Adapting to climate change: the Batwa Pygmie indigenous people in Uganda

Building on last week’s post on the impact of climate change on the quality of water, this week’s post is based on a paper, 'Vulnerability of indigenous health to climate change: A case study of Uganda’s Batwa Pygmies' (Berrang-Ford et al. 2012) on the vulnerabilities to climate change of an indigenous group of people in southwest Uganda called the Batwa Pygmies. Due to the low economic status and dislocation of the Batwa from the forests, the Batwa health has declined dramatically. In 2003, child mortality rates in Batwa were close to 40%, more than double the regional and Ugandan averages, with most of the diseases identified being climate-sensitive, such as malaria, malnutrition and stomach disorders. With increasing temperatures and extreme rainfall events for instance, malaria is becoming a leading health concern as the vector mosquitoes thrive in warm temperatures and stagnant pools of water. The insufficiency of available and accessible clean water is also a major contributing factor to general weakness and stomach disorders. Moreover, poor water quality is responsible for the high degree of morbidity caused by stomach disorders and waterborne diseases. Though most households have relatively easy access to water—within 15min walking distance, the water, often referred to as ‘dirty’ and ‘infected’, is often consumed untreated due to the lack of equipment like saucepans for boiling.

However, the authors also saliently pointed out the socio-political determinants of high sensitivity and limited adaptive capacity of the Batwa to climate change, including poverty, and the Batwa’s lack of political representation as they were often looked upon as lazy and backward due to their hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

Batwa People in Uganda
Source: http://www.gorillatracking-uganda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/BatwapeopleUganda.jpg

My thoughts on the paper:

In a more specific context, this paper echoes the learning points as written in last week’s post. On adapting successfully to climate change, the author writes ‘climate change has little resonance on the ground, where it is over-shadowed by social and economic determinants of health’ (Berrang-Ford 2012: 1075). Given the importance of the role of accessible, clean water in improving the resilience and adaptive capacity of the Batwa to climate change, this is an important consideration to bear in mind. Policy makers ought not to direct measures and strategies at the direct impacts of climate change—higher temperatures and extreme weather events, but seek to understand the contextually-unique reasons why households are unable to access sufficient clean water or even treat unclean water and design their measures and strategies accordingly. Providing households with the means for sustainable livelihoods where basic health needs are met is therefore the best way to cope with climate change. 

Climate change and water quality: issues and adaptations

In this post, I will take a closer look at the relationship between climate change and water quality by reflecting on a paper by Heath et al. (2012): 'Testing a rapid climate change adaptation assessment for water and sanitation providers in informal settlements in three cities in sub-Saharan Africa'. Since 1990, the urban population in SSA has more than doubled, yet the proportion of people without access to improved drinking water sources (17%) and sanitation facilities (57%) has remained constant. One of  aims of the research, which looked at three case studies—Lusaka, Zambia, Naishaka, Kenya, and Antananarivo, Madagascar—was to understand the impacts of changes in temperature, mean hydrological parameters (e.g. amount or intensity of rainfall) and extreme hydrological events (e.g. flood, droughts) on the water and the sanitation technologies and services for these communities.

All three case study cities face the risk of face worse threats from floods than droughts. An increased frequency and intensity of flash floods can lead to the contamination of water supply as sewage are washed into shallow wells and exposed pipes. Flooded latrines and contaminated water increases the risk of cholera and diarrhoea. In Naivasha, Kenya, a decrease in rainfall can also cause a deterioration in water quality. Market gardening becomes impossible with less water, such that flower farms have to reduce their workforce which leads to reduced income. In turn, households are less able to pay for water and food, and water use decreases, causing hygiene levels to fall and the prevalence of diseases to increase. A decrease in the volume of Lake Naivasha can also cause water quality to deteriorate.

With regards to adapting the climate change in terms of safeguarding water quality, a mixture of infrastructural improvements, such as sealing wells and raising latrines to prevent contamination during floods, monitoring programmes and education were recommended. These need to be adequately supported by the local water utility or relevant authorities to ensure that even the poorest, who own the worst latrines, can afford the necessary upgrades.

My thoughts on the paper:

Undoubtedly, the increase in frequency of extreme rainfall events or droughts will have a negative impact on the water system. This is especially so because of the existing inadequacies in water infrastructure. The network of water kiosks, for instance, may not be extensive enough to reach every household, though concurrent improvements need to be made to the latrines if the network of kiosks were to be expanded.

Hence, I agreed with the author’s point that adapting to climate change does not need many new processes, as most of the measures can be described as good practice in flood or drought-prone areas. Moreover, the built-in resilience of the poor (impact-minimising economic strategies, social support networks) should be recognised and better harnessed with greater support, especially in terms of providing assets and resources.

Thanks for reading and till next time ~~:D 

Climate change effects on irrigation and rain-fed production

As mentioned at the end of the previous post, this entry will seek to explore how climate change might have an effect on human behaviour and choices in relation to water in Africa.

I managed to find a paper on the use of a modelling framework to explore the effect of irrigation on farm performance: ‘Endogenous irrigation: the impact of climate change on farmers in Africa’ (Kurukulasuriya and Mendelsohn 2007). The authors argue that when considering the impact of climate change, irrigation should be treated as endogenous, as opposed to exogenous, as the decision to irrigate is a choice and this is influenced by climate (Mendelsohn and Dinar 2003). Factors which influence the choice to irrigate include surface flows, soil types, and subsidies.

The Ricardian analysis, taking into account irrigation as an endogenous factor showed that warming would lead many farmers in Africa will experience net revenue losses from warming. It also showed that irrigation increases resilience to temperature change and may even realise slight gains in productivity. Therefore, by extension, climate change conditions that encourage the choice to irrigate could in fact bring about improvements in agricultural yield

In another paper by Cooper et al. (2008): ‘Coping better with current climatic variability in the rain-fed farming systems of SSA: An essential first step in adapting to future climate change?’, the effect of climate change on rain-fed farming performance (as opposed to agricultural reliance on irrigation) is explored. Rain-fed food production is the dominant source of food production and the means of livelihood for the majority of the rural poor in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Yet, it is vulnerable to between and within season rainfall variability, which is likely to worsen with climate change. In particular, the semi-arid tropics of Africa, where 80mil of the continent’s poorest communities live and under increasing population and livestock numbers, is also where climate variability has the most profound impacts on production. As seen below, the inherent variability increases disproportionately as one moves from the wetter to the semi-arid locations that receive between 250 and 600mm of seasonal rainfall.

Figure: Seasonal rainfall means and their coefficient of variation in Eastern

and Southern Africa.

Source: Cooper et al. (2008)

The authors suggested ways in which climate change can be coped with, in the area of agriculture, from which I have gleaned the following two learning points that I feel are rather insightful:

•  Farmers have traditionally coped with climate variability by seeking to mitigate the negative impacts of poor seasons and then fail to exploit the positive opportunities of average and better-than-average season. It is therefore important to consider climate variations holistically, and implement strategies from a long-term perspective. As said in one of my previous posts, seasons with exceptionally high rainfall may lead to groundwater recharge which may be harnessed for irrigation during dry periods.
• Coping strategies must be tailored to specific contextual factors, including physical, economic, and socio-cultural factors. For instance, some communities may be able to diversify into off-farm activities to cope with water shortage but this may be less feasible for small-holder farms in isolated and less-favoured areas if rain-fed systems in Africa. Instead, resilience in water provision to maintain agricultural productivity can be achieved by working with the available resources and present circumstances. Examples of strategies include improving water productivity and integrated management of land and water resources though more investments in farming practice would be necessary.

In the next post, I will be looking at another aspect of the relationship between climate change-water-human welfare by writing about the impact of climate change on the quality of water, till next time! :D 

Groundwater-a plausible solution? (Part 2)

Expanding on last week’s topic of the potential of groundwater as a reliable water source in Africa with population growth and an increased demand for irrigation water for agriculture. The first part of today’s post is based on an article ‘Groundwater in hard rocks of Benin:Regional Storage and Buffer Capacity in the face of change’ (Vouillamoz et al. 2015).

Like the article by Taylor et al. (2009), groundwater is said to play a major role in supplying domestic water to millions of people in Africa, and is likely to be increasingly dependent on to increase reliable water sources for domestic and irrigation purposes. The paper was based on research that sought to estimate the capacity of hard rock aquifers to buffer changes in climate and anthropogenic conditions in Benin, by comparing groundwater storage to the total discharge of the reservoirs. The research found that current groundwater storage represents about six years of total groundwater discharge—the first time the buffering capacity of groundwater storage against changes in water balance was quantified at the regional level. Climate and land use changes will most likely impact evapotranspiration and in turn groundwater storage, perhaps more than population growth will.

Some thoughts and reflections:

• The availability(?) of groundwater resources is heavily dependent on the geology, as well as the climate of the area
• Though such hard rocks is said to cover 40% of the surface area in Africa, which means substantial potential for groundwater storage
• Access needs to be considered in harnessing the groundwater for use, as well as maintaining the quality of the groundwater, and distributing it equitably

Another article: ‘What impact will climate change have on ruralgroundwater supplies in Africa?’ (MacDonald et al. 2009) supplements that last reflection point. 

The article explains that the preparing and coping with climate change will generally call for actions already identified for improving water security for communities—of which understanding the balance between water availability, access and use/demand is key. For example, there would be a need for research to match the availability of the water in groundwater storage with local demand and needs by siting sources in the most productive parts of the aquifer. 

One other way in which groundwater can be relied upon with climate change and the related changes to the hydrological system is the development of water further for small-scale irrigation. It is imperative however, for development to be done in a sustainable manner to avoid groundwater depletion caused by abstraction beyond domestic use.

Some thoughts and reflections: 

Whether or not groundwater can serve as a sustainable, viable source with climate change and population growth is dependent on many factors other than the availability of groundwater supplies:

• Enabling ease of access to groundwater supplies in a way that is productive and efficient
• Regulating abstraction for domestic use and possibly irrigation to prevent depletion of supplies
• Maintaining the quality of groundwater, by sealing the wells or constructing cement barriers around them to prevent the washing of pathogens into them
• Greater availability of data on groundwater storage and the links between climate change and groundwater to guide policy decisions and water infrastructural development

One area that may be explored in the coming weeks is the effect of climate change on human behaviour and how this may affect the use of water and the hydrogeological system in Africa. 

Benin Groundwater Resources Program
Source: https://ndigd.nd.edu/notre-dame-projects/topics/infrastructure/#benin-groundwater-resources-program