Mpumalanga

Climate Change Information System

Agriculture

Risk and Vulnerability Assessment

Background

Agriculture in Mpumalanga stimulate economic development, support livelihoods, and food security
Ehlanzeni district is renowned for citrus and subtropical fruits, whilst the Gert Sibande and Nkangala areas produce much of the summer grains, such as maize and grain sorghum.
Mpumalanga has the second-biggest sugar industry in South Africa, after KwaZulu-Natal.
The province is also known for its beef, chickens, eggs, and pork production.
Approximately 41% of the total plantation area in South
Africa is located in Mpumalanga and forestry contributes 3.7% to the province’s GDP.
Mpumalanga contributed 8% to total South African primary agriculture in 2020.
Animals and animal products are the biggest contributor to farming income (51,7%), followed by field crop products (31,4%) and horticulture (15%).
The district municipality contributing the most to total farming income in 2017 was Gert Sibande, followed by Nkangala and Ehlanzeni.
86 000 people were employed in agricultural related sectors, which translates into 7% of the population of Mpumalanga that are working in agriculture
Subsistence farmers contribute significantly to local food production, food security and livelihoods in Mpumalanga.
Land utilized for commercial farming is about 90% of the total farmland whilst for small scale/emerging farming is less than 10% (PSDF, 2019).
Around 139 000 subsistence farmers engaged in agricultural activities in Mpumalanga and there are 2 823 commercial farming units in the province.
Mpumalanga has ~ 225 282 households engaged in small scale/subsistence farming for food production
24% of households had inadequate or severely inadequate access to food during 2019, in Mpumalanga

Contributing vulnerabilities in agriculture and food security in Mpumalanga

Changing land use patterns

Approximately 93 632 ha (14%) of the province’s high potential arable land is being mined, with a further 40% subject to prospecting activities. This represent a risk of losing about 260 000 ha of arable land if mining continues.

Environmental Degradation

Environmental degradation through overgrazing, invasive plants, land clearing, and uncontrolled fires increase the vulnerability of crop land rangelands to storms and droughts.

Lack of extension services

Good quality agricultural extension and advisory services is necessary to develop and support smallholder farmer and improve their market participation. Generally, smallholder farmers do not get agricultural assistance and market information. The government need to provide capable and qualified extension workers and significantly improve the performance of agricultural extension services in South Africa.

Map of main agricultural commodity per local municipality based on income earned

Animal and animal products: Cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens are the most reared animals in commercial agriculture in the Mpumalanga province.
Field crops: Maize, soybean, sunflower, sugarcane, wheat
Horticulture: Citrus, tree nuts, subtropical fruit, potatoes

Source: Census of commercial agriculture, StatsSA 2017

Key hazards and impacts

Main impacts to agriculture and food security

Source: Census of commercial agriculture, StatsSA 2017

Climate change could make it more difficult to grow crops, raise animals, and catch fish in the same ways and same places as we have done in the past
Western highveld is projected to become warmer and drier with maize yields reducing by 10-20 percent by mid-century. A reduction in maize yields, will lead to price increases with concomitant food shortages.
Higher temperatures and lower rainfall will increase the evaporative demand, and lead to higher irrigation requirements.
Increasing temperature leads to rise in water requirements from industry and settlements, which places additional pressure on high value irrigated crops such as citrus, tree nuts and other sub-tropical fruits
More extreme events could bring about more hail and strong wind that could be damaging to field crops such as maize, soybean, sunflower, and wheat.
Unfavorable rainfall distribution throughout the year lead to extended dry periods with impacts on dryland crops.
Increasing temperatures contribute to heat stress in livestock with general decreases in animal productivity, especially towards the north-eastern parts of the province.
Areas such as Bushbuckridge where there is a large subsistence agricultural base may face severe food shortage when crops fail.
Reduced rainfall may cause reduction in the climatically optimum areas for forestry.