South Africa faces uncertain food future

The threat to food security has made climate change a much more immediate danger in South Africa, where water scarcity continues to take its toll, experts have warned.

This is in light of a new report by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef), showing that half the world’s children live in countries heavily impacted by climate change.

This creates a litany of threats to their health and future prospects.

South Africa is ranked 72nd among countries surveyed in terms of risk, with water scarcity, soil, and water pollution having a particular impact on children affected by poverty and poor nutrition.

According to Unicef spokesperson Toby Frick, food security is linked to multiple factors, including directly to climate change.

The increasing frequency and severity of localised and national droughts, floods and severe weather have compromised food security, threatening the level of nutrition children can access.

“The impact of climate change can disrupt agricultural production, infrastructure and damage critical infrastructure, which prevents the adequate distribution of food to regions that have been affected. All of these elements can affect access to food and drive up food prices, with a particular impact on children and communities already living in poverty,” says Frick.

“Climate change will also further impact food security, not only through these catastrophic events, but also through slow-onset changes to precipitation and temperature, which can alter agricultural practices that communities have relied on.”

Unicef has warned that climate change is likely to deepen the vulnerability of children in South Africa, calling on government to invest in making basic services more resilient to climate change.

The fragility of SA’s food security systems were also laid bare recently during the unrest in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, says Frick.

The unrest disrupted food supply chains and exposed the fragility of food security for the most vulnerable people.

“A recent rapid assessment undertaken in KwaZulu-Natal revealed that food security deteriorated substantially, with nearly twice as many children (64%) at high or emergency risk, compared with (34%) recorded in an earlier assessment.”

Wandile Sihlobo, agricultural economist at industry group AgriBiz, said climate change was an increasing concern for South Africa’s agricultural sector.

He said the sector was seeing frequent occurrences of droughts and floods affecting a number of areas and causing disruptions in the supply of commodities across the world.

“The solution to this will not come from one sectoral approach. Yes, in the sector, farmers have interventions they can do.

“For example, they can move more towards conservation agriculture, which conserves a bit of soil moisture and allows agriculture to thrive really well, even in somewhat drier periods, but also use other practices like fallow land, which is rotating planting and leaving some other areas of the land,” he said.

Sihlobo believes technology will play a large role in creating ways of fighting the effects of climate change, such as developing seeds with shorter growing periods and more resilience to drought.

This is in light of the sector observing shorter rain seasons, which are growing further apart.

Professor Abiodun Ogundeji, researcher at the University of the Free State, said while the growth in hunger in South Africa can be attributed to climate change and extreme weather events, broader economic factors are mostly at play.

“The major cause of hunger is purchasing power, which can be linked to the economy. Commercial agriculture is still able to produce, despite climate change, because they have the resources to adapt,” he said.

– simnikiweh@citizen.co.za