Human response and adaptation to drought in the arid zone: lessons from southern Africa

Introduction ‘Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it’, said Mark Twain. But this famous quote is decidedly inaccurate: people have long contemplated weather modification, and both adapt or adjust to weather conditions, and move towards or away from certain climatic regimes. Southern Africa generally has a high coefficient of rainfall variation, making droughts a frequent occurrence. The influence of this variable climate on agricultural activities cannot be over-emphasised. A look at the history of humans in southern Africa confirms this view, and there is considerable evidence that people’s lifestyles and livelihoods were and still are closely linked to climate. In arid and semi-arid regions the chief climatic regime requiring a response is drought. Vast areas of southern Africa are arid and provide limited options for intensive agricultural production and as a result most of this area is managed as rangeland for extensive livestock production. Choosing appropriate livelihoods in these arid areas is the first of numerous human responses to climate. While a lack of rainfall is the underlying cause of drought, diverse socio-economic, biological and agricultural factors determine the severity of its impact. Drought takes variable definitions depending on the viewpoint of the individual experiencing it. This paper does not attempt to address the issue of defining drought per se, but aims rather to make the point that drought can be defined both biologically and socially. Drought can be variously defined as ‘meteorological drought’, ‘agricultural drought’, ‘hydrological drought’ and ‘socio-economic drought’, each with their own boundary conditions and thresholds (Box 1). While drought is a climatic event with relatively predictable biophysical repercussions, social perceptions and responses to drought, at individual through community to state level, are highly varied and are the subject of this review.