Assessing impacts of climate change through the water-energy-food nexus in the Sakhisizwe Municipality

Climate change has impacted some vulnerable rural communities like the Sakhisizwe Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province in South African. The increasing frequency and intensity of weather extremes are altering the environment resulting in the depletion and degradation of essential resources that include water, energy, and food. The livelihoods of rural communities have been severely impacted and compromised and as such there is a need to provide holistic and integrated solutions that address these gran challenges if resource insecurity. This study used the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus to assess the availability, depletion and degradation of resources and their distribution as well as management within the Sakhisizwe Municipality, which is at a local spatial scale. This is based on that climate change impacts are more felt at the small local scale than at the global scale and solutions should be earmarked at the local scale. The study identified that as the population increased in the municipality, it presented challenges of resource insecurity due to increased demand. The other need identified was the establishment of transformative interventions that guide policy formulation and support decision-making to establish adaptation, resilience, and sustainability of resources. Policy-makers are, therefore, equipped with informed strategies to improve the livelihoods of the vulnerable poor communities. The presented WEF nexus analysis simplified human understanding of the relationships among the complex interlinked components of a socio-ecological system in the municipality, identified priority areas for intervention, and steered efficient resource use. The current sector-based resource management exacerbates the challenges of resource depletion and insecurity, The WEF nexus will, therefore, help the stakeholders to be able to sustainably enhance cross-sectoral coordination of resource use, and management, and formulate harmonized policies and strategies. This will improve livelihoods by ensuring resource security, highlighting pathways to achieve municipal and national goals, and the 2030 global agenda on sustainable development.

Ph. D. (Environmental Management)

Environmental Sciences