Climate change will increase food insecurity
EXPERTS predict that climate change will have an impact on the country’s economy, food security and health.
Scientists at the South African Weather Service (Saws) said extreme weather – including floods, droughts, heatwaves and veld fires – were the result of an increase in the global surface temperature.
Nosipho Zwane, the lead scientist for climate change and variability research at Saws, said the temperatures in the first two decades of the 21st century (2001 – 2020) were about 1ºC higher than in pre-industrial times (1850 – 1900).
She said the increase in average temperature had also been linked to intensified extreme weather events.
“Agricultural production and food security are dependent on the weather and climate. Climate change also poses a big threat to agriculture and food security. It is expected to increase the frequency, intensity and spatial extent of extreme weather and climate events.
“Globally, extreme weather events are the primary causes of food insecurity, causing hunger and malnutrition, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Extreme weather and climate events such as floods, droughts, hurricanes, heatwaves and wildfires adversely affect crop production, livestock, and food availability and accessibility.”
It could also lead to crop failure and reductions in crop yield, negatively affecting food availability, she said.
Zwane said it could also directly impact food accessibility due to the disruption of transport and distribution of agricultural products, food supply to markets, and access to markets by people.
Dr Michael Mengistu, a scientist and agro-meteorologist at Saws, said the gradual increase in temperatures was causing the weather patterns to shift.
“In South Africa, studies have observed an increase in minimum and maximum temperatures as well as record high temperatures, consistent with global warming.
“The occurrence of climaterelated hazards leads to loss of life, social disruption and economic hardships,” he said.
Mengitsu said the country needed to scale up the renewables in the energy sector, and consider investing in shared, electric and low carbon transportation to minimise the carbon footprint.
“Also, scale up sustainable food and land use systems, including landscape restoration.
“As individuals, we can drive less, plant more trees, replace regular light bulbs with a compact fluorescent light bulbs, avoid burning coal and gas, and reduce water waste. Every little action counts,” he said.
According to Dr Alistair Clulow, an independent climate expert, climate change is a devastating global crisis, with significant and detrimental effects already affecting farmers and farming communities.
Clulow said whatever was predicted by experts regarding climate change, was being seen now in extreme weather patterns.
“The extremes will continue to be more extreme and will happen more frequently. Apart from the above average high temperatures, one of the big things we have noticed is the rainfall events, droughts and floods.
“The extreme weather impacts food security. If you are a farmer with a crop in the ground, trying to grow a crop under such extreme conditions is going to be challenging,” he said.
He said that farmers were at risk of losing money due to the extreme weather.
“If the risk is water, invest in proper irrigation. If it’s hail, plant a crop that survives hail, or plant at a time of year when the area is less likely to have hail,” he said.
Clulow advised farmers to look at minimising risks and to monitor the temperature highs and lows, to minimise risks.
“Weather will also affect the price of products. And if we are short of food, prices go up.
“We will be willing to pay more if items are scarce, but the tragedy is that the low income and unemployed people would suffer the most.”
Professor Philip Kofi Adom, of Wits University’s School of Economics and Finance, said if climate change continued on its current trend, crop production in Africa would decline by 2.9% in 2030 and by 18% by 2050.
About 200 million people risk suffering from extreme hunger by 2050, he said.
“The crop revenue loss of approximately 30% will cause a rise in poverty of between 20% and 30% compared to a no-climate-change scenario.
“Climate change would drive agricultural production down, crop sales would suffer and scarcity would raise prices,” Adom warned.