South Africa

South Africa has been hit with the effects of climate change to an extreme, this has also impacted the food security and the availability of water in this country. South Africa’s government, along with the African Union attempt to help by placing policies made to decrease the impacts of climate change through imposed taxes and encouraging an eco-friendlier way of life throughout the continent. However, there are many challenges when it comes to attempting to change the path of climate change from where it is already headed, even with its benefits this can all still be problematic as reversing the impacts of climate change will help keep their water sources stable, it has the likely possibility of causing food to become scarcer due to the increase in price to maintain crops and the increased amount of land different types of fuel will require also resulting in higher price or lack of land. There are however limitations to these arguments as we are currently experiencing climate change therefore most of the data is based strictly on predictions and not much practical testing or experience. This paper will discuss the initiatives put in place to combat climate change, food security and water scarcity, the obstacles surrounding fixing those issues, and what the future of South African climate change and food security looks like while explain the limitations of current data.

With the impacts of climate change becoming more and more evident South Africa has put in place many policies to attempt to slow down its effects and provide food security for its people. While there are many good routes to battle this major issue one of the main possible solutions to climate change in South Africa is agroforestry. Agroforestry is when trees are planted among animals and plants in order to increase the resilience of crops and improve air quality. This would allow more crops to grow and possibly last through the years of drought they are expected to face in order to feed South Africans . South Africa has also put in place a carbon tax to discourage the use of fossil fuels in mass amounts so the impact of climate change either limits or reverses its impact. This is very important as it is predicted that the South African water supply will become scarce as the land is already beginning to dry up, in an already dry climate this cannot be detrimental to the survival of the country’s citizens. The South African government has also put in place a climate plan that is constantly getting updated. In its April 2021 update they expressed their plan to shift to a service-based economy and add a rise in electricity tariffs all in hopes to slow the impacts of climate change before it is unmanageable . Regulations that may seem small, such as a carbon tax or resource limitations however they can have drastic impacts on the water supply and the rise of water levels globally, which are essential to keeping fresh water available to South Africans . The African Union has also added climate change to its agenda which is beneficial to South Africa as it puts the second largest continent all on the same page to fight the same issue that will benefit South Africa’s climate change struggle along with that of the rest of the world. They added the battle of desertification on their agenda in order to address the parts of Africa that are drying up due to climate change, they also discuss the issue of water becoming scarce and how they are going to begin to deal with this issue and train people as specialists for when this issue arises so they have a level of preparedness and can find a way to manage and help its people . In terms of food security, the African Union is taking steps to address this issue by strengthening bonds with other parts of the world in order to be able to make trade more accessible. For example, they have an African-Arab joint action plan to secure food together via trade and agricultural efforts, they also implemented free trade throughout Africa, with Africa being a large continent there is a possibility that climate change will impact different parts of it differently and therefore having the ability to trade freely within the continent is important because each country may have different strengths and challenges and be able to assist each other based on this. They also discuss how increased amounts of fertilizers can help crops last despite climate change . The African Union does a great job at laying out an agenda for the participating countries to partake in, this spreads awareness, provides the countries with resources, and creates better relations among the countries so they can be dependable on each other if or when needed. These efforts made by South Africa itself and the African Union are all beneficial to reduce the effects of climate change, fight water scarcity, and improve food security in South Africa.

While many of these regulations have been put in place there are still limitations and some of these regulations already in place for the better happen to be regressive in nature. Overall, South Africa alone lowering emissions and taking climate change action will not have a large impact on climate change, even if it is the second largest continent. In order to have success in changing the trajectory of the fate of our planet these regulations need to be put in place on a global scale, it is unfortunate that South Africa is going to be one of the first parts of the world to feel the impacts of climate change as it is going to take time to get the rest of the world on board with making actual change. This is a major blockage that due to sovereignty South Africa has no control over, some countries may choose to ignore climate change while others may take action, but this is at the mercy of each individual country’s choice. Another issue is that some of the climate change actions South Africa is taking harms the economy and may have negative impacts on food security. The carbon tax is one of these issues, this could increase the price of food, increase the price of land in order to farm, and while it will motivate the use of biofuels this will take up more land that could have gone to growing crops . While it is stressed by scientist that this does not mean to stop efforts to slow climate change as that would have more harmful impacts and we do not have much time to slow the effects of climate change, it is still clear that imposing these laws and moving to a cleaner environment is going to negatively impact many people’s foods supply . Also, while South Africa is moving to a service-based economy, they have to keep coal as there would be a lack of investments in their economy which would cause the country to suffer financially, although the carbon tax has already don’t this stopping the coal market would be too damaging to the country, this causes them to be unable to be as eco-friendly as they would like to be in order to keep the country moving forward with regards to climate change . Another issue arises with some of the African Unions efforts to fight. Climate change. As discussed in the previous paragraph, the African Union is working on strengthening its relationship with Arab countries to secure trade for agriculture purposes. This is an issue as climate change is not a centralized issue, if it takes place in South Africa, it will be taking place around the world so while being unaware of the impact’s climate change will have on the Arab world securing agriculture trade deals with Arab countries is not necessarily beneficial to African countries. One of the most beneficial ways to battle climate change that has almost no negative impacts was mentioned in the first paragraph, agroforestry, however with the future of South Africa looking to have more droughts and increased desertification, it makes planting these extra trees problematic as they may not grow with lack of water and dry soils, or they may take much of the little water available and the minerals from the soil that could be going to the crops to sustain their food security. These are many of the limitations that the South African government is faced with when attempting to fight climate change and secure food and water for its people. It is clear how frustrating this must be as someone battling it as it almost appears as even the best options are regressive.

The future of South Africa may not be as doomed it appears; however, this depends on a few factors. If South Africa continues moving forward on the path that they are on now they should be successful in slowing the impact of climate change and be able to provide its people with the food they need, at least for the near future. Scientific predictions assume that in the next twenty-eight years South Africa will begin to dry, while there are also theories of it becoming overly wet and possibly downing the closer it comes the more toward the dryness theory this prediction leans. It is very important that they continue improvising and making moves to tackle climate change, so their crops do not dry out and their drinkable water sources do not dry up. They also need to understand what implementing these policies can mean for their food sources and possibly make new trade deals for produce and essential food items that may go scarce or drastically increase in price . There are also possibilities that water may become so scarce they would need to find a type of toilet that does not require water to flush, as leaving toilets unflushed for the period of a drought may cause them to be home for disease and pests causing for concern of people’s health. This has happened before during a drought; a child fell into a school toilet during this time causing him to get a disease and. unfortunately pass away. With droughts expected to last much longer and much hotter this can become an even larger issue. An idea of National Health Insurance, which is being pushed in South Africa, can be good practice given that many people already die in South Africa due to the climate, for reasons such as heat stroke. The expectancy of an increased extreme of heat in South Africa due to climate change is sure to increase this number of deaths, especially with the expectancy of a decrease in water coming hand in hand with the more extreme climate . While food is already technically scarce in South Africa it will only continue to get worse if there is not a plan put in place to secure food for the people of South Africa and while the African Union is attempting to put in place trade deals and policies to combat these issues, they still need stronger structure to have a great enough impact. There is also an issue of getting the world on board, climate change will impact the globe and the same way we are unsure if it is going to dry up or flood South Africa, we are also unaware of the impacts it will have globally and without proper preparation the entire globe will be in trouble unless this is taken to a global fight on climate change and policies like ones South Africa has in place are pushed on a larger scale. If majority of the world can get on track with taking the same precautions, it will encourage businesses, governments, and individuals to engineer ways of making this cleaner way of living a more affordable way of life which would lower the issues of living clean causing food insecurity as it may become affordable if it’s convenient for business.

While this paper explores these the issue of Climate change, food security and water scarcity in South Africa as best as it can it does have limitations. The data is scientifically based but while we are living in a stage where the climate change impacts are beginning to show and the ways of solving it are almost all theoretical as we are putting them into practice now. This limits how much we know on the topic, as previous paragraphs discuss there is a question as to if South Africa will dry up or perhaps experience extreme flooding, this shows that data is not fully sure what climate change has in store for each part of the globe, we are only sure of extreme climates emerging but remain unsure of which direction it will take. As well as the African Union and South African governments mainly having frameworks in place when discussing food security, this leaves this paper with limited closer on whether or not South Africa should expect food security in the future. Acknowledging these limitations of data is important to be able to understand where new data will take us when it is given and how new policies to come will impact South African climate change, food security, and water scarcity.

To conclude, this paper has examined climate change, food security and water scarcity in South Africa. It discussed ways to battle it, including agroforestry to increase the number of plants around the country. This also included several policies South Africa and the African Union already have in place such as a carbon tax, the push for a service-based sector, fighting desertification, and trade deals to secure food and water in case of emergencies. The paper also explored the issues these policies that are put in place as many of them are regressive, the increase of carbon tax and promotion of biofuels, while helping climate change, both worsen food security as prices increase and less land is available to grow foods. The trade agreements to secure food do not necessarily take into account that climate change will happen everywhere and therefore we are unaware if another country will be more prepared than another when climate change hits at full force, as well as the increased heat expectancy in South Africa can expect to claim more lives than ever before which will cause more people to be worried about being outside farming. The overall future of South Africa may not be as bad as it appears as long as it continues on the plan it is on right now, however it would be more beneficial to have the whole globe on the same page with climate change to slow the impacts faster and be able to have a better idea of how to make food and water more secure for the people of South Africa. The paper also explained the limitations of the given data as this is an ongoing issue and we are discovering more and more about it daily. It is important that not only South Africa, but the world takes into consideration the effects of climate change so we can fight it accordingly without having people suffer for our negligence and selfishness. This paper proves it is obvious we are on a path to a lack of food security and water scarcity due to climate change and an increase in prices, we must take these issues into consideration while moving forward with planning for our futures.

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