Loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate variability and climate change is currently an important topic being discussed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This study investigated loss and damage from floods and droughts among rural households living near the Limpopo, Zambezi and Save rivers in Mozambique. We used a questionnaire survey (n = 303) and qualitative research tools. The study showed that farmers in the research areas were caught between two evils. In the uplands, conditions for agriculture are extremely poor and crop yields are low; moreover, farmers face considerable risk of crop failure when drought hits. In the lowlands, close to the river, soil and water conditions are more favourable, but these areas experience frequent floods. Evidence from this study shows that farmers in the research areas are severely affected by both floods and droughts, and their capacity to cope and adapt is limited. With very little livelihood diversification and poor access to markets, crop failures translate almost directly into severe food insecurity among the population.
Extreme droughts in the northern part of Burkina Faso are locally referred to as tundi, meaning 'dirty weather', because they severely disrupt people's livelihoods in the area. This article investigates the loss and damage from the tundi droughts that occurred in 2004 and 2010 in the Sahel Region. The study conducted field survey among households in ten villages. We found that people's reliance on transhumance has been decreasing over the last decades due to the lack of good pastures, competition over natural resources and corollary conflicts. Whereas transhumance was an effective way to deal with droughts and seasonality, decreased mobility and increased interdependence between cattle and crop production has made people more vulnerable in the event of extreme droughts. Evidences from the survey results show that the vast majority of the respondents experienced negative effects of recent tundi droughts on crops (96%) and livestock (87%). It is also found that such extreme droughts tend to have a cascading impact; they first cause a lack of water affecting seedling and crop yields, which then affects the availability of food for people and feed for livestock. This, in turn, further limits their capacity to cope with future droughts.
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