Water for Goats or Cows? Best Way to Boost Resilience Isn't Always Clear
Building better resilience to the shocks and stresses climate change is bringing can be a complicated and confusing task
In northern rural areas of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province, men own the cattle and women the goats and chickens. But men also control use of the water in local dams, so when drought hits it is the cattle that get the water - and the goats and chickens that die.
"The men block access to the dam for the women, saying there's not enough water to ensure the survival of goats and cattle, so that means goats have to stay away," said Ronald Wesso, who leads research and policy for Oxfam South Africa.
But goats are hardier animals in times of drought, so protecting them makes more efficient use of limited resources, Wesso said.
Rod Waddington