F UT UR E F O CUS
•••
JENNY MATHEWS
HOW CLIMATE-SMART
ARE YOU?
I
I SOMETIMES THINK THAT IT WOULD BE RATHER NICE TO BE
ABLE TO GAZE INTO A CRYSTAL BALL TO SEE WHAT LIES IN
STORE FOR US FARMERS. I TRY SO HARD TO BE HOPEFUL,
OPTIMISTIC AND PROACTIVE BUT THEN THERE ARE DAYS
WHEN THE DUST WINDS BLOW CLOUDS SO THICK THAT I
HAVE TO SWITCH THE LIGHTS ON IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
DAY AND EVERY THING I TOUCH OR EAT HAS A GRITTY FEEL
AND I CAN’T HELP THINKING THAT THE DESERT IS NOT
COMING… IT HAS ARRIVED!!!
must also confess
that at the
moment I am trying
to finish my studies
with a dissertation on
climate risk and how
it impacts farmers
– and reading UN
General Secretary Ban
Ki-moon’s personal
confession that he believes the
greatest collective challenge
facing humankind today is
climate change, has contributed
to my sense of ‘August gloom’.
On the international stage
climate risk is viewed as a
serious disaster with calamitous
implications, not only for the
individual farmers but for entire
communities and national
governments. Most farmers
in the central Free State and
Northwest province will agree
that new trends have been
noticeable over the past 10 – 20
years as evidenced by the fact
that ideal planting dates have
shifted by at least 2 weeks. We
just have not been getting our
normal ‘ploughing’ rains in early
October so that we can start
planting by 15 – 20 November;
instead we have a ‘new ideal’
which is 5 December.
CLIMATE RISK IMPACTS
THE PURSE
Climate risk impacts could
cost nations billions of rands
in future, which will not be
available for spending on normal
development and improving the
conditions and livelihoods of the
poorest and most marginalised
communities. Most farmers will
agree that they can identify with
the ‘pinch on the purse’ as the
economies on the farm have
become more challenging. Costs
keep rising and profit margins
have been shrinking. It seems that,
despite advances with drought
resistant maize cultivars and
more sophisticated machines,
our yields are not keeping pace
with input cost increases and
erratic rainfall patterns.
I WILL NOT ONLY SURVIVE,
I WILL THRIVE!
But let’s look at the positives in
this … South African farmers
are known around the globe
for being excellent farmers who
like to stay on the cutting edge
of new developments and this
‘n-Boer-maak-‘n-plan attitude is
going to see them making plans
to cope and to not only survive
but to thrive in the future! Ban
Ki-moon also says he believes there
is still time for us to take up the
challenge, make changes and
adapt, “I am deeply concerned
… but I am also hopeful because
I see gains on multiple fronts
towards a low-carbon future.”
Take a look around - already
there are signs of adapting to
climate changes and variability
(South African scientists seem to
prefer to use the term ‘climate
risk’ which covers the theories of
climate change, climate variability
and global environmental
change). And yes, knowledge IS
power! We need to be informed,
we need to become more efficient
and we need to be more aware.
The classic equation for
understanding disaster risk is
Risk = Hazard x Vulnerability.
As farmers we need to identify
the hazards and then assess
our level of vulnerability to
those. Every farmer’s su