Climate change

Climate change is expected to have a direct impact on South Africa's mean annual temperature and rainfall ranges, influencing pest and disease distributions, flowering and fruiting seasons, and ground water resources. Climate change also has an indirect impact through the growing awareness among consumers and the corresponding demand for carbon-efficient business processes. The agricultural sector is a large source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) through activities such as land-use change, agrochemical application and the use of fossil fuel.

The wine and fruit industry are collaborating to develop an information source on climate change and agriculture issues, a carbon calculator tool for South African fruit and wine producers, exporters and supply chain, and a data capturing resource able to provide valuable benchmarking statistics and trends for the industry. See www.climatefruitandwine.co.za

Increased severity of drought is predicted to be one of the major impacts of climate change to the agricultural sector. The World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA) works to promote the protection of water source areas in policy and long-term planning, as well as coordinating stewardship and collective action in key catchments. See www.wwf.org.za/our_work/water