Policy coherence between food security, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in South Africa: A summative content analysis approach.

Climate change through extreme weather events threatens food security (FS) and the eradication of poverty. Thus, improving FS will require adapting to the impacts of climate change as well as reducing the risks of disasters. However, the nexus between FS, disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) is not always reflected in policies, resulting in fragmented implementation. The purpose of this article is to evaluate if there is coherence in the policies for FS, DRR and CCA in South Africa. A qualitative research design was applied, and data were collected through a summative content analysis on 34 policy and legislative documents and 24 key informant interviews (KII). The study found that there are still incoherencies between the current main policy and legislative documents that address CCA, DRR and FS. This study recommends a review of old policy and legislative frameworks promulgated in the 1990s to incorporate cross-cutting issues such as DRR, CCA and FS. This will enhance and strengthen synergies and interconnections between the three policy areas.

An exploration of the tractability of the objectivist frame of disaster risk in policy implementation in Zimbabwe.

Despite the growing evidence pointing towards disaster risk as a social construction, the objectivist frame still dominates the conceptual frameworks constructed around disaster risk in Zimbabwe. As disasters continue to occur with increasing regularity and ferocity, the usefulness of the objectivist frame of disaster risk in minimising the devastating effects of disasters is questionable. This article investigates how framing affects the tractability of the objectivist frame of disaster risk in Zimbabwe by using the Tokwe-Mukosi flood disaster of 2014 as a case study. The research utilised secondary data and semi-structured interviews with senior managers and specialists in disaster risk management in Zimbabwe to explore factors affecting the tractability of the objectivist frame in implementation. The results of the study suggest that tractability of the objectivist frame is mainly affected by its limited understanding of the causes of, and solutions to, disasters. The frame ignores rival frames crucial in disaster causality, such as the constructivist frame, and in 'ignorance' it harbours 'latent' failures which only become apparent on the occurrence of a particular major disaster. Moreover, the objectivist frame of disaster risk requires significant administrative and technical expertise and funding to be tackled effectively, which are not readily available especially in developing countries. The frame is also reactive in dealing with disasters, which makes it prone to 'policy surprises', leading to 'policy disasters' where disasters are viewed as direct consequences of policy choices. The article concludes that for Zimbabwe to achieve its goal of minimising the impacts of disasters, greater efforts must be made in reframing disaster risk by integrating the objectivist frame with the social constructivist frame.