Vulnerability, impact and adaptation strategies of female farmers to climate variability.

In Africa, agriculture, particularly crop production, is a vital livelihood practice for women, who provide a larger proportion of the labour force. However, the high reliance on rain-fed agriculture, coupled with other socio-economic constraints, exposes female farmers to climatic risks. This paper investigates the participation of women in crop production, key challenges and their coping strategies for climatic disturbances. Drawing on the experiences of female farmers of Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) in Mpumalanga, South Africa, the study blended qualitative and quantitative approaches to gather data on their vulnerability and adaptation strategies to climatic shocks. A questionnaire administered through face-to-face interaction and online surveys was the main instrument used to obtain data. This study revealed diverse challenges faced by female farmers in the form of high susceptibility to climatic disruptions, limited funding and gaps in accessing agricultural inputs and equipment (machinery, seeds and fertilisers) and pests. The effects of climate variability manifest in low crop outputs and inferior yields, food insecurity and loss of revenue. The most preferred coping strategies are changing planting and harvesting dates, followed by eating less food, looking for jobs and crop rotation. Although the main source of support comes from both family and government, the majority of the female farmers do not use modern scientific-based and input-intensive agricultural coping strategies such as the use of irrigation systems because of lack of livelihood assets and lower literacy levels.

Pervious concrete reactive barrier for removal of heavy metals from acid mine drainage - column study.

This paper presents a column study conducted to investigate the potential use of pervious concrete as a reactive barrier for treatment of water impacted by mine waste. The study was done using acid mine drainage (AMD) collected from a gold mine (WZ) and a coalfield (TDB). Pervious concrete mixtures consisting of Portland cement CEM I 52.5R with or without 30% fly ash (FA) were prepared at a water-cementitious ratio of 0.27 then used to make cubes which were employed in the reactor columns. It was found that the removal efficiency levels of Al, Fe, Mn, Co and Ni were 75%, 98%, 99%, 94% and 95% for WZ; 87%, 96%, 99%, 98% and 90% for TDB, respectively. The high rate of acid reduction and metal removal by pervious concrete is attributed to dissolution of portlandite which is a typical constituent of concrete. The dominant reaction product in all four columns was gypsum, which also contributed to some removal of sulphate from AMD. Formation of gypsum, goethite, and Glauber's salt were identified. Precipitation of metal hydroxides seems to be the dominant metal removal mechanism. Use of pervious concrete offers a promising alternative treatment method for polluted or acidic mine water.