South Africa is already paying the price of climate change, and it's not just Rooibos farmers who are having to adapt by changing agricultural practices. It's also the government itself, which up to now has been bailing out farmers who suffer from drought. The Cape Times [subscription required] reported yesterday:
The national Department of Agriculture has warned farmers in the central Karoo that with the onset of climate change, drought "may no longer be regarded as a disaster" and has called on farmers to adapt to increasingly variable and possibly drier conditions rather than relying on department funds to bail them out.
[...]
In March, the provincial Department of Agriculture asked the national department for R37 million in drought relief.
Sounds like funds will be drying up as what was once considered abnormal weather is now commonplace. Peter Johnston of UCT's Climate Systems Analysis Group says western South Africa's climate has already been "highly variable" but droughts will be expected more often. National Department of Agriculture spokesperson Priscilla Tsotso Sehoole has acknowledged this, and says "the response should not only focus on funds".
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