Faculty of Humanities (ETDs)

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Subject: search.filters.subject.SDG-13: Climate action

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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    The geopolitics of climate change and violent conflicts in Africa: the Nigerian and Kenyan perspectives
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Emupenne, Olanrewaju Ojo; Small, Michelle
    This study empirically examined the correlation between climate change (independent variable) and violent conflict (dependent variable), focusing on East Africa and West Africa. Climate change poses a serious threat to humanity and the ecosystem, particularly in Africa. Also, despite other serious challenges the continent faces, violent conflict remains among the most devastating. Various reasons, including poor leadership, social exclusion, and conflicting goals, are cited as causes of violent conflict in Africa. Recently, a new narrative has emerged suggesting climate change is a potential driver of violent conflicts. This study examines the correlation. So, to investigate this relationship, a survey research design was employed. The study adopted a descriptive research design, and four main research methods were used in the study namely, mixed methods research, comparative case study research, triangulation approach to social research, and convergent synthesis design. Also, the research utilized questionnaires that were directly formulated from the study’s hypotheses and were tested using a parametric regression model. Furthermore, the research employed Key Informant Interviews (KII), and the data gathered were processed using Atlas.ti, a Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Software (CAQDAS). Sampling techniques included purposive, stratified, and random sampling. The study population comprised government officials, environmentalists, academia, farmers, herders, youth leaders, and community leaders. 17 government officials, 7 academia, 6 environmentalists, 15 farmers, and 13 herders randomly selected in Nigeria, and 22 government officials, academia, and environmentalists, 15 farmers and members of farmers cooperatives, and 12 herders and members of livestock associations randomly selected in Kenya participated in the Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) to make a sample size of 110. In addition, 174 government officials, environmentalists, and academics completed the Set A questionnaire in Nigeria, 116 government officials, environmentalists, and academics completed the Set A questionnaire in Kenya, and 423 farmers, herders, youths, and community leaders completed the Set B questionnaire in Nigeria, and 205 respondents do the same in Kenya to make a sample of 918 respondents. In all, a total of 1,028 respondents participated in the study. The study was systematically guided by four research questions and two hypotheses. These research questions are as follows: (1) To what extent does climate change effect features in the geopolitics of peace and security in West Africa and East Africa? (2) Specifically, what is the correlation between climate change and farmer-herder conflicts in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria and farmer-herder conflicts in the Tana River County in Kenya? (3) What is the level of awareness about the effects of climate change among crop farmers, herders, and policymakers in the Northern region of Nigeria and Tana River County of Kenya, and how does the knowledge about the effects of climate change play a role in the different stakeholders’ approach to conflict? (4) What are the policy frameworks in Nigeria and Kenya that create awareness about climate change and mitigate the effects vi of climate change on violent conflict at both national and local levels? The quantitative data obtained were analyzed using SPSS Version 25 and R, while the qualitative data were analyzed using Atlas.ti. Results revealed a positive correlation between climate change and geopolitical dynamics of peace and security in West Africa and East Africa but did not establish causation. While climate change intensified, it contributed to shifts in geopolitical dynamics impacting peace and security. However, establishing causation requires more than observing correlation; it demands demonstrating that changes in the independent variable cause changes in the dependent variable. The findings of the study also revealed varying levels of knowledge and awareness regarding climate change among farmers, herders, and policymakers in Northern Nigeria and Tana River County of Kenya; divergent opinions about available policy frameworks for creating awareness about climate change and mitigating the effects of climate change on violent conflict. Some of the respondents agreed that policies were available, some were of the view that policies were available but not implemented while some expressed the fact that policies were not available. Considering these findings, several policy recommendations were made which include the integration of climate adaptation strategies with conflict prevention efforts, decision- making and policy implementation, creating more awareness programmes, indigenous approach and inclusivity, curbing migration, farmer/herder dialogue, and the establishment of special judicial commission solely for farmers and herders. In a nutshell, the study emphasized the need for nuanced understanding and consideration of multiple factors influencing the geopolitical landscape of Africa
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    Assessing how an alternative waste management system may facilitate subaltern and environmental justice: a thematic analysis of a zero waste pilot case study in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Van Biljon (née Swart), Johanna Yvonne (Jani)
    Waste is socio-political – a symbol of our economic and consumerist society. Since the Industrial Revolution, our manufacturing processes and materialist lifestyles produced more hazardous and nondegradable externalities than we were prepared to deal with. With environmental and consumer pressure building, we are at a crossroads between continuing with business-as-usual and justly transitioning over to a systemically different, zero waste society where the focus on waste management shifts to waste prevention so that, like Karl Marx, it challenges and eventually changes production processes, ownership, consumption, and ultimately, our connection with the natural environment and each other. South Africa’s waste landscape is characterised by two things: its reliance on landfills and the thousands of informal waste pickers reclaiming the value of discarded goods. So, what could a zero waste system that is just toward the environment and the subaltern look like in South Africa? In exploring this question, I considered the work of waste pickers, as well as the case of an urban composting initiative for an inner-city market supporting the zero waste philosophy. Synthesising these, I imagine a gradual, deep bottom-up transformation in attitude, behaviour and eventually infrastructure with regard to our relationship with the environment, ownership and use, as well as the revaluation of the material and therefore waste ‘management’. The role and insights of waste pickers and local, informal economies will be crucial and influential. Though South African waste pickers do not yet participate in the organic waste stream on a noticeable scale, the prioritisation of composting by the Warwick Zero Waste project and the National Waste Management Strategy sees the recovery and local, low-tech, low-cost composting of organic waste as a vital starting point in establishing a more regenerative food and waste system that will build solid
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    Framing of climate change in South Africa: An analysis of content in News24 and TikTok
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mawila, Cathrine; Sithole, Enock
    Climate change has become a danger to the planet and human survival. This has incited dialogs about the subject to gain momentum on international economic and political platforms. The discussion about climate science and climate change is mainly conducted in the mainstream media and the internet. However, the internet, as a communication channel, is fast taking over the role of traditional media as a platform for distributing information to the public. The internet has opened up new avenues for public debates and has allowed the public to discuss important issues such as climate change. In South Africa, many researchers employed the content analysis media theory to study different frames on news media coverage of climate change. Previous studies analysed tweets and blogs in South Africa on the subject of climate change and argued that although there was some closeness in the way print media and online media covered topics on climate change, online media had become the most frequently used to interact and reach audiences effectively and in real-time. This study took the matter forward and compared the framing of climate change in two distinct platforms, News24 and TikTok, between April 2022 and April 2023 to understand the topic across diverse sections of media users in South Africa. The study found that News24's framing of climate change was mostly linked to weather events or climate disasters, while TikTok's engagement with the issue was found to be inadequate. The study also found that misinformation was prevalent in TikTok. Furthermore, News24's articles were influenced by international narratives, while TikTok's frames were based on rudimentary knowledge. The most prevalent frames in both News24 and TikTok were socio-economic and disaster-related, likely due to the recent KZN floods. The study also found that TikTok lacks reputable sources. The findings of this study could prove useful in guiding climate change communicators to focus on educating the general public about climate change, given the prevalence of climate change misinformation on social media platforms
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    Climate change and food security: Exploring factors of food production in Mozambique and Zimbabwe (2001-2019)
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Ramos, Dominic Carlos; Small, Michelle
    Climate change has emerged as a severe security threat which has worsened poverty, inequality and more importantly sustainable development throughout the global south. Southern African countries have been especially susceptible to climate change with severe weather patterns such as drought, land degradation, flooding and severe tropical cyclones that disproportionately affect poor communities. The effects of the impact of climate change on development and poor communities is observed with stubbornly high levels of food insecurity throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and by extension Southern Africa. Changing climates have forced farmers to undertake drastic measures to produce food for themselves and their communities with limited external support. In Mozambique and Zimbabwe alone around 3.5 million and 1.5 million subsistence and smallholder farmers respectively, are responsible for more than 70% of total food production (FAO 2011, World Bank 2019, INE 2014). This study explores the impact of climate variation and climate change on food production and food accessibility throughout Mozambique and Zimbabwe through a person-centred human security approach . The study further complements the challenges of food security by assessing the response of small-holder farmers in adapting and reacting to climate change. This study relied substantially on secondary sources such as regional reports, bulletins and journal articles alongside publications from NGOs, government departments and international organisations. The data was analysed through thematic and content analysis. The findings suggest that Mozambique and Zimbabwe remain highly vulnerable to climate change negatively affecting food insecure communities. Furthermore, while small-holder farmers have desperately undertaken various methods of adaptation they are unable to cope with extreme weather patterns. The findings underscore the necessity for interventions aimed at enabling farmers and vulnerable communities to adapt to climate change or, at the very least, mitigate its effects. This is crucial for preventing recurrent food and humanitarian crises.
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    The Role of Natural Disasters in Shaping Individual Perceptions of Climate Change in Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-11-13) Van Niekerk, Courtney; Alence, Rod
    This paper explores the relationship between individual perceptions of climate change and natural disasters in African states. This paper uses both qualitative and quantitative research methodology to explore 33 African states by observing the climate change perceptions as well as climate risk experienced by individuals through natural disasters. By using subnational Afrobarometer survey data and corresponding subnational natural disaster data, this paper finds individuals who have experienced natural disasters are less likely to express concerns for climate change.
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    Adaptation strategies against drought: The case of rain-fed subsistence crop farmers in Mphego village in the Vhembe District of Limpopo province, South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Ntuli, Nokutenda Chantelle; Mukwedeya, Tatenda
    South Africa’s Limpopo province is recognized as one of the drought prone regions of the country. Incessant droughts in Limpopo are compromising agricultural productivity in both the large-scale commercial and smallholder farming sectors. Regardless, smallholder farmers, especially those located in historically marginalized settings (former homeland areas) that experience socio-economic deprivation at the hands of the state, and practice rain-fed subsistence agriculture bear the disproportionate burden of drought. These farmers lack adequate finances, agri-mechanization as well as state support to sufficiently cushion them against drought. Such is the plight of rain-fed subsistence in Mphego village, a former homeland area of the Venda Bantustan now known as Vhembe district. This study contributes to understanding how drought is impacting the practices of rain-fed subsistence crop farmers in the rural community of Mphego. Attention is placed on investigating the ways in which drought intersects with existing politically engineered social and economic constraints experienced by subsistence farmers in Mphego village to exacerbate systemic vulnerabilities. Moreover, it explores the adaptation strategies that are being employed by these subsistence farmers to cope with drought impacts. Qualitative interviews were used to investigate these dynamics, and the data was analysed using the thematic approach. The results obtained from Mphego revealed that drought vulnerabilities experienced by subsistence farmers should be understood in light of other converging state orchestrated socio-economic structures of deprivation in local rural communities that shape outcomes in the smallholder agricultural sector. The state is contributing to the expansion of agri-capitalist practices and its drought relief support is biased towards large-scale commercial farmers at the expense of subsistence livelihoods. Given these circumstances, subsistence farmers in Mphego have been employing their own agency to adapt to drought conditions. The livelihood capitals possessed by the farmers were found to play a significant role in influencing and shaping their choice of adaptation practices.
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    Studying Political Discourse at COP Using Text Mining
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-07) Meletakos, Christina; Eyita-Okon, Ekeminiabasi; Alence, Rod
    Climate change has become one of the most pressing issues of our time and it is increasingly important for nations to come together and address the crisis. Every year since 1995, countries from around the world congregate at COP (Conference of the Parties) in the attempt to find consensus on how to tackle the problem. This dissertation studies the political speeches given by country representatives at the conference. 552 transcripts were used to perform multiple analyses. A sentiment study showed that the majority of speeches were overwhelmingly positive, and that the language used by delegates showed that they wanted to come across as being trustworthy and knowledgeable. Wordscores illustrated that prior to 2016, speeches were more alike. At the onset of US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he was pulling out of the Paris Agreement, most countries turned away from the US’ positioning. While a narrative of marketization was prevalent, it was the nationalist discourse used by the president that deterred countries. Lastly a regression model was run which showed that GDP, population, and region played an important part in how a country positioned itself on the world stage.