Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references. / In 2009, severe water scarcity in the Eden District resulted in seven municipalities being declared "drought zones". This was largely attributed to the lowest rainfall recorded in 132 years and widely recognised as a climate changed problem (SABC News, 2009). The Eden District administrative centre, the municipality of George, was also identified as significantly drought affected with water storage declining in the Garden Route Dam to 26.8% of Full Capacity Storage (Department of Water Affairs, 2010). The declaration of the drought emergency in South Africa's Eden District in 2009 illustrates the increasing episodes of urban water scarcity in rapidly growing urban centres in Africa that are also exposed to climate variability. Specifically this study sought to investigate the atmospheric and human-induced risk drivers that contributed to the acute urban water scarcity in the George Municipality from 2009-2010.

Includes bibliographical references. / Nutrition transition is a phenomenon occurring throughout most of the developing world whereby traditional diets are increasingly being replaced by Western diets. In the literature, globalization is described as the main factor promoting such a transition. In adopting Western lifestyles, people abandon their traditional foods and adopt a Western diet which largely consists of energy-dense, nutritionally poor and highly processed foods. The nutrition transition, the underlying causes and its subsequent impacts on public health are well documented in the literature. However, there is a gap in the literature explaining the different ways in which the nutrition transition unfolds in the lives of people. Therefore this research project tries to document the lived experience of a changing food system in the Mauritian context. Mauritius has been selected as the study site because it is a microcosm of the casual factors driving the nutrition transition and also because the food system is rapidly changing. In 2008, the status of the country changed from being a net food exporter to a net food importer. A rural and urban site namely, Bambous Virieux and Tranquebar, Port-Louis have been selected to understand the different food geographies and to investigate the ways people in different locations experience a changing food system. By means of in-depth interviews, narratives and observation, the difference aspects of a changing food system is investigated. This study approaches the phenomenon of nutrition transition from the research participants’ lens.

Bibliography: p.94-104. / An environmental study of the Lourens River estuary was completed, whereby field surveys were undertaken and all available knowledge was collated. The Lourens estuary is a small system opening into False Bay, Southwestern Cape; it is almost entirely enclosed within AECI security fences and access to the public is restricted. Physicochemical parameters exhibit seasonal variations and the estuary may be marine dominated in summer and river dominated during the wet season. Terrestrial and aquatic biota are generally depauperate. The poor ecological quality of the estuary may be attributed primarily to periodic pollution inputs from the AECI main drain discharge, but also to the complex arrangements of land ownership and administrative controls and the influences of urban, industrial and agricultural developments in the river basin. It is recommended. that attention be paid to the management and conservation of the Lourens River system.

In South African urban centres the development of Alternative Food Systems (AFS) have been partially attributed with seeking to overcome the exclusion enforced through the apartheid regime’s racial planning policies. It was during this period that poor African households were forcibly relocated to the periphery of urban areas, creating even greater distances between themselves and everyday amenities, such as food retailers, which were typically found in more affluent zones. As a result, AFS emerged through informal activities to reduce the lack of access to necessary resources that these underserved communities experienced. Even at the end of the apartheid regime and the subsequent increased expansion of formal food retailers in many of these low-income communities, access to food continues to be major challenge. Consequently, AFS fulfil an essential role by providing low income neighbourhoods with alternative and affordable sources of food. This research examines the extent to which AFS, such as the Siyazenzela food garden project, contribute to food security for the Phiri community in Soweto and if it is feasible for the project to meet these needs single-handedly. The results indicate that the project plays an important role by providing locals with accessible, fresh, diverse, affordable and culturally acceptable foods. However, one of the considerable challenges for the initiative is its inability to maintain a constant supply of produce throughout the year. This leaves many of its patrons having to seek food from other sources, which may not necessarily offer the same quality and affordable goods, or they resort to consuming less fresh produce. Therefore, the study brings to the surface the need to question how such systems function and if their methods always result in safe, healthier and environmentally friendly grown produce as the literature assert.

Crop models (CMs) can be a key component in addressing issues of global food security as they can be used to monitor and improve crop production. Regardless of their wide utilization, the employment of these models, particularly in isolated and rural areas, is often limited by the lack of reliable input data. This data scarcity increases uncertainties in model outputs. Nevertheless, some of these uncertainties can be mitigated by integrating remotely sensed data into the CMs. As such, increasing efforts are being made globally to integrate remotely sensed data into CMs to improve their overall performance and use. However, very few such studies have been done in South Africa. Therefore, this research assesses how well a crop model assimilated with remotely sensed data compares with a model calibrated with actual ground data (Maize_control). Ultimately leading to improved local cropping systems knowledge and the capacity to use CMs. As such, the study calibrated the DSSAT-CERES-Maize model using two generic soils (i.e. heavy clay soil and medium sandy soil) which were selected based on literature, to measure soil moisture from 1985 to 2015 in Bloemfontein. Using the data assimilation approach, the model's soil parameters were then adjusted based on remotely sensed soil moisture (SM) observations. The observed improvement was mainly assessed through the lens of SM simulations from the original generic set up to the final remotely sensed informed soil profile set up. The study also gave some measure of comparison with Maize_control and finally explored the impacts of this specific SM improvement on evapotranspiration (ET) and maize yield. The result shows that when compared to the observed data, assimilating remotely sensed data with the model significantly improved the mean simulation of SM while maintaining the representation of its variability. The improved SM, as a result of assimilation of remotely sensed data, closely compares with the Maize_control in terms of mean but there was no improvement in terms of variability. Data assimilation also improved the mean and variability of ET simulation when compared that of Maize_control, but only with heavy clay soil. However, maize yield was not improved in comparison. This confirms that these outputs were influenced by other factors aside from SM or the soil profile parameters. It was concluded that remote sensing data can be used to bias correct model inputs, thus improve certain model outputs.

Bibliography: leaves 56-58. / The primary aim of the project is to consider conservation options for the area. Furthermore, to provide a preliminary environmental overview of the area, based largely on existing data and make recommendations outlining the measures that would need to be considered and implemented for the establishment of a nature reserve in the area including financial models and potential sources of funding.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 195-209). / The main theoretical question of the research concerns the importance of considering both the physical and social dimensions of urban flood risk. The following analytical questions are therefore considered: i) What constitutes urban flooding? ii) What processes influence the urban flood hazardscape? iii) What makes people vulnerable to urban flooding? iv) How does one assess urban flood risk? A realist and constructivist society-environment epistemology are considered. In particular, the platform generated through the aforementioned epistemologies for opening up the opportunity to incorporate an integrated hazardscape and vulnerability paradigm for integrated urban flood risk management is considered. The research adopts an analytical framework that includes elements of the Pressure and Release model, the Sustainable Urban Development framework and the Extended Alternative Adjustments framework to study flood risk in lowcost settlements. The research incorporates a review of the damage following three extreme weather events over George during 2006 and 2007. It selects a worst affected low-cost settlement for further flood risk analysis. In the flood risk assessment the research investigates the flood hazardscape of the settlement and physical adjustments undertaken by residents. Human flood vulnerability and vulnerability adjustments undertaken by the residents are also investigated. The research adopts a participatory hazardscape methodological approach drawing from hydrological methods within the physical sciences and qualitative methods from within the social sciences. Both primary and secondary sources are considered. The findings allow for a guiding Urban Flood Risk Circulation framework that explains the importance of considering both the flood hazardscape and human vulnerability in urban flood risk management.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-165).

Bibliography: leaves 130-139. / It is the underlying position of this thesis that -sustainable development embraces the concept of integrating economic, social, environmental, demographic and political issues. High levels of poverty and previous unequal access to resources and power in South Africa emphasise the need for an integrated approach, with a critical focus on democracy, participation and transformation of institutions. Sustainable development requires trade-offs, for example through regulatory frameworks. City managers use these frameworks provide a just and equitable means for informed, integrated and sustainable decision-making. The thesis, in terms of theory and precedent attempts to derive an understanding of What integration is in terms of the broader context of sustainable development and how it is perceived in both Spatial Planning and Strategic Environmental Assessment processes. although both have, at times, common objectives, they have different rationales and the assumption is made that spatial planners believe their procedures and methods pare sufficient for the integration of biophysical, social and economic issues. The question is: how is it possible to ascertain whether integrated planning is occurring? The intention of this thesis is to evaluate the extent of integration which occurred in the Cape Town Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework (MSDF). The Integration Framework is used as a tool to evaluate the MSDF - it constitutes five dimensions, substantive, methodological, procedural, institutional and policy integration. These provide the criteria for determining the extent to which integration has occurred in the MSDF. The MSDF process was initiated in 1991 and was the first planning exercise attempting to change the city structure and reverse the legacy of apartheid. It took into account the unique environment of the Cape, its people and the economy; the plan itself was prepared during a period of political, legislative, institutional and social change. The MSDF was adopted in 1996 by the Cape Metropolitan Council. An Environmental Evaluation was also done for the first time at metropolitan level, giving the spatial planning process a new dimension.

Bibliography: leaves 36-42. / This paper reports on an interview-based survey of small and large wineries, which considered the perceptions and experiences of both ISO 14001 and an industry specific initiative, called the Integrated Production of Wine Scheme (IPW). Large wineries have not yet implemented ISO 14001 but several intend to in future. Small wineries had a poor knowledge of ISO 14001 and believed that ISO management systems (i) are not required by the niche-markets they sell to, (ii) require resources that they do not have, and (iii) are unsuitable for their informal management style. Although wineries do face market-related environmental pressure, especially those that export to large supermarkets, there is as yet no pressure to introduce ISO 14001. The majority of wineries are members of the IPW scheme and are willing to make the changes required by it. IPW needs effective systems for monitoring and for removing non-complying wineries if the system is to improve environmental performance throughout the industry and achieve credibility amongst stakeholders.