Leocadia Zhou

Climate change, household vulnerability and smart agriculture: The case of two South African provinces

The impact of climate-change disasters poses significant challenges for South Africa, especially for vulnerable rural households. In South Africa, the impact of climate change at the local level, especially in rural areas, is not well known. Rural households are generally poor and lack resources to adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change, but the extent of their vulnerability is largely not understood. This study looked at the micro-level impact of climate change, evaluated household vulnerability and assessed alternative adaptation strategies in rural areas. The results indicate that climate change will hit crop yields hard and that households with less capital are most vulnerable. These households consist of the elderly and households headed by females. Households that receive remittances or extension services or participate in formal savings schemes in villages are less vulnerable. The results suggest that households need to move towards climate-smart agriculture, which combines adaptation, mitigation and productivity growth.

Transdisciplinary Research in Higher Education: Towards a Paradigm for Sustainable Development

This review provides an understanding of and justification for the transdisciplinary research(TDR) as an action-oriented research approach in higher education that promotes sustainabledevelopment in society. Current studies on TDR show that today more than ever before, there is a shifting landscape of knowledge generation in contemporary societies owing to the nature and number of challenges society is seized with which among others include political strife, hunger, unemployment, diseases, and urban migration. Little attests to the fact that societal problems have become too complex for one point of view as provided for by disciplinary research. The need therefore to make research relevant and contextual in addressing these complex reallifechallenges facing society today cannot be overemphasized when looked at in the context of sustainable development. This review argues that contemporary sustainable development challenges, complex as they are, demand cooperation between specialists and social actors with diverse backgrounds of knowledge and experiencesto be able to effectively track the challenges and come up with practical and contextualized solutions. This review employs document analysis to generate a deeper understanding as well as to proffer a cogent argument for the need for transdisciplinary research in solving contemporary socio-ecological challengesthroughco-production of knowledge in concrete real-life contexts.

Association between the Prevalence of Indigestible Foreign Objects in the Gastrointestinal Tract of Slaughtered Cattle and Body Condition Score

Simple Summary The South African national cattle herd has increased from 6 million head since the 1970s to 14 million and more than two-thirds of the 14 million cattle in South Africa reside in the Eastern Cape Province (ECP), yet the Province has one of the highest poverty indexes. While this improvement is commendable, there are still many challenges to efficient livestock production notably infectious and non-infectious diseases. Many non-infectious diseases of the fore-stomach, such as rumenitis, rumen parakeratosis, traumatic reticuloperitonitis and poly bezoars, are rarely reported, but are known to obstruct the digestive functions of the fore-stomach, causing a marked reduction in animal weight, reproduction, feed absorption and productivity, and death. The pathogenesis of these diseases often begins with the consumption of indigestible foreign objects (IFOs). Animal husbandry in the ECP is mostly communal, with an extensive system of rearing animals as the most popular production system. This system of rearing animals exposes them to consumption of litter, especially when there is drought. This study provides knowledge on the prevalence, type and effect of the indigestible foreign object on the body condition score of animals slaughtered in the ECP. Abstract It is estimated that South Africa’s population will be above 65 million in 2050. Thus, food production needs to triple to alleviate poverty and food insecurity. However, infectious and non-infectious diseases affect livestock productivity, thereby hampering food supply. Non-infectious disease/conditions caused by the consumption of solid waste material are rarely reported. Hence, this study investigates the occurrence and type of indigestible foreign objects (IFOs) in the stomach of slaughtered cattle in two high-throughput abattoirs (n = 4424) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study revealed that metallic and non-metallic indigestible objects had an overall prevalence of 63% in cattle slaughtered in Queenstown abattoir (QTA, (n = 1906)) and 64.8% at the East London abattoir (ELA, (n = 2518)). Most of the IFOs were found in the rumen (64.2% and 70.8%) and reticulum (28.5% and 20.6%) at QTA and ELA respectively. The leading IFOs in the stomach of cattle at QTA were plastics (27.7%), poly bezoars (10.7%) and ropes (10.7%), while poly bezoars (19.8%), ropes (17.6%) and stones (10.7%) were the main IFOs seen in cattle at ELA. The study showed a statistical significance (p < 0.05) between body condition score and the prevalence of indigestible objects in cattle. The study concluded that litter and waste containing IFOs could pose a threat to livestock health and productivity. The practice of good animal husbandry and efficient solid waste management will mitigate the problem of animals consuming IFOs.

Vulnerability to Climate Change Related Disasters in the Eastern Cape Province: An Application of the Household Vulnerability Index (HVI)

Abstract Globally there is now a consensus that extreme climatic events are occurring and pose significant challenges, particularly for resource poor rural households. This paper assesses household vulnerability to climate change related disasters in the Eastern Cape (EC) Province in South Africa. The Household Vulnerability Index (HVI) was used to determine the levels of vulnerability to climate change related disasters by households. Data from 1546 households was collected, however only 1510 questionnaires were used for analysis. The majority (83%) of the households were found to be moderately vulnerable to climate change related disasters. A Tobit censored regression, used to determine the factors influencing household vulnerability to climate change related disasters, established that socio-economic factors including age, marital status, highest level of education, employment status, health status, ownership of farm assets, receiving external support, income generating activities, livestock ownership and extension access were significant. The findings suggest that households need to be empowered in terms of their socio-economic attributes, a move that will enhance adaptation and resilience under extreme climatic conditions.