Flood hazards and preparedness of subsistence farmers in the Vhembe District municipality in the Limpopo province

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Climate change risks and consequences in Africa are now widely acknowledged as critical considerations for development organizations, particularly in terms of sustainable development, poverty reduction, and food security. The severity and frequency of cyclones, floods, and droughts have risen over the previous 20 years, with a major adverse effect on the economy globally, particularly the agricultural sector. Farmers in Africa continue to face challenges in developing resilience to floods, which adversely affects agriculture. This research aims to investigate the flood awareness and preparedness of subsistence farmers in the Vhembe District municipality. The study employed a qualitative approach to explore the flood disaster awareness and preparedness of subsistence farmers in the VDM. In total 30 participants were identified through a web analysis and a snowball approach where stakeholders were asked to identify others for interviews and the qualitative data was recorded, transcribed, and analysed thematically using NVivo. Findings of this study indicated majority of the participants had directly encountered flooding events. Furthermore, factors such as personal experience, education and financial resources contribute to farmers awareness and knowledge of floods. Additionally, findings indicate that farmers in all three research regions reported several flood-related issues, including increase in crop and animal illnesses, soil erosion, delayed planting, and insect infestations. Overall subsistence farmers in Tshakhuma, Thohoyandou, and Vuwani are actively responding to the challenges posed by flooding through a range of adaptation strategies, including using higher yielding crops, shortening the crop cycle, changing planting dates, mixed crop farming and indigenous knowledge. However, factors such as access to information, institutional support, and financial preparedness hinder their efforts to be prepared and resilient against flood risk. Therefore, further studies should assess the effectiveness of agricultural extension services in promoting preparedness strategies among subsistence farmers. This can include examining the training needs of extension officers, the relevance of the information provided, and the accessibility of these services to farmers.

Grantor dc:publisher

Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Tshishonga, Ndimuhulu

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Pharoah, Robyn

Language dc:language.iso

en_ZA

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135722

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135722