Engaging with local South Africa smallholder farming communities

Abstract

The African population is one of the fastest growing in the world. It has a greater proportion of food insecure people in the world and yet the continent has a large potential for agricultural growth and development. Apart from long-term adaptation necessary to improve food production, immediate needs and food security demand studies focusing on shorter term challenges and how to cope with and better prepare to climate variability that directly impacts year-by-year production. As a nation, South Africa is food secure but most rural households are food insecure. The rural households mostly practice subsistence agriculture and are mostly dependent on rainfed traditional agriculture for livelihood. Rural farming households are particularly vulnerable to climate variability and other disasters risks and have a low adaptive capacity due to technical, financial and infrastructure constraints.

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