Within the scope of the RESILIM-O Project, three collaborative assessment workshops on resilience to climate change (called VSTEEP) and a workshop on the analysis of water-related ecosystem services in the district of Chokwe, Administrative post of Lionde, were held. The VSTEEP Workshops were held at the following locations: in the Xai-xai District, specifically at the Zongoene Administrative Post, in the Chokwe District- Lionde Administrative Post and in the Massingir District, the administrative post of the same name.
The Workshop on Collaborative Assessment of Climate Change Resilience (VSTEEP) held in the Xai-xai District, specifically at the Zongoene Administrative Post, was the first and was attended by governmental, non-governmental institutions and local communities from which it was possible to obtain the following main results in terms of the area’s vulnerability: the schedule of climatic events that were most striking and severe for the participants, and several changes that occurred along the Limpopo basin within the scope of climate change with emphasis on soil are found dry due to lack of rain, which means that even crops that are not dependent on rain do not develop, suffer when floods occur, and cyclones, however good practices were also adopted, such as: Awareness of the importance of conserving natural resources and willingness to take action and adopt community control mechanisms to discourage the felling of trees (health campaigns sensibilization).
In Lionde, the VSTEEP Workshop also included the participation of governmental, non-governmental and private institutions and local communities, where jointly the main problems were surveyed as being: the predominance in the occurrence of cyclical climatic events such as droughts, floods, and cyclones, more frequently since 2000 and soils are also subject to a phenomenon of salinization and leaching, lowering productivity. At the same event, the main strengths were mentioned as being: Community awareness of the importance of conserving natural resources, the will to act, the diversity of activities carried out by people, the existence of several local projects in progress, solidarity and involvement of local actors in these same activities.
The last workshop on collaborative assessment of climate change resilience (VSTEEP) was held in the district of Massingir, Massingir administrative post and was also attended by governmental, non-governmental institutions, civil society, leaders and local communities. The problems found in this area were: the occurrence of several changes, in recent times, compared to remote times, mainly in the Elephants ‘River, which has created direct impacts on the communities’ lives, the state of the river has also changed, and the water no longer follows the same course, which influences irrigation agriculture, poor functioning of the dam, as those who use motor pumps cannot draw water to irrigate the fields, there are no large agricultural projects in the area, only a private company, MAI, which officially occupies more than 30,000 ha, but its activities are not known in detail. There are agricultural projects that were started and ended suddenly, leaving people still at a higher level of poverty (example of PROCANA).
To combat this situation of lack of water, self-help projects were designed so that the associations receive financing from various institutions, as well as to make loans to fix damaged motor pumps.
The only Workshop on analyzing the quality of water-related systemic ecosystem services was held in Chokwe at the administrative post in Lionde, from where it was possible to see that several benefits existed in the past: there was no water shortage in the river and there were no prolonged droughts as at present and they drew water from wells (now fountains). There was support from private companies, such as support in seeds and motor pumps in times of drought (SEMOC company), in the production of crops such as rice and vegetables to support communities, which no longer exist, fishing activity was rich and they obtained diversity of species. Currently, due to the lack of rain, the conditions of the river are not the same, with a low level of water in the rivers, which negatively affects the economic activities of the riverside residents. There is weak production of vegetables (produced in rainfed) and a decrease in fish catches due to the reduction of some species of fish. The water for grazing is reduced, which causes a reduction in its production and the death of animals. Participants also consider that the level of water quality is low for human consumption.
In a conclusive way, it can be said that in the Limpopo basin area there is a great vulnerability to climate change, with the communities aware of this, and only the implementation of adaptation strategies is lacking.
