The KAZAVA team studies how communities and individual households use land, interact with wildlife, and are affected by drought, floods, and increasingly more unpredictable weather patterns. This project provides new knowledge regarding how the environment, institutions, and land use affect households and communities. The project aims to measure households’ ability to adapt to shocks (adaptive capacity) in the context of environmental change. Our research team used household surveys and participatory mapping to show how vulnerability shapes rural people’s land use decisions. Ongoing analyses of the data collected will be combined with data on the environment, economy, government, and NGO programs to explore where interventions that support adaptation can be targeted.
Field work for the KAZAVA Project had three distinct elements: household surveys, resource mapping, and vegetation reference sampling. The focus on data collection was in Namibia and Botswana in 2017, and Zambia in 2018. Below of photo highlights from time in the field. Please see sections "Reports and Research Products" and "Publications" for details on research output.
Field work for the KAZAVA Project had three distinct elements: household surveys, resource mapping, and vegetation reference sampling. The focus on data collection was in Namibia and Botswana in 2017, and Zambia in 2018. Below of photo highlights from time in the field. Please see sections "Reports and Research Products" and "Publications" for details on research output.
Field work in Namibia, Botswana and Zambia during May and June of 2017
Conservation agricultural initiatives in Zambia, enumeration training and household surveys in Namibia and Botswana highlighted in photo below.
Vegetation transects and unmanned aerial system data collection for study regions in Botswana (transects only) and Namibia
Field work in Namibia, Botswana and Zambia during May and June of 2018
Field work in Botswana with flood pictures highlighting water extent for different parts of Chobe Enclave. Other photos highlight introductions and a University of Namibia - Katima Mulilo workshop for drone technologies and field time in Zambia guided by Mr. Moses Nyoni.