Navigating climate change challenges in Sudd wetland fishing communities, South Sudan

John Sebit Benansio (), Stephan Michael Funk (), John Ladu Lino (), Johnson Jiribi Balli (), Raphael Filberto Talamuk (), John Ohitai Dante (), Daniele Dendi (), Julia E. Fa () and Luca Luiselli ()
Additional contact information
John Sebit Benansio: AERD – Alliance for Environment and Rural Development
Stephan Michael Funk: Nature Heritage
John Ladu Lino: AERD – Alliance for Environment and Rural Development
Johnson Jiribi Balli: University of Juba
Raphael Filberto Talamuk: University of Juba
John Ohitai Dante: University of Juba
Daniele Dendi: IDECC - Institute for Development Ecology Conservation and Cooperation, Via G. Tomasi Di Lampedusa 33
Julia E. Fa: Manchester Metropolitan University
Luca Luiselli: IDECC - Institute for Development Ecology Conservation and Cooperation, Via G. Tomasi Di Lampedusa 33

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 2025, vol. 30, issue 1, No 4, 27 pages

Abstract: Abstract Inland fisheries in the Sudd region of South Sudan, one of the world´s largest wetland and a RAMSAR site, are vital for local livelihoods and food security of dependent families. Although detailed studies are lacking due to the recent history of war, civil strife and extreme poverty, South Sudan has been experiencing substantially warmer and drier weather in the last century. How local fisherfolk adapt to increasingly erratic rainfall, droughts and floods remains unknown. We surveyed 294 fishers and agro-pastoralists, who also fish, in 28 villages in the upper Sudd in southern South Sudan using questionnaires. Although fishing is a main activity, interviewees depend on alternative income streams, particularly forest products, agriculture and livestock breeding. To cope with the changing climate, interviewees reported they have developed multiple coping strategies. These include fishing- and agriculture-related strategies, tree planting, tree felling, social support and migration. However, tree-felling can reinforce the negative effects of flooding and drought. Barriers to climate change adaptation include the lack of weather forecasts, coping skills as well as declining market access and the erosion of traditional knowledge. The majority of respondents expressed a favourable view of civil society actors, considering them instrumental in facilitating climate change adaptation efforts. Because of weak governance, lack of local and national expertise and widespread extreme poverty, international organisations and NGOs need to support the South Sudanese state and society to adapt to the changing environmental circumstances.

Keywords: Climate change and variability; Community resilience; Coping strategy; Livelihood; Adaptation; Inland fishers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11027-024-10190-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:masfgc:v:30:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11027-024-10190-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11027

DOI: 10.1007/s11027-024-10190-w

Access Statistics for this article

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change is currently edited by Robert Dixon

More articles in Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().