187
© The Author(s) 2019
T. S. Rosenstock et al. (eds.), The Climate-Smart Agriculture Papers,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92798-5_16
Chapter 16
Considering Religion and Tradition
in Climate Smart Agriculture: Insights
from Namibia
Julia Davies, Dian Spear, Angela Chappel, Nivedita Joshi, Cecile Togarepi,
and Irene Kunamwene
16.1 Introduction
Rural communities in the semi-arid areas of southern Africa are particularly vulnerable to climate change because they depend predominantly on rain-fed agriculture
to support their livelihoods. In addition, a number of non-climatic issues—including poverty, inequality, education deficits and poor governance—render communities in these areas even more susceptible to climate-related problems. Climate-smart
agriculture (CSA) has the potential to increase the resilience of these vulnerable
communities because it integrates environmental management and climate-change
adaptation with social and economic sustainability (Chioreso and Munyayi 2015).
The implementation of CSA, however, has proven difficult in southern Africa.
Previous studies have shown that key barriers include inadequate policy and insufficient access to finances, technology, land and human resources (Barnard et al.
2015; Sibanda et al. 2017; Williams et al. 2015). Less is understood, however, about
how cultural barriers—norms, values, historical legacies, religious and traditional
beliefs and social identities—affect the adoption of CSA (Thomalla et al. 2015).
This study considers the role played by devotion (religious faith and belief) and
respect for tradition (preservation of time-honoured customs) (Schwartz 1992) in
J. Davies (*) · D. Spear · I. Kunamwene
African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI), University of Cape Town,
Rondebosch, South Africa
e-mail: julia.davies@uct.ac.za
A. Chappel · N. Joshi
Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Cape Town,
Cape Town, South Africa
C. Togarepi
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Old Administration Block,
University of Namibia Ogongo Campus, Ogongo, Namibia
© The Author(s) 2019
T. S. Rosenstock et al. (eds.), The Climate-Smart Agriculture Papers,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92798-5_16
Chapter 16
Considering Religion and Tradition
in Climate Smart Agriculture: Insights
from Namibia
Julia Davies, Dian Spear, Angela Chappel, Nivedita Joshi, Cecile Togarepi,
and Irene Kunamwene
16.1 Introduction
Rural communities in the semi-arid areas of southern Africa are particularly vulnerable to climate change because they depend predominantly on rain-fed agriculture
to support their livelihoods. In addition, a number of non-climatic issues—including poverty, inequality, education deficits and poor governance—render communities in these areas even more susceptible to climate-related problems. Climate-smart
agriculture (CSA) has the potential to increase the resilience of these vulnerable
communities because it integrates environmental management and climate-change
adaptation with social and economic sustainability (Chioreso and Munyayi 2015).
The implementation of CSA, however, has proven difficult in southern Africa.
Previous studies have shown that key barriers include inadequate policy and insufficient access to finances, technology, land and human resources (Barnard et al.
2015; Sibanda et al. 2017; Williams et al. 2015). Less is understood, however, about
how cultural barriers—norms, values, historical legacies, religious and traditional
beliefs and social identities—affect the adoption of CSA (Thomalla et al. 2015).
This study considers the role played by devotion (religious faith and belief) and
respect for tradition (preservation of time-honoured customs) (Schwartz 1992) in
J. Davies (*) · D. Spear · I. Kunamwene
African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI), University of Cape Town,
Rondebosch, South Africa
e-mail: julia.davies@uct.ac.za
A. Chappel · N. Joshi
Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Cape Town,
Cape Town, South Africa
C. Togarepi
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Old Administration Block,
University of Namibia Ogongo Campus, Ogongo, Namibia