South Africa is bracing for the impacts of El Niño, a climate phenomenon associated with hotter and drier conditions in southern Africa. The country's food system, particularly rain-fed crops like maize, is vulnerable to delayed rains, greater water stress, and lower crop yields. This could lead to greater price volatility and increased pressure on household food budgets. According to Yasirah Madhi, a junior climate policy and food systems researcher at the Institute for Economic Justice, the consequences of climate shocks are far-reaching and affect not only farmers but also consumers.
The effects of climate shocks on the food system are multifaceted. Lower production can affect jobs and incomes, while supply disruptions can push up prices, ultimately reaching households already struggling to afford nutritious food. In a country facing high levels of poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity, lower-income households are particularly vulnerable to rising food prices or disruptions to livelihoods. The Climate Change Act, promulgated in 2024, provides a framework for a more coordinated national response to climate adaptation and mitigation. However, its implementation requires coordination across government departments responsible for various facets of the food system.
The consequences of climate shocks are not felt equally, with smallholder farmers, informal traders, workers, and low-income households having fewer buffers to manage climate risks. Small-scale producers support local food production and rural livelihoods but often operate with limited resources and institutional support. Informal traders bring food closer to where people live and work, providing affordable food for low-income households, but are deeply vulnerable to crises. Workers in the food system face casualized work, low wages, and weak protections, making them susceptible to livelihood crises in the event of a failed harvest or extreme weather event.
Climate shocks deepen existing inequalities in the food system, hitting people with the fewest resources to cope the hardest. Working-class women, in particular, bear the brunt of poverty, rising food prices, and climate impacts. To build resilience among the most vulnerable, adaptation planning needs to prioritize their needs and strengthen their capacity to prepare for and recover from climate impacts. The Just Transition in the Food System network, a coalition of grassroots food-system constituencies, has developed a civil society position paper outlining priorities for a just transition in the food system.
The position paper highlights the need for protecting livelihoods and working conditions, investing in local markets, and improving access to land and water as key climate adaptation interventions in the food system. The paper emphasizes that a just transition in the food system requires a coordinated response from different parts of government and other stakeholders. The Department of Agriculture, for example, cannot develop effective adaptation plans without considering water governance, given agriculture's significant share of national water use.
In August, grassroots groups presented the position paper to policymakers at a policy roundtable, creating an opportunity for different departments to engage with the priorities raised in the paper and with one another. Policymakers agreed that climate planning needs to become less siloed and more collaborative, particularly where responsibilities overlap across sectors. However, they also acknowledged that departments may not always have the structures, processes, or support needed to coordinate effectively.
Strengthening mechanisms for collaboration between government departments and other stakeholders will be critical to ensuring that the food system is properly embedded across climate policy and that resilience is built in practice. The Climate Change Act sets specific timelines for developing and adopting national and sectoral plans, creating an opportunity for transformative interventions in the food system. By prioritizing the needs of the most vulnerable and building resilience in the food system, South Africa can better prepare for the long-term impacts of climate change.
Key points
- South Africa needs to prioritize climate-resilient food systems to protect the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, informal traders, and low-income households.
- The Climate Change Act provides a framework for a more coordinated national response to climate adaptation and mitigation, but its implementation requires coordination across government departments.
- A just transition in the food system requires a coordinated response from different parts of government and other stakeholders to address the needs of the most vulnerable.
