Around the world, more than a quarter of the carbon emissions contributing to climate change come from growing and processing food.
Climate change and its associated droughts, floods and extreme weather are already disrupting harvests, wiping out growing seasons and creating food supply chain volatility. In the future, South Africa is expected to experience less rainfall and higher temperatures, which will have a negative impact on water resources, soil and crops.
On top of the scourge of climate change, producers also have to grapple with natural resource degradation due to years of incorrect grazing management. It is estimated that the average net primary productivity in South Africa decreased by an average of 29kg of carbon/ha/year in the period from 1981 to 2003, and has continued to decline since.