CLIMATE change is already affecting SA, and agriculture and fishing are among the sectors to be hit first, endangering the livelihoods of those who live off the land, and affecting food security.
Many of the witnesses to the Cape Town hearings on climate change, held earlier this month, could draw on traditional knowledge learnt from parents and grandparents, and they were in no doubt that the world they knew was changing.
The hearings were arranged by Oxfam and the Environmental Monitoring Group, a Cape- based NGO.
Ernest Titus, a fisherman from Lambert’s Bay on the West Coast, said fish were now available in different seasons and for shorter times.
“In the past, we used to know exactly when the snoek would run. And the day the north wind blows, that day we knew we would get a good catch,” Titus told the gathering.
“But in the last five years, things started to change. Even though the north wind blows, the snoek would not be there.
“In the past when the snoek came, it would stay for three or four weeks. Now it stays for one or two days.”
In addition, because the weather had worsened and currents were stronger, there were fewer chances to catch fish, thus affecting his income.
“My own understanding of climate change is limited,” he said. “All I can say is what happens to fishermen.”
The sea temperature had warmed from 14°C to 20°C, Cdegrees, he said, and the crayfish could not survive in this temperature.
The availability of fish had changed, with some species breeding later, and with other species moving to the area he fished, including Cape salmon, sharks and tropical fish.
Sarah Niemand, a fisherwoman from Buffeljags near Cape Agulhas, said her family had experienced storm surges in recent years, with waves threatening to overwhelm the village .
Sidney le Fleur, a honeybush tea farmer from Ericaville near Plettenberg Bay, said rainfall patterns in the southern Cape had changed. Most rain used to fall in August, although there were frequent rains throughout the year. Five years ago, this had begun to change and the late November-December period now saw the heaviest rainfall .
In 2004, double the usual amount of rain for August fell in November, over three or four days instead of a month.
“Buildings on river banks got swept away, parking lots disappeared, and two caravan parks … disappeared as if they were never there,” he said. Horses drowned in their stables.
Water supply, electricity lines, roads and bridges were all damaged by the storm, which had resulted in job losses.
In turn, this had resulted in a higher crime rate, he said.
Since then, winds had strengthened, blowing away topsoil, and daytime temperatures had risen by between 2°C and 5°C.
On his farm, Le Fleur’s honeybush production suffered, with wet soil resulting in a 30% drop in production, despite attempts to adapt to the new conditions.
This year, Le Fleur experienced drought for the first time, with water restrictions in place since December.
He was forced to irrigate his fields with a tractor and trailer, and a further 5ha had to be developed with mulch and drip irrigation, at triple the cost of ordinary fields.
“It’s a challenge to be a farmer,” he said. “With the water restrictions, there are a lot of subsistence farmers on small plots who couldn’t irrigate their crops and their farming activities just stopped.”
Climate scientist Mark Tadross said the changes in temperature and rainfall were likely to be the result of climate change, and this would be likely to continue and possibly worsen.
Although climate change might mean a small difference in average temperature or rainfall, there could be greater variability at the extremes.
newmarchj@bdfm.co.za