Adaptation to climate change and the impacts on household food security among rural farmers in uMzinyathi District of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

It is anticipated that smallholder subsistence farmers will face severe negative impacts from climate change, with household food security being seriously affected. This paper examines the methods of adaptation to climate change used by smallholder farmers and their impacts on household food security. The necessity to adapt to climate change is caused by a combination of sensitivity and exposure and the success in doing so depends on adaptive capacity. Household food security was determined using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Of the surveyed households, 95 % were aware that climate is changing and expected severe impacts on their crop production systems. Households undertake crop and soil management practices in order to respond to the changing climate. About 83 % of households anticipated that they would alter their livelihoods systems in response to climate change, with 59 % of households indicating that government grants would play an important role in this. Of those assessed, 97 % were severely food insecure and the remaining 3 % were moderately food insecure. Householders were worried about the negative impacts of climate change which included droughts, floods and soil erosion. Householders who were vulnerable to climate change recorded high levels of food insecurity. Decline in prices of farm products, increases in costs of farm inputs and anxiety over occurrence of livestock diseases exacerbated household food insecurity. Information will play a critical role in mitigating the impacts of climate change on household food security but farmers should also be assisted with appropriate input packages, such as seeds and fertilizers that can help them adapt effectively.