A firm decision needs to be made on how to mitigate against the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector, which is facing increased environmental impacts, University of South Africa (Unisa) Exxaro Chair in Business and Climate research assistant Bongani Chavalala said on Wednesday.

Addressing delegates during an interactive debate on the road ahead in climate policy, hosted by Unisa and the German Embassy in Pretoria, he said he hoped this would be prioritised at the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC’s) twenty-third meeting in Bonn, Germany, in November.

Chavalala stated that if agriculture remained outside of the UNFCCC’s scope, it would not receive the necessary attention it required, which could be dire for the sector.

“The agricultural industry needs to be prioritised more. People believe the next major war of the century will be about water, but I think it is going to be around seeds for agricultural crops, because they are the primary basis for human sustenance,” he said.

He added that crop improvement and the delivery of high-quality seeds and planting materials of selected varieties to growers was necessary to ensure improved crop production.

“Agricultural companies such as Monsanto will eventually control the industry. [These types of companies] research new seed crop developments to address issues around climate change and drought resilience in the form of hybrid seeds and genetically modified organisms,” he noted.

Chavalala added that it was vital to ensure that governments on the continent supported funded research institutions, because if the private sector was wholly in control of the agricultural sector, it would be able to dictate to governments what to do in terms of agricultural security.

“Fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides [also] . . . contribute to climate change and need to be tackled through the agricultural sector,” he noted.

He said it was important to work with seed crops that would support commercialised organic farming to help address climate change.

“The African Union Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security says that countries on the continent need to invest 10% of their gross domestic product in the agricultural sector to stimulate growth,” Chavalala noted.

He further stated that food security was dependent on the seed security of various farming communities in Africa.

Meanwhile, Chavalala said that despite negative sentiment around nuclear energy, there was definitely room for it in South Africa’s energy mix.

“The main argument regarding nuclear revolves around the financial side of it; that we can’t afford it. Environmentalists also say it is harmful to the environment, despite the fact that it has a lower carbon footprint than coal.”

He highlighted that, in Africa, all forms of energy were needed to ensure the electrification of the continent.

“We need to combine renewables and fossil fuels. Africa is not sufficiently electrified and we need to look at all available options.”

Referring to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he stated that there would be a serious challenge in implementing them if SDG 13, which specifically looks at climate change, was not dealt with.

“SDG 13 is embedded in all 17 SDGs; it clearly links all other SDG agendas,” he said.

To address climate change, countries adopted the Paris Agreement on Climate Change at COP21 in 2015, with countries agreeing to work to limit global temperature rise to below 2 °C above preindustrial levels and, given the grave risks, to strive for only a 1.5 °C rise above that level.
“Implementation of the Paris Agreement is essential for the achievement of the SDGs and provides a roadmap for climate actions that will reduce emissions and build climate resilience.”