Climate change a threat to food security

BY AGENCIES

WITH only three weeks to go before the United Nations 17th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP17), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the South African government have stepped up efforts to ensure that the SA public understands global warming issues and the role that communities will play in the process of adaptation to climate change.

A national climate change response policy white paper with key input from UNDP was adopted by Cabinet recently. It lays out a strategy for the country's transition to a "climate-resilient and lower-carbon economy". This is to be achieved by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit the increase in global temperatures.

The policy paper will be unveiled at the COP17 conference in Durban from later this month.

Speaking at a media briefing in Johannesburg on Tuesday, UNDP's inter-regional climate change adaptation specialist for Africa, Dr Lawrence Flint, said "experts estimate that by 2080, agricultural productivity in Africa could decline by as much as twenty-eight percent. Initiatives such as climate-smart agriculture, which involves adopting proven techniques such as the introduction of more resilient food crops, will need to be adopted".

Dr Flint said the Africa adaptation programme (AAP) was a classic example of the significant role that UNDP played in assisting countries on this continent to adapt, develop and make progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

Studies by the University of Cape Town predict that winter rainfall in the Western Cape could decrease by as much as 35% and summer rainfall in the northern regions by 5%.

"Recent studies predict that summer temperatures in South Africa will increase by a degree at the coast and will go up to four degrees Celsius in the interior in the coming years. The world's climate is changing at rates unprecedented in recent human history," said Dr Katharine Vincent, director of Kulima Integrated Development Solutions.

"The impact of climate change could see South Africa's developmental gains reversed, undermining progress on a range of issues from water resources to agriculture and forestry."

Dr Vincent added that the impact and risks associated with these changes were real and were already happening as evidenced by the recent spate of extreme weather events around the world, such as floods and heat waves.

Adaptation refers to actions that will help communities cope with the inevitable impacts of climate change.