Agricultural Sector in South Africa Volume 9 - Issue 3

Z Ntshidi^1,2*, S Dzikiti³, NT Mobe^1,2

• ¹Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Smart Places Cluster, Stellenbosch, South Africa
• ²Department of Earth Science, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
• ³Department of Horticultural Science, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Received: April 01, 2021;   Published: April 14, 2021

Corresponding author: Z Ntshidi, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Smart Places Cluster, Stellenbosch, South Africa

DOI: 10.32474/CIACR.2021.09.000313

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Abstract

South Africa’s average annual rainfall (~495 mm) is lower than the global average (~840 mm) and more than 60% of the country’s water resources are used for agriculture. The agricultural sector is very sensitive to climatic variability and change and to extreme events such as droughts whose frequency and severity is increasing. Therefore, it is essential to invest in building the resilience of farmers e.g. through increasing the area under irrigation to mitigate against the effects of climate variability and change as outlined in the National Development Plan (2030) and in the Irrigation Strategy for South Africa (DAFF, 2015).

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