Measuring Drought Resilience Through Community Capitals

Abstract This chapter focuses on the calculation of drought risk based on a case study in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. Drought risk is a function of hazard, vulnerability, and coping capacity. Indicators for vulnerability and coping capacity are traditionally categorized as economic, environmental, and social. The framework for indicator selection in this research was the Community Capitals Framework, which identified the capitals as (1) human, (2) social, (3) cultural, (4) financial, (5) infrastructure, (6) environmental, and (7) political. Indicators were grouped as part of each capital for both vulnerability and coping capacity. All indicators as well as the seven capitals were weighted according to their contributions, or importance, to drought risk. Data for hazard analysis were 80-year meteorological data from WRC2000 and data provided by the South African Weather Service. Where possible, available data were used for the indexing of vulnerability and coping capacity indicators. The inputs of experts, extension officers, and farmers residing in the study areas were assessed. This was then finalized with the arbitrary allocation of indexes for the different indicators by the research team. The results showed a higher than expected hazard risk for the higher rainfall areas. Vulnerability was the highest in communal land regions mainly due to serious land degradation and human, social, and cultural factors. Resiliency on the other hand was also lowest in communal areas. One would expect drought risk to be the highest in the more arid Karoo region, but that was not the case due to low coping capacity and high vulnerability of farmers in communal regions located mainly in high rainfall zones. This study clearly shows that climate change was not the reason for higher drought vulnerability in certain areas; it is rather in the way farmers adapt to current climate conditions and manage natural resources.