Adaptation to climate change in pastoral communities: a systematic review through a social-ecological lens

• Date: 18 December 2024
• Pages: 246-267
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-10-2023-0126
• Published date: 18 December 2024
• Subject Matter: Public policy & environmental management,Environmental issues,Climate change
• Author: Matilda Azong Cho,Onisimo Mutanga,Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi

Adaptation to climate change in

pastoral communities: a systematic

review through a social-ecological lens

Matilda Azong Cho

Department of Geography, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg

Campus, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and ARUA Centre of Excellence in

Sustainable Food Systems (ARUA-SFS)/Centre for Environmental Studies

(CFES), University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Onisimo Mutanga

Department of Geography, University of KwaZulu-Natal –Pietermaritzburg Campus,

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and

Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi

Centre for Transformative Agricultural and Food Systems, School of Agricultural,

Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal,

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and Centre on Climate Change,

London School of Health and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

Abstract

Purpose –This paper aims to apply a socio-ecological systems framework to demonstrate that pastoral

adaptationto climate change necessitates a comprehensiveapproach.

Design/methodology/approach –The authors evaluated the depth of knowledge regarding pastoral

adaptationin Africa using bibliometric and content-based analyses.

Findings –The analysis of 40 eligible articles,conducted through R Studio, revealed a signif‌icant emphasis

on climate change adaptation measures. However, there was a noticeable scarcity of research on the role of

governance,policy and institutional interventions.

Research limitations/implications –The scope of the researchis limited to the Africancontinent.

Practical implications –This research shed lighton how inadequate governance structures and insuff‌icient

institutional support, particularly in terms of skills and capacity-building, hinder pastoral communities’

resilience. These limitations may potentiallyaffect pastoral livelihoods adversely, with severe consequences

for food securityand poverty levels in Africa.

Social implications –A comprehensive understandingof the challenges pastoralists face in Africa to adapt

to climate changewill assist in def‌ining high-level policies and interventionsto improve pastoral communities’

adaptationactions.

© Matilda Azong Cho, Onisimo Mutanga and Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi. Published by Emerald

Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for

both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication

and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/

legalcode

This work was funded by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) Research Chair

in Land Use Planning and Management [Grant Number: 84157]. The Umngeni Resilience Project,

which is funded by the Adaptation Fund, is also acknowledged for supporting part of the research.

IJCCSM

17,1

246

Received18 October 2023

Revised1 A pril2024

27 June2024

26 July 2024

23 August2024

Accepted10 September 2024

InternationalJournal of Climate

ChangeStrategies and

Management

Vol.17 No. 1, 2025

pp. 246-267

EmeraldPublishing Limited

1756-8692

DOI 10.1108/IJCCSM-10-2023-0126

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/1756-8692.htm

Originality/value –The study used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

approach to ensure a thorough and systematic investigation. Furthermore, using an established framework and

clearly def‌ined methodswill greatly aid in replicating the research.

Keywords Africa, Pastoralism, Resilience, Governance, Policy

Paper type Literature review

1. Introduction

Climate change is one of the critical challenges faced by most governments in Africa and around

the world, alongside other signif‌icant social, political and economic issues. The Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has revealed that the past four decades have seen warmer

temperatures than the preceding decades since 1850 (Masson-Delmotte et al., 2021). For instance,

the global surface temperature recorded during the f‌irst two decades of the 21st century

(2001–2020) was 0.99°C higher than the temperature experienc ed in the past (1850–

1900). By 2050, Sub-Saharan African countries are projected to experience an increase in

average temperature between 1.5 and 3.0°C (Masson-Delmotte et al.,2021). Th ere is also

the likelihood of an increase in extreme weather events suc h as droughts, f‌loods and dry

spells (Field, 2014). The increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) and global

warming affects various sectors, including agriculture and health. It is a well-known fact

that Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world, sig nif‌icantly impacted by

climate change (Masson-Delmot te et al.,2021).

The vulnerability of African pastoral communities is due to their exposure and

sensitivity to extreme weather conditions, as well as the lack of adaptive capacity to adjust

their livelihoods to the effects of climate change (Veerbeek and Husson, 2013). For

example, communities living around African rangelands engage in livelihood activities

such as grazing, which is sensitive to extreme heat and has become more frequent

(Coppock et al., 2017). Furthermore, the grassland, which serves as the livestock’sfood

source, has signif‌icantly degraded over the years as a result of the effects of climate

change (Pricope et al.,2013). Moreover, the pastoral communities in Africa face multiple

challenges, such as poverty, food insecurity, rapid land use changes and a decline in

herder productivity due to insuff‌icient forage and the spread of diseases. These challenges

increase their sensitivity to climate change (Leal Filho et al.,2020;Cho et al.,2023).

Although various pastoral communities across Africa have made strides to adjust to the

impacts of climate change, they lack the capacity to make long-term adaptations and

manage subsequent trade-offs. This will vary depending on factors such as gender,

poverty level, household size, land size, age, knowledge of climate change and mixed

farming systems (Kgosikoma et al.,2018).

Nevertheless, there is a lack of studies on the extent of climate change research in

Africa, which is important to determine the success of pastoral adaptation efforts

(Baninla et al., 2022). In this study, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic

Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach is used to ensure a rigorous

investigation of the effectiveness of adaptation measures in addressing the impacts of

climate change on pastoral systems in Africa. The PRISMA approach provides

guidelines for conducting systematic research, outlining how the abstract, introduction,

methods, results and conclusions should be framed in a manner that can be easily

replicated (Page et al., 2021). Furthermore, this study uses the socio-ecological systems

(SES) approach to emphasise the importance of interconnected social and ecological

systems and their role in pastoral communities’responses to the impacts of climate

change. The SES approach is an interdisciplinary method used in environmental

International

Journal of Climate

Change Strategies

and Management

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