Browsing by Author "Mamba, Sipho Felix"

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    Assessment of cyclone idai floods on local food systems and disaster management responses in Mozambique and Zimbabwe
    (Springer, Cham, 2021) Tevera, Daniel; Sibanda, Melusi; Mamba, Sipho Felix
    In recent years, countries in southern Africa have experienced frequent hydro-meteorological disasters, such as widespread flooding caused by tropical cyclones. This chapter takes a close look at the destructive aspects of tropical cyclone Idai in Mozambique and Zimbabwe and the emergency disaster management responses. The chapter also seeks to understand the impact of the cyclone on food systems. The chapter is based on a desktop study that made use of scholarly publications and various media and organisation reports as the main sources of secondary data. A key finding of the study is that as the cyclone swept across the two countries, it exposed the fragilities of the local food systems, thereby presenting food insecurity challenges that potentially undermined the drive towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 on hunger eradication. The other finding is that the disaster management responses in both countries focussed on the emergency needs in the affected areas without giving much attention to making the food systems more resilient.
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    Drought, urban resilience and urban food security in kaKhoza, Manzini, Swaziland
    (University of the Western Cape, 2019) Mamba, Sipho Felix; Tevera, Daniel
    Food security is the ability to secure an adequate daily supply of food that is affordable, hygienic and nutritious and it has become a chronic development problem in most urban areas of the global South. This thesis contributes to the urban food security debate by exploring the connection between drought and food security in urban Swaziland. Specifically, the study examines the effects of the 2015/16 drought on access to food in the informal settlement of kaKhoza in the city of Manzini. The study used climate change and food security conceptual framework to interrogate the connection between drought and food security in the urban context. The framework shows how climate change variables like extreme weather events (e.g. drought) impact food security drivers such as agricultural management, demographic, cultural and socio-economic variables, and how these drivers impact the four components of food security (food availability, access, utilization and stability of access). The study drew from both the positivistic and interpretivistic paradigms and adopted a case study approach based on the mixed methods research design. Data was collected from the informal settlement of kaKhoza using a three step procedure involving a questionnaire survey, in-depth interviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. A questionnaire was administered to 145 heads of households using systematic sampling technique. Purposive sampling was employed to select 30 and 8 respondents for in-depth and key informant interviews, respectively. The researcher also engaged the observation method approach to capture additional information about effects of drought as observed in the study site. The researcher adhered to all legal and ethical procedures during the data collection and research writing processes. As such, participation in the research was strictly voluntary without any form of coercion, whatsoever. The results reveal that drought contributes to food insecurity in low income urban spaces by reducing the quantity and frequency of free or low priced rural-urban food transfers. As a result, low income households have had to rely more on food purchases, thereby making them increasingly food insecure. The problem is compounded by reverse food flows from urban to rural areas. The drought induced food price hike, compelled many low-income households to be less dependent on the supermarket as the main source of their food, and to buy increased amounts of food from the vegetable markets and tuck shops. Residents employ different coping mechanisms to deal with drought induced food shortage, some of which are too risky and further expose them to food insecurity. These coping strategies include: skipping meals, begging, use of informal credit, over reliance on informal markets and selling of sexual favours, which expose respondents to HIV and AIDS infection.