Perspectives of nature-based tourism-dependent communities on climate change in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.

The intensity and frequency of climate extremes such as heat waves, droughts and extreme rainfall events are projected to rise. This will increase the severity of their impacts across socio-ecological systems. Economic sectors such as nature-based tourism become more vulnerable because of their reliance on climate and natural capital as key resources. While attempts have been made to understand how climate change may impact tourists and the industry itself, little is known about the same on tourism-dependent communities. This paper determines the extent to which tourism-dependent communities are vulnerable to climate change in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, to enhance their wider livelihood the development of strategies for improving adaptive capacity, resilience, and reduced exposure sensitivities. A household survey of 172 households was conducted in three purposively selected villages of Mababe, Sankuyo and Khwai, actively involved in community-based tourism for their socio-economic development. Information sourced related to livelihood options, peoples' resilience, local risks, and hazards. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The results indicate that respondents have observed climatic changes over the years such as increased temperatures, decreased rainfall, and increased frequencies of extreme events. The respondents attributed changes in natural capital to these observed climatic conditions in the form of desiccation, dwindling populations of some wildlife species, decreased fish stocks and reduced vegetation cover. This renders the tourism-dependent communities vulnerable as their livelihood is threatened. The paper thus concludes that climate change adaptation is an urgent priority for local communities who are already exposed to existing climatic and non-climatic stresses.

Community Knowledge, Perceptions and Experiences on Healthcare Services for Malaria Prevention and Treatment in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.

This paper analyses community knowledge, perceptions, and experiences of effectiveness of healthcare service provision on malaria prevention/treatment in two disease-endemic villages of the Okavango Delta panhandle in northern Botswana. A stratified random sampling of 355 households was conducted in October-November 2015. Follow-up retrospective cohort interviews were undertaken in August 2016 from 79 households that reported malaria incidences during the household survey. Data were also collected from 16 key informant interviews and 2 focus group discussions participants. Descriptive statistics and content analyses were used to summarise quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. Results indicate that communities in the study sites had positive perceptions about efficiency of health services based on availability, accessibility and utilization, adequacy of prevention and treatment interventions. Local health clinics were crucial information channels used by respondents. Additionally, factors related to acceptability, availability and accessibility are likely to contribute to perceived effectiveness of the interventions provided by healthcare service providers. Affirmation of efficiency health service provision against malaria has public health implications for adherence to treatment/prevention and participation in community health education campaigns and program implementation in the Okavango Delta region.

Household water access and COVID-19 in Karoi town, Zimbabwe.

Water is a crucial resource in the fight against coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which was first discovered in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, and which has since become a pandemic. Thus, clean water unavailability constitutes a risk to people's wellbeing as the chances of contracting the disease is high without it. The World Health Organisation (WHO) prescribed hygiene as a critical measure to control the spread of this highly transmissible disease. As frequent washing of hands and observing general rules of hygiene could mitigate the spread of the disease, access to clean and adequate water supply is one of the fundamental ways of stopping the pandemic. There has, therefore, been a high demand for water across the world in a bid to address the problem. Specifically, the general lockdown and the need to frequently wash hands coupled with the obsolete water infrastructure in Zimbabwe have worsened water access problems for the citizenry. This study, therefore, assessed water access in Karoi town in Zimbabwe. Adopting a household water access conceptual framework, the study investigated six residential areas where a sample of 150 household heads were randomly selected and interviewed. Data on water access were obtained from the respondents using interview schedules. In-depth information on the subject was also obtained from four key informants working at Karoi Town Council (KTC) and Zimbabwe Water Authority (ZINWA). The results showed that households had knowledge on the importance of water availability and hygiene in relation to COVID-19 prevention, leading to an intensified high demand for water and consequently water shortage in the area. The study recommends that KTC and ZINWA need to improve on its water infrastructure and enhance the subsidization of improved water access during the COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 pandemic.