting women’s adaptive capacities should therefore take note of these intersecting problems, in order to steer adaptation onto sustainable trajectories.
Climate change, sustainable water management and institutional adaptation in rural sub-Saharan Africa
(Springer, 2016-01-20) Nyamwanza, Admire; Kujinga, Krasposy K.
Much current work on climate adaptation options vis-à-vis water management in rural sub-Saharan Africa has tended to focus more on technological and infrastructural alternatives and less on institutional alternatives. Yet, vulnerability to climate variability and change in these contexts is a function not just of biophysical outcomes but also of institutional factors that can vary significantly at relatively finer scales. This paper seeks to contribute towards closing this gap by examining institutional options for sustainable water management in rural SSA in the context of climate change and variability. It explores challenges for transforming water-related institutions and puts forward institutional alternatives towards adapting to increasingly complex conditions created by climate change and variability. The paper suggests revisiting the Integrated Water Resources Management approach which has dominated water institutional debates and reforms in Africa over the recent past, towards actively adopting resilience and adaptive management lenses in crafting water institutional development initiatives.
Climate information services, integrated knowledge systems and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
(BMC, 2018-10-25) Machingura, Fortunate; Nyamwanza, Admire; Hulme, David; Stuart, Elizabeth
This commentary explores the role of climate information services in supporting the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. At the centre of the commentary is a discussion of how integrated knowledge systems are critical in the formulation of high quality climate information services towards the successful achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper drives home two major points. Firstly, that a climate service built on integrated knowledge systems will be better positioned to match user needs in terms of skill, scale and lead time. Secondly, that integrating diverse knowledge systems for effective climate information services in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will present an auspicious platform for ‘leaving no one behind’ in contributing ideas towards the achievement of the targets outlined under the 17 SDGs, contributing to the inclusive approach at the centre of Agenda 2030. The commentary also advances the idea that climate information services built upon integrated knowledge systems present opportunities for more adequately addressing the needs of the global poor, including informing agricultural decision-making in rural communities to reduce malnutrition, facilitate disaster preparedness, and tackle human diseases linked to climate change - from cardiovascular deaths and respiratory illnesses, to altered transmission of infectious diseases.
Climate Injustice and the Role of Climate Justice Movements in Africa: The Case of Zimbabwe
(Brill, 2022-10-07) Bhatasara, Sandra; Nyamwanza, Admire
Climate justice and the politics of extraction in Africa: the case of Zimbabwe
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2025-04-23) Nyamwanza, Admire; Bhatasara, Sandra
This practice note links climate justice with the politics of extraction in Africa, using the case of lithium mining in Zimbabwe. The note emanates from a critical review of how current activities in key sectors at the centre of extractive politics in Africa, particularly mining, expose political rhetoric in as far as the move to and benefits of green transition in Africa are concerned. As the global demand for minerals important in climate change mitigation like cobalt and lithium rises, it appears the extraction patterns from colonial times are continuing and local communities directly impacted by extraction of these minerals are not meaningfully benefiting. Concerns have been raised around poor safety standards, unsafe working conditions, unfair displacement measures, environmental damage, and low wages for the workers. The practice note advances recommendations for a just green transition particularly as it involves the mining sector and implications of mining activities in Africa.
Contributions of decadal climate information in agriculture and food systems in east and southern Africa
(Springer, 2017-05-22) Nyamwanza, Admire; New, Mark George; Fujisawa, Mariko; Johnston, Peter; Hajat, Akeel
Whilst there has been much focus on the utility of climate information on the seasonal timescale and several decades into the future vis-à-vis decision-making and responses to climate and related risks in Africa, less attention has been given to information on the decadal timescale. Yet much policy, planning and investment decision-making within African agricultural and food systems take place within this timescale. Decadal prediction research itself has become a hot topic, and it is against this background that we explore the questions, ‘what climate information could be utilised by farmers within this timescale and of what value will it be?’ Using case studies of both small and large-scale farming systems in east and southern Africa, we show decadal climate information potentially providing opportunities for flexible, proactive and innovative decision-making in response to projected dynamics within this period, ultimately bridging the current gap not covered by seasonal forecasts and climate change projections.
Exploring pathways to private sector investment in climate change adaptation and resilience in Africa
(African Journals Online, 2018-06-16) Nyamwanza, Admire; Bhatasara, Sandra
The objective of this paper is to explore ways in which African governments can engage the private sector to successfully create conditions and incentives for accelerated private sector investment in climate change adaptation and resilience activities in their countries. The paper is based on a critical review of both grey and published literature, with arguments being supported by cases of experiences in different African countries. The paper finds that while there are clear opportunities for private sector involvement in climate change adaptation and resilience efforts in Africa, there are also several critical financial and non-financial barriers that have to be dealt with, to ensure that private sector players successfully tap into the available opportunities. The paper recommends the setting up of coherent and coordinated policy and regulatory frameworks towards creating a conducive environment for private sector investment in climate change adaptation and resilience activities in Africa.
Extractivism and climate justice in a context of political contestation in Zimbabwe
(Campus, 2024-09-18) Bhatasara S; Nyamwanza, Admire
Farm Production Diversification and Dietary Diversity among Subsistence Farming Households: Panel Data Evidence from South Africa
(MDPI, 2021-09-15) Sinyolo, Sikhulumile; Murendo, Conrad; Nyamwanza, Admire; Sinyolo, Sithembile Amanda; Ndinda, Catherine; Nwosu, Chijioke Osinachi
Improving the production of a variety of foods by subsistence farmers has been identified as a key strategy for improving dietary diversity. However, there is limited evidence in South Africa on how one’s own production is linked to dietary diversity. This study relies on nationally representative panel data to investigate the extent to which farm production diversity is correlated with dietary diversity. The data indicated a moderate level of household dietary diversity that has been on a declining trend between 2008 and 2017. The farm households produced three food groups (meat, cereals, and vegetables), suggesting more reliance on food purchases than own production. The study found a positive relationship between own production diversification and dietary diversity and that dietary diversity varied by demographics and socio-economic characteristics of households. However, production diversity was not significantly associated with the consumption of micronutrient-rich foods such as fruits or vegetables. Higher levels of education, income per capita, food expenditure, and geographic location were some of the key drivers of dietary diversity among subsistence households. The findings suggest that encouraging subsistence farming households to produce various crop and animal species can be an effective strategy to improve dietary diversity among poor households in South Africa.
Harnessing diverse knowledge and belief systems to adapt to climate change in semi-arid rural Africa
(Elsevier, 2019-05-14) Spear, Dian; Selato, Janet C.; Mosime, Bonolo; Nyamwanza, Admire
Farmers in semi-arid regions have historically coped using long established practices such as place-based climate forecasting using observations. However, this is becoming less reliable with climatic changes. Meteorological forecasting based on numerical prediction provides an alternative that is also now widely available to enable adaptation. However, this climate information has constraints including uncertainty and a broad spatial and temporal scale. The use of these two sources of forecast information is also affected by farmer perceptions of its advantages and disadvantages as well as beliefs and social norms. This study uses the case of Bobirwa subdistrict in Botswana to investigate the role of traditional norms and religious beliefs in the use of place-based and national meteorological forecast information to inform adaptation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 82 farmers from 8 different communities. We found that whilst some farmers use national meteorological information, others use place-based forecast information only and some combine the two. We also found that certain religious beliefs and traditional norms prevent the use of national meteorological forecast information by some farmers. An integrated climate information system that is credible and accessible to farmers from different belief systems will provide opportunity for farmers to use this climate information to adapt better to climate variability and change.
Linking Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Nutrition Outcomes: A Conceptual Framework
(SAGE Publications, 2022-02-24) Macheka, Lesley; Mudiwa, Tatenda; Chopera, Prosper; Nyamwanza, Admire; Jacobs, Peter
Background: The relationship between climate adaptation strategies and nutrition security is poorly understood and often unclear. Although several adaptation strategies have been implemented to mitigate the impact of climate change, there is still a lack of conclusive evidence or studies on the interrelationships between adopted climate change adaptation strategies and nutrition outcomes. Objective: This study aimed to develop a conceptual framework that links climate change, adaptation strategies and nutrition and to show the indicators that can be used to assess the impact of climate adaptation strategies on nutrition. Methodology: The proposed conceptual framework was developed through a literature review. Results: A generic conceptual framework that could be used to assess the impact of adopted climate change adaptation strategies on nutrition outcomes was developed. The framework consists of 5 key elements: agro-food system, context characteristics, adaptation strategies, climatic shocks and stress, and system output. The principles used in designing the conceptual framework include systems approach, contingency theory, and system output. Conclusion: The developed framework offers a channel to evaluate adopted climate change adaptation strategies and their impact on nutrition outcomes. Such a conceptual framework can also be used in selecting and identifying more suitable climate adaptation strategies given specific contextual environments.
Livelihood resilience and adaptive capacity: A critical conceptual review
(AOSIS, 2012-10-16) Nyamwanza, Admire
The concepts resilience and adaptive capacity have gained currency in ecology, climate change, disaster risk reduction and related development discourse; yet there has been almost an absence of clarity in the understanding, substance, definition as well as applicability of these concepts in livelihoods theory and practice – where they can potentially contribute far-reaching insights vis-à-vis long-term response to livelihoods adversity in different communities. Drawing upon literature from several disciplines utilising these concepts, this article traces the roots and evolvement of the resilience and adaptive capacity concepts and suggests indicators and pillar processes towards their integration into livelihoods thinking. This article therefore mainly contributes towards the conceptualisation and understanding of a focused ‘resilience and adaptive capacity’ construct in livelihoods analysis.
Livelihood Resilience, Climate Risk Management and Agriculture in the Mid-Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe
(Springer International Publishing, 2019-05-22) Nyamwanza, Admire
This chapter is a research article which utilizes the livelihood resilience and climate risk management constructs to explore climatic sensitivities and response strategies to these sensitivities within African agricultural systems using a case study of the mid-Zambezi valley area in northern Zimbabwe. Discussions in this chapter are based on a 6-year longitudinal qualitative primary fieldwork research focused on livelihood resilience, climate change adaptation and climate information needs in the case study area. The chapter positions research results within a broader conversation of how to adequately deal with barriers to and effectively stimulate the enablers of livelihood resilience and climate risk management within rural agricultural and livelihood systems in Africa.
Local institutional adaptation for sustainable water management under increasing climatic variability and change: A case in the mid-Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe
(Emerald, 2018-04-01) Nyamwanza, Admire
Purpose The study aims to explore institutional adaptation for sustainable water resources management at the local level in the context of increasing climate-related challenges in Zimbabwe using the case of a semi-arid area in the mid-Zambezi Valley, north of the country. Design/methodology/approach Inspired by the critical institutionalism approach, the study uses qualitative methods (i.e. key informant interviews, semi-structured interviews, community workshops and documentary review) to understand the role of different formal and informal water-related institutions vis-à-vis responding to climate-related challenges in the case study area, and how the identified institutions can improve their efforts in the context of national water and environmental policy and regulation frameworks. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. Findings The study found that climatic challenges in the case study area, as in most of rural Africa, have raised the stakes in local water management with respect to regulating access to and balancing competing interests in, and demands for, water. It ultimately argues for the embracing of complexity thinking and flexibility in local water management as well as clear coordination of institutions across scales in the face of increasing climate-related challenges. Originality/value The study adds to case studies and evidence-based analyses focused on institutional alternatives for climate adaptation vis-à-vis water resources management in water-stressed rural African communities.
Narratives of climate adaptation and linkages to psychosocial and nutritional health in a Zimbabwean rural community
(Elsevier, 2025-02-04) Bhatasara, Sandra; Nwosu, Chijoke; Macheka, Lesley; Nyamwanza, Admire
In the face of unprecedented climate change, adaptation has emerged as important for communities and nations to deal with the devastating effects of the phenomenon. It is inevitable that communities must adapt, although evidence in several regions, including Zimbabwe also point towards maladaptation. A plethora of studies have been developed to understand adaptation practices and processes, including the impacts of various adaptive strategies. However, this approach has been limited to particular fields such as livelihoods studies, with clear evidence in Zimbabwe that heath issues vis-à-vis adaptation outcomes have not been taken into consideration at policy, development and research levels. Our study is therefore breaking new research frontiers by exploring the nexus between adaptation strategies and psychosocial and nutritional health outcomes. As an important learning research process into a field where virtually no literature exists in the country, the results are both complex and intriguing. This qualitative study shows positive nutrition benefits such as improved dietary diversity and boost in self –esteem and, improved stress level over food availability as psychosocial health benefits.