Severe weather affects people’s livelihoods
The impacts of climate change on agriculture and farmers’ livelihoods are increasing.
Drought and heat waves have an impact on agriculture and livestock rearing — for example, water shortages, drying up of crops and lack of fodder for livestock. Storms and heavy rainfall can destroy crops, cause loss of life and displace people. Rising sea levels cause a loss of land, homes and livelihoods and displace people. Agricultural production can also be affected by associated factors such as damage to pollinators, an increase in pests, vectors (disease-carrying agents) and invasive species and the introduction of new pests, vectors and invasive species.
Case study
Economic impact of drought in Sri Lanka
Seneviratne is a farmer in Anamaduwa, in north-west Sri Lanka, who lost 95 per cent of his rice crops because of drought in 2023. In addition, he and his fellow farmers had no seeds to sow rice during the next season. In a good season, his four-acre farm produces between 4.5 and 6 tons of rice for the summer harvest, but that year he harvested only about 150 kg. The area in which he farms has eight water tanks to collect rainwater for irrigation, but seven of them dried out and he lost about 200 acres of rice.
Many rice-growing farmers in Sri Lanka had similar experiences that year.
Adapted from: Jayasinghe, U. (2023, 29 August). Drought dents Sri Lanka’s economic hopes, farmers’ livelihood. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/drought-dents-sri-lankas-economic-hopes-farmers-livelihood-2023-08-29/#:~:text=During%20the%20last%20El%20Nino,people%20and%20its%20biggest%20crop.
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Case study
Climate variability affects maize production in Malawi
“Maize is by far the dominant crop produced in Malawi, occupying more than 70 per cent of available agricultural land and is critically important to livelihoods. Recent climate variability has seen erratic productivity and future increases in temperature and water limitations are likely to see decreases in output, especially under business as usual scenarios. The impacts of climate change on food production are expected to be confounded and complex because of underlying poverty” (Trocaire, n.d., section 5.11).
Source: Trocaire. (n.d.). Malawi: A climate change case study. https://www.trocaire.org/sites/default/files/resources/policy/malawi-climate-change-case-study.pdf
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Case study
Lessons learned from Mozambique’s deadly cyclone
One of the deadliest cyclones in the history of Africa, Cyclone Idai, hit Mozambique’s coast in March 2019. It destroyed homes, making several people homeless, and killed more than 1,000 people. “The intense storm devastated over 700 000 hectares of crops in the country and caused rivers to overflow, dams to burst and floods to sweep away entire farms and communities. With over 80 percent of the population of Mozambique depending on agriculture for their livelihoods, the damage done to food and grain stores, fisheries infrastructure and livestock assets had a catastrophic effect on the food security of many” (FAO, 2020).
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2020). Mozambique farmers reinvent themselves after a cyclone and a pandemic. https://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1323076/
Mozambique is stuck in a cycle of drought, floods and wildfires, making it difficult for the people to rebuild their lives again.
Read “‘The sea is rising, the climate is changing’ — the lessons learned from Mozambique’s deadly cyclone” (Williams, 2021) to learn about the various dimensions of the impact of climate change.
Reading
Williams, S. (2021, 02 January). The sea is rising, the climate is changing – the lessons learned from Mozambique’s deadly cyclone. Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/02/the-sea-is-rising-the-climate-is-changing-the-lessons-learned-from-mozambiques-deadly-cyclone
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Assessment
Formative assessment: 2.2
Think about the various impacts of severe weather events on people’s livelihoods.
- How does drought affect agriculture and people’s food security?
- How do heavy rainfall and flooding affect agriculture?
- What are the impacts of rising sea levels on agriculture and other livelihoods?
- Who are most vulnerable to the impacts of severe weather events?
Activity
Do the situations in the case studies seem familiar to you? Which of the climate-related events have you experienced or heard about? Make a few notes about the severe weather event and the health, social and economic impacts it had on people.
