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- Agriculture continues to be the sector that uses the most freshwater resources compared to the industrial and domestic sectors.
- Climate is one of the variables that could contribute to growing water constraints.
- The sustainability of water can be affected by producers’ water-use decisions.
- The Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of the Free State conducted a study investigating the water use behaviour of smallholder maize irrigators.
- This study established a foundation for investigating water-use behaviour.
Despite its importance to the South African economy, agriculture continues to be the sector that uses the most freshwater resources compared to the industrial and domestic sectors. The effectiveness and sustainability of water usage in the agricultural sector are thus key subjects of discussion.
Climate is one of the variables that could contribute to South Africa’s growing water constraints. Since agriculture is the main user of water in South Africa, agricultural producers’ water-use behaviour is significantly influenced by climate variability. This makes it imperative to learn more about the decisions producers make and how climate variability affects their water-use patterns.
Investigating water use behaviour
Irrigated water is necessary to produce crops and related goods in the agricultural industry. It is important to understand how producers make decisions about using and allocating water for irrigation, as this affects how efficiently they use water in crop production. However, little is known about how water users make decisions and manage limited water resources during the production season.
The sustainability and availability of water can be affected by producers’ water-use decisions. As a result, water conservation strategies are becoming increasingly important to ensure efficient water use. However, these strategies are only effective if producers adopt and implement them. This again highlights the importance of understanding how producers make decisions about water use so that policies and other interventions can be better tailored to support sustainable water management.
The Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of the Free State conducted a study investigating the water use behaviour of smallholder maize irrigators in response to climate variability in the Vhembe District Municipality in Limpopo. To achieve this, the study employed a survey, the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), and structural equation modelling (SEM).
Study results
The results revealed that socio-economic characteristics impact producers’ willingness and decision-making process to adopt sustainable water practices. Moreover, the decision-making and water-use behaviour of smallholder maize producers is significantly influenced by socio-economic factors such as level of education, knowledge of climate change, off-farm income, and monthly household on-farm income, among others.
Attitudes and intention
Figure 1 illustrates the path coefficients, the sample mean, and standard deviation. Attitudes have a significant impact on small-scale irrigators’ intentions to adapt to climate variability. The findings demonstrated that attitudes have a significant impact on producers’ behaviour in respect of water use.
The path coefficient between attitudes and intention was found to be significantly positive at β = 0,619, p <0,01, implying a strong relationship between small-scale producers’ intentions and attitudes to adapt to climate variability impacts on their maize production. This implies that a positive attitude towards water conservation increases producers’ intention to perform and implement water conservation strategies in their maize production.
Figure 1: The calculated estimates of the structural model. (Source: Authors’ compilation)
Societal pressure
The results further revealed that subjective norms and intention had a positive and significant path coefficient (β = 0,103, p < 0,01), implying that the social setting where smallholder producers grow maize may influence their participation in a particular adaptation behaviour. A producer’s decision to adapt to climate unpredictability may be influenced by the societal pressure they encounter. This means that social and normative impacts on people should be considered while creating interventions for protecting water resources.
Level of control
Perceived behavioural control significantly influences smallholder irrigators’ intentions to adapt to climate variability, implying that producers are more likely to adopt water-saving behaviours if they feel more in control. The path coefficients between perceived behavioural control and intention were positively significant at β = 0,167, p < 0,01.
Additionally, a sense of control on the farm is crucial for changing behaviour. Specifically, when producers feel they can control their maize yield and water resources, they are more willing to adopt water-saving and climate variability strategies to reduce or mitigate the negative impacts of climate variability on maize production. Therefore, policymakers should focus on fostering empowerment and autonomy when designing and implementing interventions.
Financial constraints
These findings suggest that smallholder producers have limited access to financial services to adopt new technologies. Access to resources and resource mobilisation will enable them to be more in control and thus be more willing to implement new climate-conscious practices. As a result, it would help policymakers to make provisions for reducing the risk aversion of small-scale producers by increasing the sense of control in sustainable water practices. The study offers valuable guidance for policymakers and stakeholders to develop strategies that promote sustainable water use among producers in response to climate variability.
Conclusion
Agriculture is a key driver of South Africa’s economy, and it is also the largest consumer of freshwater resources, exceeding usage by the domestic and industrial sectors. This leads to many debates surrounding the efficiency and sustainability of water use within the agricultural industry.
Several factors could cause the rise of water scarcity in South Africa, one of them being climate variability. The variability in climatic conditions plays a substantial part in the water-use behaviour of agricultural producers because they are the primary water users in South Africa. This creates an urgent need to understand producers’ decisions better and how climate variability impacts their water-use behaviour.
This study established a foundation for investigating water-use behaviour in other crops and different agricultural settings in South Africa. The findings can support policymakers and stakeholders in various irrigation schemes in South Africa in implementing the necessary policies and guidelines to enhance the water-use behaviour of producers, and ensure that those measures directly target producers’ intention to adapt to climate variability.
The results have several important implications, which can be seen from two perspectives. From a theoretical perspective, the study extended the application of the TPB to the context of agriculture, particularly the adaptation to climate variability. This highlights the relevance of socio-psychological elements in smallholder producers’ adoption of behaviour and decision-making processes.
From a practical perspective, the results suggest that interventions aimed at improving producers’ attitudes towards climate variability, reinforcing positive social norms, and enhancing perceived control over adaptation practices could effectively increase the adaptive intentions of smallholder maize producers in South Africa. – Rachel Msila, Yonas T Bahta, Henry Jordaan, and Markus A Monteiro, University of the Free State.
We acknowledge and thank the Water Research Commission (WRC) of South Africa for funding the project “Assessing the social and economic impact of changed water use behaviour in selected production and irrigation schemes in South Africa” (contract/project number C20222023-00798). For more information, contact Prof Yonas T Bahta at bahtay@ufs.ac.za.
