Climate-Related Hazards: How Smallholders Can Mitigate Its Consequences

Rainfed crop production remains the main source of food security and livelihoods for rural communities in South Africa but presents the challenge of climate variability due to its high dependence on weather variables such as rainfall and temperature.

- Dr Lindumusa Myeni

South African farmers are facing changing rainfall patterns (i.e. rainfall onsets and amounts), elevated temperatures, as well as frequent occurrence of weather-related risks such as drought, dry spells, heatwaves, floods, frost, hailstorms, crop pests, and diseases. These risks are expected to increase in frequency and intensity, hence threatening the food security and livelihoods of most farmers, with small-scale farmers being among the most vulnerable.

For smallholder farmers, crop yields are closely linked to food security and livelihoods. Therefore, the need for the uptake and use of innovative approaches that can minimize the risks and losses associated with climate variability, increase food production and conserve natural resources, are becoming more urgent to enhance these farmers’ climate resilience.

Mitigating climate variability