Climate change impacts on indigenous health promotion: the case study of Dikgale community in Limpopo Province,South Africa

Abstract

The most important determinants of indigenous health promotion are availability and accessibility of water, food and traditional medicine. It is for this reason that the 1986 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion proposed the inclusion of food, water and ecosystems in any health promotion strategies. The present study describes the extent to which climate change in the form of rainfall scarcity and increased temperatures impacts the availability and accessibility of quality water, food and traditional medicine as basic determinants of indigenous health promotion. In-depth interviews were conducted with 240 participants purposely selected from Dikgale community in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study results show that availability and accessibility of water, food and traditional medicine are negatively impacted by increased temperature and scarcity of rainfall. These resources are scarcely encountered, and where they exist, they are of poor quality. However, community members resorted to modern technological practices such as sourcing water from the municipal water reticulation system, buying foodstuffs from retail outlets and immunization against disease via modern health care facilities. It can be deduced from the study that the prerequisites of indigenous health promotion are climate-sensitive. They become available and accessible under favourable climate conditions, and are scarce under unfavourable climate conditions, a situation that compromises the practice of indigenous health promotion.