An Analysis of Climate Change Threats to Cultural Practices: A Case Study of the Dikgale Community, South Africa
Sejabaledi Agnes Rankoana 
Issue: Vol.4 No.13 Article 12 pp.1545-1552
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202341312 | Published online 21st December, 2023
© 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Scientists and policymakers are failing to account for the influence of climate change on many facets of cultural life. Much emphasis is placed on the effects of climate change on agriculture, with less emphasis placed on how low crop and livestock output may affect socio-cultural activities. The current study investigated the effects of climate change on the socio-cultural practices of the Dikgale community in South Africa’s Limpopo Province. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 150 participants purposely selected in a rural community. The study’s findings revealed that cultural activities that foster communities’ cohesion are already under threat from the effects of climate change. Temperature fluctuations and irregular rainfall negatively impacted cultural festivities such as the first fruit rituals, rain-making rituals, cultural entertainments, and bride price payment. To complete the rites and meet marital requirements, subsistence crops and cattle are used. Poor subsistence crop and livestock production has left the rituals obsolete, and as a result, these customs are rarely practised and have been supplanted by western practices. If this cultural heritage is lost, rural communities will lose significant social, cultural, and economic values. The study contributes to the less documented intangible cultural heritage dimensions impacted by climate change.
Keywords: Climate Change, Socio-Cultural Practices, Cultural Heritage, Limpopo Province
Adger, W. Neil, Jon Barnett, Katrina Brown, Nadine Marshall, and Karen O’Brien. “Cultural Dimensions of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation.” Nature Climate Change 3, no. 2 (February 11, 2013): 112–17. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1666.
Assessment, Millennium Ecosystem. “Cultural and Amenity Services.” Ecosystems and Human Well-Being, Rd Groot and PS Ramakrishnan, Editors, 2005, 457–75.
Change, Climate. The Future of Our Pasts: Engaging Cultural Heritage in Climate Action Outline of Climate Change and Cultural Heritage. International Council on Monuments and Sites-ICOMOS, 2019.
Chikosi, Enerst Shingai, Shingirai Stanley Mugambiwa, Happy Mathew Tirivangasi, and Sejabaledi Agnes Rankoana. “Climate Change and Variability Perceptions in Ga-Dikgale Community in Limpopo Province, South Africa.” International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management 11, no. 3 (2019): 392–405.
Devkota, Rohini Prasad, Geoff Cockfield, and Tek Narayan Maraseni. “Perceived Community-Based Flood Adaptation Strategies under Climate Change in Nepal.” International Journal of Global Warming 6, no. 1 (2014): 113. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJGW.2014.058758.
Fourment, Mercedes, Milka Ferrer, Gérard Barbeau, and Hervé Quénol. “Local Perceptions, Vulnerability and Adaptive Responses to Climate Change and Variability in a Winegrowing Region in Uruguay.” Environmental Management 66 (2020): 590–99.
Helman, Cecil. Culture, Health and Illness. CRC press, 2007.
Hollowed, Anne Babcock, Kirstin Kari Holsman, Alan C. Haynie, Albert J. Hermann, Andre E. Punt, Kerim Aydin, James N. Ianelli, et al. “Integrated Modeling to Evaluate Climate Change Impacts on Coupled Social-Ecological Systems in Alaska.” Frontiers in Marine Science 6 (January 14, 2020). https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00775.
http://statistics South Africa.org. “Statistics South Africa Mid-Year Population Statistics. ,” 2021.
https://www.polokwane.gov.za/SPX News Article. “ Polokwane Local Municipality Integrated Development Plan 2022/2023,” 2022.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). “Summary for Policymakers.” In The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
IWGIA News. “International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. International Year of Indigenous Languages, .” https://www. iwgia.org/en/news/3302-year-of-indigenous-languages.html., January 2019.
Massey, Justine Marrion. Climate Change, Culture and Cultural Rights. UN, 2020. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/CulturalRights/Call_ClimateChange/JMassey.pdf.
Mushore, Terence Darlington, Teddious Mhizha, Moven Manjowe, Linia Mashawi, Electdom Matandirotya, Emmanuel Mashonjowa, Collen Mutasa, Juliet Gwenzi, and George Tawanda Mushambi. “Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies for Small Holder Farmers: A Case of Nyanga District in Zimbabwe.” Frontiers in Climate 3 (August 6, 2021). https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.676495.
Orr, Scott Allan, Jenny Richards, and Sandra Fatorić. “Climate Change and Cultural Heritage: A Systematic Literature Review (2016–2020).” The Historic Environment: Policy & Practice 12, no. 3–4 (October 2, 2021): 434–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/17567505.2021.1957264.
Pearson, Jasmine, Guy Jackson, and Karen E McNamara. “Climate-Driven Losses to Knowledge Systems and Cultural Heritage: A Literature Review Exploring the Impacts on Indigenous and Local Cultures.” The Anthropocene Review 10, no. 2 (August 15, 2023): 343–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196211005482.
Rankoana, Sejabaledi A. “Perceptions of Climate Change and the Potential for Adaptation in a Rural Community in Limpopo Province, South Africa.” Sustainability 8, no. 8 (2016): 672.
Schramm, Paul J, Angelica L Al Janabi, Larry W Campbell, Jamie L Donatuto, and Shasta C Gaughen. “How Indigenous Communities Are Adapting To Climate Change: Insights From The Climate-Ready Tribes Initiative: Analysis Examines How Indigenous Communities Are Adapting to Climate Change.” Health Affairs 39, no. 12 (2020): 2153–59.
Smith, Jordan W., Dorothy H. Anderson, and Roger L. Moore. “Social Capital, Place Meanings, and Perceived Resilience to Climate Change*.” Rural Sociology 77, no. 3 (September 20, 2012): 380–407. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1549-0831.2012.00082.x.
Straza, T, S Lui, and B Burfitt. “Effects of Climate Change on Society, Culture and Gender Relevant to the Pacific Islands.” Pacific Marine Climate Change Report Card: Science Review, 2018, 201–10.
Tirivangasi, Happy M, Shaun N Makwala, and Sejabaledi A Rankoana. “Public Perceptions of Climate Change: A Rural Case Study of Motupa Community in Limpopo Province, South Africa,” n.d.
Wit, Sara de, and Sophie Haines. “Climate Change Reception Studies in Anthropology.” WIREs Climate Change 13, no. 1 (January 14, 2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.742.
Workalemahu, Sisay, and Ibsa Dawid. “Smallholder Farmers’ Adaptation Strategies, Opportunities and Challenges to Climate Change: A Review.” International Journal of Food Science and Agriculture 5, no. 4 (October 20, 2021): 592–600. https://doi.org/10.26855/ijfsa.2021.12.005.
Professor Sejabaledi Agnes Rankoana is an established researcher in the field of medical anthropology with special focus on medical ethnobotany, food security and climate change.
Rankoana, Sejabaledi Agnes. “An Analysis of Climate Change Threats to Cultural Practices: A Case Study of the Dikgale Community, South Africa.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 4, no.13 (2023): 1545-1552. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202341312
© 2023 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
