The Status of Climate Variability and Food Accessibility: A Case of Households in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract

Globally, climate variability and change produces countless primary, secondary and tertiary consequences related to water supply including changes in quantity and quality of food. As South Africa is situated in one of the world’s mid-latitude and semi-arid regions, a rise in temperature and decreased and more irregular rainfall can be projected for the country. During the last decade, the frequency of natural disasters in the Gauteng Province has increased significantly and the most common disasters were the occurrence of flash floods, veld fires, drought and rising temperatures. At the same time, South Africa is considered a ‘food-secure’ nation, producing enough calories to adequately feed every one of its 53 million people. However, national figures hide the reality at the household level. Household survey was conducted in the Gauteng Province by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD) to establish the status of climate variability and food accessibility. The following objectives were followed: (1) to identify and describe climate variability status in terms of rainfall and temperature, (2) to identify and describe household food accessibility and (3) to identify and describe the relationship of climate variability and households socio-economic characteristics. A total of 1150 households participated in the survey. Questionnaire, stakeholder’s discussion and field observations were part of the data collection. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) was used to monitor the occurrence of climate variability like droughts from rainfall data. A purposive sampling technique was used and data was coded, captured and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The results indicated that there is an overall decrease of rainfall in Gauteng Province and possible precipitation variability in the distant future. This limited water resource had a negative impact on household food security as a whopping number of Gauteng Province households interviewed were food insecure (860/75%) as compared to households that are food secure (290/25%). The majority of households indicated that they were not aware of environmental matters hence those households indicated that they could not adapt or mitigate against any climate variability and change, resulting in negative impact on household food production and high levels of food insecurity in the Gauteng Province. It is thus recommended that households need adequate knowledge about the importance of climate variability and change. Hence, the transfer of climate knowledge to support vulnerability and adaptation measures should be a priority for the government to contain household food security in the Gauteng Province.