Climate shocks are hitting South Africa’s food businesses - study shows what they need to adapt
A study conducted in South Africa's Gauteng province highlights how climate-related shocks, such as droughts and floods, threaten the agri-processing sector. Researchers emphasize that these businesses require better funding, training, and infrastructure to maintain food security and employment.
Why it matters
Agri-processing is a vital economic link between farms and consumers; its vulnerability to climate change poses a significant risk to national food systems.
Agri-processing businesses need training, funding and reliable water and energy to help them protect food systems and jobs against extreme weather. Screengrab/Facebook/SABC1 https://theconversation.com/climate-shocks-are-hitting-south-africas-food-businesses-study-shows-what-they-need-to-adapt-285759 https://theconversation.com/climate-shocks-are-hitting-south-africas-food-businesses-study-shows-what-they-need-to-adapt-285759 Link copied Share article Share article
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Climate change discussions in southern Africa often focus on farming, where the effects of environmental shocks are most visible. The debate frequently centres on droughts, floods, declining crop productivity and heat stress affecting livestock systems. This is largely because agriculture is a sector that’s directly exposed to extreme weather events.
But food systems involve far more than agricultural production. Between farms and consumers lies the agri-processing sector. This is made up of businesses that transform raw agricultural commodities into consumable food products through activities such as cleaning, milling, preservation, packaging, storage and manufacturing.
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