Pastoral coping and adaptive management strategies to climate change in communal areas in Namibia and South Africa

Climate change has brought about credible changes in arid landscapes which have resulted in further challenges for pastoralists who require good quality rangeland resources to sustain their livestock. This study assessed local level coping and adaptive management strategies by pastoralists in Namibia and South Africa using a capital assets approach, and also explored non-climate related barriers that increase their vulnerability to climate change. A case study approach was used, which included focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. The main findings of the research indicate that pastoralists have been exposed to increased temperature extremes and droughts of varying duration over time which reduced the quality and quantity of forage and resulted in losses of income and animal health. The 46 different coping and adaptation strategies used by pastoralists included financial (n = 15), natural (n = 15), human (n = 12), physical (n = 2) and social (n = 2) capital. Of these, 61% of the strategies were common between the two countries. Strategies included income diversification, supplementary feeding and livestock mobility. Pastoralists had to overcome a hierarchy of barriers to implement their coping and adaptation strategies, which were largely related to human capital in Namibia and to natural capital in South Africa. These barriers included a lack of access to grazing lands, land degradation and the loss of traditional knowledge to manage livestock and rangeland resources. Policy development should take these barriers into account while building on the foundation of existing adaptation strategies to reduce the vulnerability to climate change of pastoralists in dryland regions.