What Is The Impact Of Drought In South Africa?
Drought impacts, however, are not the result only of insufficient rainfall or searing temperature. In most cases, drought impacts are the outcome of the interaction of a number of social and other human factors that can heighten the “vulnerability” of communities and various exposure units (e.g., vegetation) and reduce “resilience” of society and ecosystems to the natural hazard (Dilley, 2000; Vogel et al, 2000). As a result of these components of drought, a number of impacts are recorded.
The scale of these impacts also varies and can be tracked at various levels (e.g., regional, national, community, and household) of agricultural production. For example, production declined as a result of the 1980s and 1990s droughts in southern Africa. Harvest failures of between 30 and 80% below-normal across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region were recorded. Cereal production in the SADC countries dropped to less than 50% of the annual requirement in 1992, and the cost of imported food to the region rose to approximately $4 billion (Hulme, 1996).
Drought related to the 1982-1983 El Niño cost nearly US$1 billion in direct damages with an estimated US$350 million spent on famine relief (1983 prices) in southern Africa (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 1999). The economic loss to Africa’s agricultural sector in the early 1990s drought was estimated at US$7 billion (1992 prices)-an estimated 20 times the value of 1993 World Bank loans to sub-Saharan agriculture (International Federation of Red Cross)
Water Shortages : A Major Cause Of Droughts
Water shortages are a major threat globally but their impact is more severe in Africa in general and in Sub-Saharan Africa in particular. A recent Southern African Development Community (SADC) report suggests that by mid-2017 four countries will have to declare national drought disasters, namely, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of Malawi, the Kingdom of Swaziland, and the Republic of Zimbabwe. Countries in Southern Africa such as the Republic of Mozambique and the Republic of South Africa have declared partial drought emergencies. The three months from October to December 2015 were the driest months on record in the past 35 years, while December 2015 was one of the hottest months experienced in recent times. Across the region, food shortages and cholera outbreaks were rampant due to the lack of potable water.
The SADC Situation Update for 2015/2016 indicated that metrological forecasts predicted poor rainfall and high temperatures for the 2015/2016 rainy season. Governments across the South African region implemented measures to mitigate the impact of the drought. Programs were implemented such as increased stockpiling of food, water restrictions, and water conservation campaigns. However, the impacts of the drought made clear that the situation was overwhelming.
Drought Interventions And Preparedness
Several interventions were implemented by various governments across Africa, from the national level to the local or municipal level.
In South Africa, the government’s approach was to start a campaign to educate the populace to use water wisely. This educational campaign was rolled out across the tiers of government and water agencies in the country. In addition, efforts to reduce water leakages and losses were increased at the three tiers of government through an approach to maintain existing infrastructure and facilitate the conservation of water in the system.
In countries like the Republic of Namibia, a program has been rolled out called integrated water resources management, which focuses on existing plans and future development. The program aims for ways to sustain existing water sources where the impacts of the drought have been very severe and to address the issues surrounding water demand management, such as ensuring nationwide water conservation campaigns.
In the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in East Africa, the government launched several coordinated programs aimed at securing the water supply of drought-affected rural communities for basic usage. Water supply points have been established in different rural areas in the country using mobile sources to bring water to people. However, due to the severity of the drought, agriculture has been severely affected, leading the government to request emergency assistance from the international community for food and medical supplies.
In South Sudan, which is one of the youngest country in the world, internal challenges have been an obstacle to a coordinated response to the drought. Nevertheless, many non-governmental organizations are active in the country to assist the people in getting access to water.
Direct Drought Impacts On The Populace
Droughts are cyclical events around the world. The current drought has had a severe impact on water levels in dam reservoirs, causing some to run dry. The Hazelmere Dam in KwaZulu-Natal as at October 2015 was at 29% capacity—an all-time low—while the Kamuzu dams in Lilongwe, Malawi, were at less than 40% capacity in May 2016 at the peak of the drought (see Figure 3). The resulting low dam levels led to water restrictions being imposed on users across several countries in Southern Africa.
Additional impacts of the drought are death of livestock and poor crop yields due to poor or no rainfall making water unavailable for irrigation. Primarily attributed to El Niño*2, the drought has led to increased food prices and the United Nations estimates that 11 million children are at risk of starvation and inadequate water supplies in East and Southern Africa.
Areas in the Free State and North West provinces of South Africa that are known for corn farming are currently unable to grow enough corn due to the drought. In response, the government has declared about five provinces in the country to be disaster areas.
