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Unsustainable use of electricity has severe implications on the environment and human well-being. With an estimated consumption of about 20% of total global electricity demand, the household sector is a key player in efforts for crafting interventions for reducing electricity consumption. Despite increasing calls for behavioural solutions to electricity conservation at the household level, more attention has been paid to technical than behavioural interventions. Yet a deeper understanding of electricity use behaviour is needed to design interventions and engender integration of behavioural interventions into demand-side management and decision making. Although South Africa is energy insecure and a major greenhouse gas emitter, less attention has been paid to household electricity use using behavioural lenses. Using a scoping review approach, this study inductively reviewed publications to examine the state of research on household electricity use in South Africa, focussing on (1) research trends and contexts, (2) conceptual focus, (3) proposed interventions for reducing electricity consumption and (4) future research needs. Very few publications considered reported and actual electricity use behaviour. Most publications (65%) paid attention to technical dimensions for reducing household electricity consumption such as economic nudges and technical retrofits, rather than behavioural strategies. Of the publications that focussed on behaviour, very few explicitly examined reported electricity use behaviour. Most publications did not consider the role of partnerships in designing interventions for reducing electricity consumption but rather employed individualistic perspectives. Overall, the results suggest that calls for behaviour change research have not been fully heeded. More studies on electricity use behaviour in different contexts, including across an income heterogeneity gradient, and the role of context dependent collective settings in drafting interventions, are required to better inform pathways to sustainable electricity use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of climate change on the germination and growth of invasive alien plants varies depending on the plant species and invasion process. We experimentally assessed the responses of the invasive alien plant Acacia mearnsii to future climate change scenarios—namely, elevated temperature as well as high and low rainfall. Acacia mearnsii was grown at an elevated air temperature (+2 °C), high rainfall (6 mm per day), and low rainfall (1.5 mm per day), and its germination and growth performance were measured over five months. We further examined changes in soil nutrients to assess if the above-mentioned climate change scenarios affected soils. Both elevated temperature and high rainfall did not influence A. mearnsii germination and seedling growth. In contrast, we observed reductions in A. mearnsii germination and growth in the low rainfall treatment, an indication that future drought conditions might negatively affect A. mearnsii invasion. We noted that elevated temperature and rainfall resulted in varied effects on soil properties (particularly soil C, N, Ca, and Mg content). We conclude that both elevated temperature and high rainfall may not enhance A. mearnsii invasion through altering germination and growth, but a decrease in A. mearnsii invasiveness is possible under low rainfall conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human practices are at the centre of unsustainable electricity use at the household level, which means behaviour change strategies can form pathways towards electricity conservation. Although behaviour change interventions are useful in promoting electricity savings at the household level, they are rarely inclusive and informed by the users of electricity. Using a field-based experiment, this study examines the impact of co-designed interventions on household electricity consumption among low-income households in Makhanda, South Africa. The results show that co-designed interventions yielded significantly more electricity savings (5%) than prescriptive interventions (2%) over the intervention period. Participant households exposed to the co-designed interventions showed electricity savings of up to 14% post the intervention period, suggestive of positive persistent effects. Household size and employment status had a significant negative effect on electricity consumption while age, employment status, and baseline electricity consumption yielded positive effects. Electricity savings were positively correlated with involvement and trust, perceived behavioural control, and the intention to act pro-environmentally. The results highlight that co-designed interventions can yield significant electricity savings, which can in turn, result in grid stability, and reduced electricity expenditures and carbon emissions. A key contribution of this study lies in advancing our understanding of the effects of user-driven approaches in yielding persistent electricity-saving behaviour, which to date has not been a focus of intervention studies. In particular, the findings lend support to notions of supporting the agency of electricity users in co-developing solutions for local sustainability challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is a natural phenomenon which can cause widespread socio-economic and environmental impacts. Recent predictions suggest that drought frequency and intensity will increase in Southern Africa; therefore, there is a need for more scientific information on drought impacts and responses by vulnerable groups such as smallholder farmers. This scoping review examines the current state of research and conceptual insights on the impacts of drought on and responses by smallholder farmers in rural and urban settings in South Africa. We used three bibliographic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCOHost) to search for peer-reviewed literature published on South Africa. In total, 18 articles were reviewed, and information on drought impacts and responses among smallholder farmers was analysed and synthesised. Although most of the reviewed papers identified several socio-economic (e.g., loss of livestock, income, and employment) and environmental (e.g., loss of grazing land and vegetation) impacts of drought, the identified impacts were rarely quantified, and there is a lack of analytical depth of these impacts. Smallholder farmers in South Africa implement several drought responses, and these were categorised based on (i) changes in local practices and lifestyles e.g., practising conservation agriculture, (ii) structural measures e.g., government relief programmes, and (iii) technical interventions e.g., rain harvesting. None of the reviewed papers reported on the impacts of and responses to drought on smallholder farmers in urban settings. Overall, the review noted that the literature on drought in South Africa lacks detailed quantification and analysis of drought impacts and responses, the urban drought context is poorly understood, and there is a lack of clarity on the distinction between adaptation and mitigation strategies. Improving our understanding of drought impacts across a rural-urban gradient is important if responses are to effectively reduce smallholder farmer drought vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Households consume up to 20% of overall electricity consumption globally; hence, they are important role players in efforts towards promoting sustainable consumption. Research on electricity use behaviour is important for informing intervention strategies; however, relative to developed countries, research on this subject is lacking in developing countries where electricity access is limited. In South Africa, electricity use behaviour among poor neighbourhoods remains little studied and understood. This study was carried out among low-income households in Makhanda, South Africa, characterised by high poverty and unemployment rates, low education levels, and limited access to basic services. Using a self-reporting approach, electricity use behaviour of low-income households was assessed against a list of common household electricity use actions. A survey of 297 households was conducted. The findings show mixed results, with households reporting both good electricity use behaviour (e.g., cooling down hot food before refrigeration and using washing machines on full load) and wasteful actions (e.g., leaving appliances on standby). Our results show that electricity use behaviour was influenced by socio-psychological values including universalism, benevolence, hedonism, and power. Some of the reported electricity behavioural patterns are consistent with those previously reported among high-income households. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of sustainability has been integrated into many aspects of development to emphasise human needs now and in the future. Sustainable urbanization objectives are pertinent in the context of rapidly expanding African cities, in which urban inhabitants experience challenges associated with poor sanitation, climate hazards, and energy and food insecurity. There are increasing calls for embracing transdisciplinary (TD) research for mapping pathways towards sustainability in these ever-growing cities, particularly by integrating academic, practitioner, and societal knowledge to design effective and contextually relevant responses to existing and emerging challenges. Though transdisciplinary processes are growing in developing countries, dispersed literature on and a growing number of projects applying TD research in different contexts make it difficult to learn from and develop useful frameworks for implementation. To make lessons more accessible to a growing audience, this paper provides a reflective account of two urban sustainability TD projects that were designed and implemented in Ghana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The contexts within which these TD research projects took place are described, as are ways in which relevant stakeholders were involved in and benefitted from the codesign and realisation of the respective projects. Based on experiences, the paper reflects on the challenges of and opportunities for TD research in Africa for urban sustainability, which provides insights for enhancing this practice in Africa. The paper ends with considerations for TD practice and theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of plant fibre products is considered a promising pathway for contributing to people's livelihoods particularly in developing countries, where economic options might be limited. However, there are limited comparative studies across countries on plant fibre products, making it difficult to examine how local and broader biophysical, socioeconomic, cultural and policy contexts influence craft production patterns in terms of primary plant resources used, products made and contributions to livelihoods. Using household surveys for data collection, this paper presents findings from a comparative analysis of plant fibre craft production and income in three southern African countries, Eswatini, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Although there was commonality in terms of the constraints experienced across the three countries, there were pronounced differences in the types and quantity of products and income between and within countries. The average gross monthly income from craft sales was modest and of the same order of magnitude across the three countries but 50% higher in Zimbabwe (US$75 ± 135) than in Eswatini (US$56 ± 71) and Malawi (US$48 ± 168). High craft income was associated with long experience in craft production, quantity of craft products and access to bulk buyers while old age, more income sources, high education level and bigger households yielded low craft income. Although craft income tended to be low, the economic contexts in these countries characterised by high levels of poverty, craft income represents an important livelihood source. Implications for policy interventions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, households' consumption of electricity contributes to a substantial proportion of total national energy demand. Thus, the residential sector is a major entity in efforts to define and achieve global sustainability goals. Understanding electricity use behaviour and factors underlying behaviour is critical for designing behaviour change interventions, particularly in contexts characterised by fast-growing economies, burgeoning number of high-income households, and consumption growth. However, relative to developed economies, very little is known on this subject in South Africa. Using structured questionnaires, this study examines electricity use behaviour among high-income households in Johannesburg, South Africa. Findings indicate evidence of electricity-saving behaviour, but the proportion of households doing so was less than 50% for many actions, indicative of widespread wasteful habits. Other particular wasteful electricity use habits include leaving electronic gadgets and appliances on 'standby' mode, not turning off electric water heaters and not defrosting fridges without automatic settings. The findings lend support to the positive and negative influence of self-transcendence and egoistic values respectively on environmental behaviour, but other value orientations did not yield significant relationships. The implications of the findings on practical interventions for and theoretical constructs underlying strategies for environmentally-sustainable behaviour are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human behaviour is at the centre of most environmental problems; hence, the promotion of pro-environmental behaviour is considered to be a pathway towards sustainability. Despite the availability of insights gained from pro-environmental behaviour studies, mainly from household and workplace settings, a key question remains—can these insights be applied in university residence settings? Within university campuses, student residences are a major entity in sustainability debates because they are major consumers of resources including paper, water and energy with severe repercussions for university budgets and the environment. Using a questionnaire survey, this study explores reported pro-environmental behaviour and its determinants at Rhodes University, South Africa. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics where relevant. The findings show a high level of heterogeneity in reported pro-environmental behaviour, attributed to a suite of internal and external factors. Internal dispositional factors seemed to constrain students from acting pro-environmentally. This study highlights the need to encourage environmental behaviour in university residence settings by supporting the antecedents of and getting rid of barriers to pro-environmental actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]