WRC Project 2084: Insights into Indigenous Coping

Strategies to Drought for Drought Adaptation in Agriculture:

The Southern Cape Scenario

Bongani Ncube

Research Team

• Prof A Lagardien Project Leader

• Dr B Ncube Lead Researcher

• Mr C Muanda

• Ms D Cousins

• Ms S Mnyaka

• Ms P Amos

Reference Group

• Dr GR Backeberg Water Research Commission

• Dr S Mpandeli Water Research Commission

• Dr A Holloway Stellenbosch University

• Mr A Roux Western Cape Dept. Agriculture

• Mr TS Newby National Earth Observation and Space

• Mr HJ Oosthuizen Optimal Agricultural Business System

• Prof RE Schulze University of KwaZulu Natal

• Dr AJ Jordaan University of Free State

• Prof C Volgel University of Pretoria

• Prof S Walker University of Free State

Presentation Outline • Background

• Project Objectives

• Research Approach

• Drought indicators

• Strategies in cropping, mixed and livestock

systems

• Validation with extension

• Farmer information sessions

• Project outputs

Background & Rationale • Drought is normal and recurrent in South Africa

• Past management strategies ‘top-down’ focusing on relief and recovery

• More attention placed on scientific knowledge

• Local indigenous people have been living, surviving & adapting to extreme climates for a long time –useful knowledge that needs to be captured

• Scientific and indigenous knowledge need to be incorporated for effective drought risk adaptation

• Project aimed to capture local coping strategies from a South African perspective

Project Objectives • Review international and South African literature on

capturing indigenous knowledge (IK) around the

experiences of drought in agriculture

• Identify and capture any coping strategies (indigenous

knowledge) adopted by communities in the agricultural

sector for dealing with the 2009/10 drought and past

drought experiences

• Identify measures that would ensure the resilience of the

agricultural sector to future droughts through up scaling

good indigenous practices

Indigenous knowledge • Grenier (1998): ' the unique, traditional, local

knowledge existing within and developed

around the specific conditions of women and

men indigenous to a particular geographic area.’

• Guchteneire et al. (2001): ‘traditional or local

knowledge, that is embedded in the community

and is unique to a given culture, location or

society.’

Research Approach • Participatory research methods – guided

by Greiner, 1998 and other recent studies

• Semi-structured interviews

– Targeted questions

• Field Observations

– All farmers

• Focus group discussions

– Farmer groups e.g. Zoar Community

• 101 farmers consulted

Farmer perceptions

• “The Karoo is a desert”

• “To farm in the Karoo you have to believe

in God”

• “90 % of our problems are solved by

water’’

• “We know our type of weather”

Season Indicators Weather indicators related to animal

behaviour

Environment related weather indicators

Terrapin tortoise (Pelomedusa subrufa)

moving down the mountain indicates

drought, and when it goes up it indicates

rains.

Game not breeding/lambing indicates

impending drought

Snakes coming down the mountains indicates

drought

Presence of angulate tortoise (Chersina

angulate) indicates thunderstorms

Blue crane circling up high in the sky indicates

the thunderstorms

When the rain flower produces flowers the

following day it will start to rain

A Bustard bird (Eupodotis vigorsii) in the veld is

an indication of rain coming in few days

Presence of small insects (the ashcar) indicates

rain in 14 days

Calves running and playing in the fields

indicates rain in few days

Black ants collecting food to store indicates rain

in a few days

Very dry conditions, no grass in the veld

indicate drought

Water resources drying indicate drought

conditions

Drying of fountains and low water tables

in the boreholes indicate drought

conditions

Animals die due to water and food shortages

(including donkeys)

Shortages of food for the animals and

humans indicates drought.

Appearance of certain plant species

predicts drought

Very high day and night temperatures

indicate drought

Very dry winter, and strong dusty winds

indicate drought

Westerly winds indicate there will be

drought

South westerly winds indicate there will be

rain during the rainy season

Easterly winds indicate rain

Subsistence Crop Strategies Drought Impact

Coping Strategies Adaptation Strategies

Water shortage Sustainable water management

through recycling kitchen water

Perforated bottle/can dug into

the soil to provide soil moisture

at root zone

Shade netting to reduce

evaporation

Sustainable water management

through recycling kitchen water

Perforated bottle/can dug into the

soil to provide soil moisture at root

zone

Shade netting to reduce

evaporation

Loss of vegetable

yields

Creating own seed banks by

retaining seed

Planting different varieties of

vegetable

Change in planting and

harvesting times

Using short season varieties

Introducing new seed varieties

Loss of crops due

to poor fertility

Picking and applying cow

dung into soil

Applying household trash into

the soil to provide soil fertility

Soil fertility maintenance using

manure and compost

Construction of permanent

compost heaps to make

compost

Soil Moisture Conservation

Mixed Crop-Livestock Strategies Drought Impact Coping Strategies Adaptation Strategies

Water shortage Planting small areas

Irrigating small areas

Managing water through minimal

irrigation to keep the orchards alive

but not produce fruit

Rainwater harvesting from the mountains

Water allocation- water rights review

Rain water harvesting from the mountains

Construction of stock dams to conserve water

Drilling boreholes

Planting cover crops to conserve soil moisture

Shortage of livestock

feed

Purchasing Lucerne from other

farmers for supplementary feeding

Importing Lucerne from other areas

Long term storage of Lucerne

Planting saltbush, Prosopis and Agave as

alternative feed species

Loss of animal condition Destocking and leaving the breeding

herd

Early marketing of livestock

Changing the herd to drought resistant

livestock breeds

Changing systems to low input ostrich or

game farming

Loss of fruit yields

Growing short season cash crops

such as tomatoes and green mealies

to cushion the farmers

Maintaining small herds of livestock

to keep the farms running

Setting up alternative low input system as

focal enterprise

Changing systems to livestock only

Changing to alternative high value crops

Poor soil fertility Using manure to improve soil fertility Establishing crop rotations to maintain soil

fertility

Lucerne Storage

Livestock Strategies Drought Impact Coping Strategies Adaptation Strategies

Land

degradation/Shortage

of grazing

Grazing along the roadsides

Migration with animals to areas

with more grass

Importing fodder from other

regions

Creation of paddocks/camps to conserve

grazing lands

Construction of spreader banks to

conserve moisture in the grazing lands

Planting Lucerne

Creating fodder banks

Planting saltbush, Prosopis and Agave as

alternative feed species

Low survival/

productivity of livestock

Early marketing of livestock

Destocking and leaving the

breeding herd

Manipulating feeding strategies

to conserve the herd

Breeding for survival during drought

Changing breeds e.g. from Boer goats to

more drought resistant Angora goats

Changing systems to low input ostrich or

game farming

Increased loss of lambs

due to predation

Weaning around homesteads

Use of trained shepherd dogs to protect

livestock in the veld.

Low survival of animals

due to diseases

Treating animals with natural

plants

Traditional animal disease management

methods

Livestock Strategies…cont. Drought Impact Coping Strategies Adaptation Strategies

Land

degradation/Soil

erosion

Use of brushwood and

stones to conserve soil

Building weirs and sluits to

provide long term erosion

control

Water shortage

due to siltation

of dams

Using donkey pulled

scoopers to rehabilitate

dams

Building silt traps/ sluits to

prevent dam siltation

Construction of contours across

slopes to conserve soil

Water shortages Water management and

water saving

Rainwater harvesting from

mountain slopes

Construction of stock dams for

water storage

Windmill pumped boreholes

Invasive plant

encroachment in

grazing lands

Cutting and burning alien

vegetation

Rehabilitation of cleared lands

by planting trees

Validation with Extension

Validation with Extension

• Project documented IK that is not recorded

anywhere

• Knowledge is very significant and useful

• Need to share results with other

organizations

• Share information with farmers

What should drought preparedness

include?

• Funding for: disaster management, capacity

and mitigation fund, incentives and awareness.

Involvement of relevant departments

• Formalized planning for: Contingency drought

plan, the completion of a comprehensive

drought risk profile

• Risk reduction: by means of awareness raising,

drought management task force, adaptive land-

use strategies, drought action plan

What should drought preparedness

include? • Fodder management/storage

• Stocking rate and carrying capacity

• Planting crops that are adapted to drought

• Planting drought tolerant and multipurpose

fodder plants, e.g. prickle pear

• Conservation farming/agriculture

• Awareness raising and passing indigenous

knowledge to farmers

• Early warning systems

Farmer information sessions

Farmer information sessions

• Central Karoo, June 2015

• Laingsburg, November 2015

• Prince Albert February, 2016

• Farmers added more to drought signs

• Water was a major issue

• Drought assistance took too long reach

the farmers

Going Forward • Documentation of coping and adaptation

strategies to drought in the Karoo

• Explore dissemination and uptake of the

strategies

– how to incorporate IK into action research

• Investigate to what extent the strategies

will improve resilience of certain farmers

– Including strategies in existing programmes?

– Setting up new programmes?

– Emerging farmers??