*4.1.2 Households' water scarcity coping strategies*

With respect to water scarcity, the households were required to indicate the strategy they use during climate related drought or long heat waves that reduce the water quantity in their area. The variable used to capture the households' responses include: rain water harvesting, water embankment, use of storage tanks, water treatment to improve quality and use of water vendor service. These results are presented in **Figure 2**.

An examination of household coping strategies regarding change in water level in the selected towns, as summarized in **Figure 2**, shows that rainwater harvesting as a strategy was not popular among the households. The results shows that 5.1% respondents in Tzaneen and 5% in Nkowankowa adopted water harvesting as a strategy, while in Phalaborwa and Giyani both accounted for 5% and 3.1% respectively. However, both Modjadjiskloof and Hoedsrpruit towns did not use such a strategy because according to them, it is time consuming and that the quality of harvested water was most times compromised.

However, **Figure 2** shows the results of the examination of the use of storage tanks to cope with reducing water level. It was discovered that 100% and 81% of households in Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa respectively used the strategy to backup, to forestall the impacts of water shortages. In Tzaneen and Nkowankowa 54.4% and 51% of their respective household used same strategy. Similarly, in Modjadjiskloof

*Coping strategies for change in water level across towns and Mopani. Source: Author's Field Data, 2019.*

**141**

*Households' Adaptation to Climate Change Hazards in Semi-Arid Region of Mopani, South…*

and Giyani the households that used storage tanks were respectively 50% and 61.5%. On the average 61.1% of the respondents have used or still using storage tanks to adapt to reducing water level in their communities. The study implied that the storage of water in tanks is an acceptable strategy because water provision is not

A significant indicator of health is water scarcity, which includes both its availability and quality [83]. Water use is beyond drinking, it is intimately linked to food security, sanitation and hygiene contributing to health burdens. Poor and vulnerable communities suffer the most from the adverse effects of climate change on water and health related issues and that the adaptation strategy which can effectively reduce the strain on water resources include wastewater recycling and reuse [84]. This was tested in the selected towns, and was found that when water became scarce, such as in 2016 and 2017 droughts periods in Limpopo province, most households turned to the re-use of water due to the scarcity of water for domestic and others uses. Our investigation further showed that 100% of the respondents re-use water as was advised by the Department of Water Affairs, when Limpopo

Water treatment was one of the variables we requested the households to give their response if they use such strategy. Although according to the science of water treatment which involved reverse osmosis etc, we were more interested in treatment such as water boiling, using aqua active bleaching agents such as hypochlorite to disinfect the water before use. The results in **Figure 2** shows that 100% of the respondents use non-complicated methods to treat their water when it becomes

The general practice particularly in the peri-urban areas of the selected towns is that most of them buy water from water vendors who sell water in containers ranging from R5 to R25 depending on the quantity sold. The study showed that not all respondent were disposed to buying water from vendors maybe because some could not be guaranteed the quality of the water. Patronage of water vendors was common among those households who did not have stand pipes in their yards. However, in Modjadjiskloof and Giyani 43% and 48% respectively used water vendor services to

As rightly noted [85] that with increasing havoc of floods in the urban center, and its negative impacts particularly on the poorest and the most susceptible, effective coping strategies require the combination of protective infrastructure, naturebased approaches, and risk financing (insurance) schemes to curtail floods and cushion their adversities. Flash floods has resulted into several degrees of damages in South Africa [65] as well-as some parts of the selected towns in Mopani District Municipality [75]. This occurred at different times, frequencies and intensities. This phenomenon has in the past resulted in households loosing properties ranging from home assets to farm crops and farm produce. The results of the survey showed that with respect to flood control strategies, the most popular include the construction of embankment to prevent over flow of rivers, the use of Furrow around their house, building of walls to protect houses during flash floods, growing of lawns, removal of solid waste from the storm water drainages, re-enforcement of dwellings

Our findings suggest that building embankment around houses is a popular strategy particularly among those residing close or whose offices are in close proximity to rivers, along erosion line, or terrain threatening sites. Embankments are usually constructed by the community or the local municipality. One aspect

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94759*

Province, was declared a disaster province.

very scarce and necessary.

with stones and concretes.

cope with water scarcity (**Figure 2**).

*4.1.3 Household strategy for flood control in Mopani*

always at RDP level.

## *Households' Adaptation to Climate Change Hazards in Semi-Arid Region of Mopani, South… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94759*

and Giyani the households that used storage tanks were respectively 50% and 61.5%. On the average 61.1% of the respondents have used or still using storage tanks to adapt to reducing water level in their communities. The study implied that the storage of water in tanks is an acceptable strategy because water provision is not always at RDP level.

A significant indicator of health is water scarcity, which includes both its availability and quality [83]. Water use is beyond drinking, it is intimately linked to food security, sanitation and hygiene contributing to health burdens. Poor and vulnerable communities suffer the most from the adverse effects of climate change on water and health related issues and that the adaptation strategy which can effectively reduce the strain on water resources include wastewater recycling and reuse [84]. This was tested in the selected towns, and was found that when water became scarce, such as in 2016 and 2017 droughts periods in Limpopo province, most households turned to the re-use of water due to the scarcity of water for domestic and others uses. Our investigation further showed that 100% of the respondents re-use water as was advised by the Department of Water Affairs, when Limpopo Province, was declared a disaster province.

Water treatment was one of the variables we requested the households to give their response if they use such strategy. Although according to the science of water treatment which involved reverse osmosis etc, we were more interested in treatment such as water boiling, using aqua active bleaching agents such as hypochlorite to disinfect the water before use. The results in **Figure 2** shows that 100% of the respondents use non-complicated methods to treat their water when it becomes very scarce and necessary.

The general practice particularly in the peri-urban areas of the selected towns is that most of them buy water from water vendors who sell water in containers ranging from R5 to R25 depending on the quantity sold. The study showed that not all respondent were disposed to buying water from vendors maybe because some could not be guaranteed the quality of the water. Patronage of water vendors was common among those households who did not have stand pipes in their yards. However, in Modjadjiskloof and Giyani 43% and 48% respectively used water vendor services to cope with water scarcity (**Figure 2**).

## *4.1.3 Household strategy for flood control in Mopani*

As rightly noted [85] that with increasing havoc of floods in the urban center, and its negative impacts particularly on the poorest and the most susceptible, effective coping strategies require the combination of protective infrastructure, naturebased approaches, and risk financing (insurance) schemes to curtail floods and cushion their adversities. Flash floods has resulted into several degrees of damages in South Africa [65] as well-as some parts of the selected towns in Mopani District Municipality [75]. This occurred at different times, frequencies and intensities. This phenomenon has in the past resulted in households loosing properties ranging from home assets to farm crops and farm produce. The results of the survey showed that with respect to flood control strategies, the most popular include the construction of embankment to prevent over flow of rivers, the use of Furrow around their house, building of walls to protect houses during flash floods, growing of lawns, removal of solid waste from the storm water drainages, re-enforcement of dwellings with stones and concretes.

Our findings suggest that building embankment around houses is a popular strategy particularly among those residing close or whose offices are in close proximity to rivers, along erosion line, or terrain threatening sites. Embankments are usually constructed by the community or the local municipality. One aspect

*Natural Hazards - Impacts, Adjustments and Resilience*

air-conditioning anthropogenic heat.

*4.1.2 Households' water scarcity coping strategies*

harvested water was most times compromised.

minding risks involved.

presented in **Figure 2**.

and environmentally friendly. However, while the latter (air conditioners) was enhanced by the stability of electricity, it does not only escalates the energy bills because of the increased loads resulting from cooling, but it equally exacerbates urban heat island in its own capacity. Thus [82] submit that for effective alleviation of urban warming and enhanced cooling, there is, as a necessity the need to reduce

The responses obtained from the survey conducted on the creation of Neighbourhood Parks and Garden as a temperature coping strategy by the households across the selected towns is presented in **Table 1**. The result shows a consensus among the households that the siting and development of neighborhood parks and garden was the responsibility of the governments at different levels. This was reflected in households' responses where no household indicated creating Parks and Garden as a personal temperature coping approach. However, children who desire to recreate use available spaces like access road around them to play soccer, not

With respect to water scarcity, the households were required to indicate the strategy they use during climate related drought or long heat waves that reduce the water quantity in their area. The variable used to capture the households' responses include: rain water harvesting, water embankment, use of storage tanks, water treatment to improve quality and use of water vendor service. These results are

An examination of household coping strategies regarding change in water level in the selected towns, as summarized in **Figure 2**, shows that rainwater harvesting as a strategy was not popular among the households. The results shows that 5.1% respondents in Tzaneen and 5% in Nkowankowa adopted water harvesting as a strategy, while in Phalaborwa and Giyani both accounted for 5% and 3.1% respectively. However, both Modjadjiskloof and Hoedsrpruit towns did not use such a strategy because according to them, it is time consuming and that the quality of

However, **Figure 2** shows the results of the examination of the use of storage tanks to cope with reducing water level. It was discovered that 100% and 81% of households in Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa respectively used the strategy to backup, to forestall the impacts of water shortages. In Tzaneen and Nkowankowa 54.4% and 51% of their respective household used same strategy. Similarly, in Modjadjiskloof

*Coping strategies for change in water level across towns and Mopani. Source: Author's Field Data, 2019.*

**140**

**Figure 2.**

of the embankment as a strategy to cope with floods is that it fends off water and shelters settlements from flooding. About 58% of respondents was recorded in Modjadjiskloof and 32% in Phalaborwa, Hoedspruit was 23%, while Giyani and Nkowankowa both depicted 27% and 36% accordingly. In a further probe to why majority did not adopt the strategy, respondents noted it to be an expensive option, which often failed when the construction was not done to structural specifications.

With respect to the use of Sandbags, as a strategy, in Giyani 24% of the households indicated its adoption as the option to protect their properties against flood. In Nkowankowa 17%, Tzaneen was 11%, while Modjadjiskloof households accounted for 22% that used sandbags. The households' justification for the use of sandbags as a coping strategy to protect against flooding was hinged on its affordability, ease of building and availability of the material components.

The use of furrow was equally investigated to ascertain whether or not is an acceptable strategy among the households in the district. The result indicates that 5% of Tzaneen residents are using Furrows around their properties, while about one in every four households in Nkowankowa adopted the same strategy. Households in Hoedspruit and Modjadjskloof that used the strategy accounted respectively for 16% and 36% and both Phalaborwa and Giyani accounted for 12% and 18%. The result suggest that the strategy was not embraced by the majority of the households across the selected towns. According to the respondents, the option was considered costly and not an effective strategy compared to others.

The proportion of households' that adopts the building of protective walls around their houses to cope with flood in the six selected towns indicates that this is a commonly used strategy in the study area. Both Modjadjiskloof and Nkowankowa used it as a strategy mostly. With 76% of its household, Modjadjiskloof recorded the highest proportion of household that used the protective walls as strategy, while 18% of the households in Nkowankowa used the strategy. These results was significantly influenced by the terrain of individual towns under consideration as towns with relatively low lying terrain recorded lower patronage of the strategy, while town with steep slope like Modjadjiskloof adopted it most.

According to [80], Green infrastructure is useful in curtailing surface runoff among other benefits [81]. From the results of analysis, households' response with respect to growing grasses to reduce the effects of floods in the selected towns revealed that 60% of households in Hoedspruit grew lawn to reduce the flow of surface run off that erodes the top soil. The study showed that 37% of the households in Modjadjiskloof and 36% in Tzaneen grew lawn to reduce erosion while 2.5% and 20% employed the same strategy in Nkowankowa and Giyani towns respectively. This strategy apart from protecting the surface top soil from erosion, it also keep a good ambient of the environment.

The respondents' answers to the cleaning and removal of waste from drainage channels and systems appeared an acceptable coping strategy across the selected towns in Mopani. 32% of households in Tzaneen do evacuate waste from drainages, while as low as 5% of Nkowankowa households used the strategy to avoid over flow of drainages. However, more than two out of every five Phalaborwa residents engaged in clearing of their drainages to prevent flooding. The study further shows that one tenth of Giyani household embraced the strategy as well. Further to this, drainage and stream channelization was popular, accounting for 25% of Tzaneen households, while one fifth of Hoedspruit households embraced drainage channelization in coping with the incidence of flood.

The use of concrete and stones by households to reinforce their housing foundation serves dual purposes as a way to stabilize the building as well-as safeguard it against any unexpected floods that can erode the building foundation.

**143**

municipalities.

adaptation issues.

*Households' Adaptation to Climate Change Hazards in Semi-Arid Region of Mopani, South…*

About 88% of Hoedspruit household endorsed it, while 87% of the households in Modjadjiskloof as well-as 78% of them in Phalaborwa used it as a strategy to cope with floods. However, Tzaneen account for 40% of houses in this category, while

**4.2 The factors hindering the success of urban adaptation strategies in the** 

This section identifies the factors that inhibit the successes of urban adaptation to climate change hazards. Through our interactions with the households in the selected towns, the key informant (particularly the municipal staff and professionals) and other stakeholders, buttressed by the findings from the planning instruments (IDPs) of the five local municipalities in Mopani District, several inhibiting factors clogging the successes of urban climate change adaptation in these municipalities were uncovered. These out of others can be stratified into both internal and

Internal factors are those factors that the local municipalities recognized as being within their mandates and powers, on one hand. These include but are not limited to paucity of fund, principally from budgetary allocation. Limited human capacity to embark on the required types of planning for integrated adaptation mainstreaming, compounded by the paucity of knowledge of adequate climate issues at the local municipal level. Higher competition that exist between the mandates of government, resulting in less priority being accorded to long-term planning issues (like climate change) in favor of short-term actions and gains. The Situation is further compounded by the South African need to tackle the backlogs of service amidst coping with both current and future needs of the people. Thus, rendering long-term interventions unattractive to politicians who run a short political tenure to execute. With long-term horizon nature of climate change projections, it contradicts with the short-term political and development programs of these

In addition, system's failure manifest across the selected towns, for instance drainages and water ways blockages, absence of drainages in many instances, sewer leakages (like the case of Nkowankowa and Phalaborwa), and backlogs of service across the municipalities are clear indicators. Others factors include policy inadequacies resulting from municipal reliance on national policies (such as urban and other climate adaptation-related policies). The dichotomized land management and operational deficiencies where traditional institutions are in charge of unproclaim land with no responsibility to provide services. Absence of interface programs between the municipalities and the Universities and other research institutions for information and knowledge sharing as well-as research activities regarding climate change and urban development. There was equally no evidence to show collaborations with private sector (banks, insurance and individual philanthropists) on

Furthermore, external factors include high poverty rate, low literacy level and unemployment. Lack of reliable and verifiable hazard incident reporting systems

Obviously without waiting endlessly for government, households across the district have taken creative initiatives to respond within the available resources at their disposal to climate change related hazards. However, households' capacities are limited by several factors, ranging from economic, social, and attitudinal. Unless pioneered, championed and facilitated by government, household adaptation may not achieve the desired goal. Although several factors collaborate to hamper the success of urban adaptation in the semi-arid region of Mopani, South Africa. These

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94759*

limiting factors are identified in the next section.

external factors. These are discussed as follow:

Giyani town accounted for 34%.

**Mopani region**

*Households' Adaptation to Climate Change Hazards in Semi-Arid Region of Mopani, South… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94759*

About 88% of Hoedspruit household endorsed it, while 87% of the households in Modjadjiskloof as well-as 78% of them in Phalaborwa used it as a strategy to cope with floods. However, Tzaneen account for 40% of houses in this category, while Giyani town accounted for 34%.

Obviously without waiting endlessly for government, households across the district have taken creative initiatives to respond within the available resources at their disposal to climate change related hazards. However, households' capacities are limited by several factors, ranging from economic, social, and attitudinal. Unless pioneered, championed and facilitated by government, household adaptation may not achieve the desired goal. Although several factors collaborate to hamper the success of urban adaptation in the semi-arid region of Mopani, South Africa. These limiting factors are identified in the next section.
