Living with a Changing Climate: Youth Vulnerability, Resilience and Everyday Adaptation in Rural Zimbabwe

Abstract

This study examines how youths in Buhera District's Ward 16 experience, interpret and respond to climate-induced challenges within a semi-arid environment. This environment is characterised by recurrent droughts, erratic rainfall patterns and dependence on rain-fed agriculture. The study was guided by a critical application of Resilience Theory. The study adopted interpretivism research philosophy and a case study research design. In-depth interviews with ten youths aged 18-21 years and key informant interviews with two community leaders were conducted. The findings reveal that climate change is experienced not merely as an environmental phenomenon but as a lived social condition manifested through declining agricultural productivity, food insecurity, educational disruption, economic hardship and psychosocial stress. The study demonstrates that climate change is actively restructuring youth transitions to adulthood by narrowing educational pathways, undermining livelihood security and constraining future aspirations. By centering youth voices, the study contributes to climate change, youth studies and social work scholarship while highlighting the need for youth-centred, socially just and context-specific climate adaptation interventions in rural Zimbabwe and similar semi-arid settings.