Nexus between climate change and environmental social work in Africa

Abstract

Disasters indiscriminately cause huge global economic losses worth tens of billions of dollars and often result in deaths of millions of people annually. As such, the on-going climate change is the world’s biggest disaster, especially for the most vulnerable African countries that are less economically developed, dependent largely on primary industries, which are predominantly reliant on climate-controlled ecosystems as well as depend on rain-fed agro-based livelihoods characterised by abject poverty. Meanwhile, the social work profession caters for individuals, groups, and communities in responding to fast onset disasters affecting especially the marginalised, poor, and vulnerable. However, social work practice (SWP) seems to be more preoccupied with the outcomes of fast-onset disasters specifically centred on identifying beneficiaries in a bid to provide food relief, social safety nets, safe shelters, and providing psycho-social support to victims and survivors of these disasters than slow onset ones. The SWP seems to be silent about climate change despite corroborated scientific models confirming the increased frequency, magnitude, and severity of future tropical cyclones, floods, and droughts in the future. However, being more curative rather than preventive, contemporary SWP responds primarily to present crises whilst ignoring more serious future disasters. To connect SWP to climate change discourse, a literature review of previous sources of authority was utilised.