Jossias Humbane: “Magude isn't like it used to be”: Intersections of social and climate change in Mozambique

Abstract

This thesis examines how rural communities in Magude, southern Mozambique, experience, interpret, and respond to climate change. Drawing on eleven months of ethnographic fieldwork that combined participant observation, in-depth interviews, and oral testimonies, it explores how smallholder farmers, herders, and fishermen perceive and cope with environmental disruptions such as droughts, irregular rainfall, and extreme weather. The study shows how these experiences are shaped by historical memory, cultural beliefs, and everyday struggles, highlighting the importance of traditional ecological knowledge and lived experience in shaping local responses to climate change. Community narratives reveal that climatic changes are understood not only as environmental phenomena but also as social and moral events, often linked to divine punishment, conflict, and the erosion of traditional values.

Situated within the anthropology of climate change and informed by political ecology and critical development studies, the thesis employs four interrelated analytical concepts: adaptation, resilience, local knowledge, and climate justice. It examines how communities draw on culturally embedded knowledge systems to interpret and respond to climate variability and how these responses are constrained by economic marginalisation, land tenure insecurity, and limited state support. Adaptation is treated not as a technical adjustment but as a relational and politically situated process shaped by inequality and power. The study further interrogates the interaction between local coping practices and formal climate governance, revealing tensions between top-down adaptation programs and bottom-up strategies. It argues that local knowledge is frequently overlooked or instrumentalised in official interventions, while rural communities are expected to be “resilient” without structural support.

Empirically, the thesis demonstrates that recurrent droughts, declining crop yields, and rising livestock diseases have disrupted the foundations of Magude’s rural economy, leading to an increased reliance on activities such as charcoal production, fishing, and small business. These practices reflect both creativity and constraint within contexts of enduring vulnerability. By centring the voices and experiences of rural Mozambicans, the thesis rehumanises the climate debate and challenges technocratic paradigms through a context-sensitive, ethnographically grounded account of adaptation. The findings have implications for both climate justice scholarship and policy efforts seeking more inclusive and equitable responses to the global climate crisis.