On Climate Change and Small-scale farming in Ebenhaeser

Climate Change (CC) is arguably the most pressing topic of our modern society. It threatens to push our adaptive capacity to breaking point, having significant impacts on the livelihoods of small-scale farmers of the developing world, and in South Africa specifically. This study investigates how local knowledge and agriculture-based coping practices of small-scale farmers of the Ebenhaeser community are adapted to deal with and attempt to reduce the vulnerability of their livelihoods to CC. The study reveals that local farmers recognize the threats of CC, that they have been developing coping practices in response the CC based largely on their own local knowledge, and that these local bodies of knowledge were themselves affected by CC. An important finding of this study is that unless local social, historic, economic, political and physical conditions and realities are addressed in a comprehensive and holistic manner, there is no real prospect of any sort of sustainable, long-term CC adaption solutions for the small-scale farmers of the community, and perhaps the country as a whole.