Water scarcity and citizen welfare in a context of climate change in the case of Engonyameni Village in KwaZulu-Natal.
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Date
2019
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Abstract
Water is a very important resource that is essential for human beings to survive. Around the world there are millions of people who do not have access to adequate water. If they have water, in some instances, that water cannot be used. There are many challenges faced relating to water such as scarcity of clean water and access to clean water, and sometimes community members must walk long hours and distances to fetch it. Water scarcity denotes water shortages, water crisis, water stress and water deficit. There is a dearth of evidence on how water scarcity and climate change contemporaneously impact on rural people’s livelihoods. In essence, this study investigated the experiences, responses to and interpretation of the compound relationship between water scarcity and climate change, and variability of the livelihoods, well-being and welfare of citizens in the context of climate change in the case of Engonyameni Village in KwaZulu-Natal. The sustainable livelihood approach guided this study because of its links to the well-being of people in order to understand the nexus between climate change and water scarcity. The study adopted a qualitative approach and used a purposive sampling to select the participants. Data was collected using in-depth interviews in which twenty-one in-depth interviews were conducted in the study area. The study found out that water scarcity is caused by issues such as negligence in water use, its overuse, mismanagement of water by the government, the community as well as the municipality, pollution of water, drought due to climate change, conflict and, lastly, distance (when community members use alternative sources such as river water). The results revealed that citizens are still denied access to water due to political issues, corruption in institutions, conflict over land, its overuse and the unfair treatment of people of the Engonyameni area. The study also found that declining water resources affect access to water in the area. Therefore, people are forced to find other alternatives, sometimes unhygienic sources of water such as rivers and dams. The study postulates that it is possible to mitigate water scarcity through water education and conservation. Evidence found in this study show that people do not know how to save water and they heavily rely on truck water whilst there are other alternatives such as water harvesting and the re-use of water for chores. And lastly, it found out that those who have water misuse it recklessly.
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Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.