LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF RAINFALL SCARCITY AND ITS IMPACTS ON WATER AND FOOD RESOURCES: A CASE STUDY OF MOLETJIE COMMUNITY IN LIMPOPO PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

Local communities are conscious of changing climatic conditions, the main variables, and their impacts on human livelihood requirements. This study describes the local community members’ perception of rainfall scarcity and its impact on water and food resources. Semi-structured interviews with a sample of 150 participants produced data about the perceptions of rainfall scarcity, its main variables and the impacts on water and food resources. The health impacts of poor status water resources and poor production of subsistence crops involve lack of reliable water provision for household consumption, and malnutrition and poverty as a result of subsistence crop production. A major recommendation from the study is an exploration of coping, adapting, and building the resilience capacities of local communities towards the impacts of climate change on water and food resources.