South Africa’s winter rainfall region drought: A region in transition?

The Western Cape region of South Africa is a key producing area for South African agriculture, with a strong dependence on austral winter rainfall. The past three years have, however, seen extensive drought impacting this region, with significant impacts on agriculture. In this article, we unpack ho...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Emma Archer, Willem Landman, Johan Malherbe, Mark Tadross, Simone Pretorius
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2019-01-01
Series:Climate Risk Management
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212096318301694
Description
Summary:The Western Cape region of South Africa is a key producing area for South African agriculture, with a strong dependence on austral winter rainfall. The past three years have, however, seen extensive drought impacting this region, with significant impacts on agriculture. In this article, we unpack how the drought unfolded, as well as possibilities in predicting winter rainfall. We consider how drought impacted agriculture, looking in depth at two commodities key to the winter rainfall region agricultural sector – namely, wheat and apples; concluding with a brief discussion of implications for the future. Keywords: Drought, Agriculture, Seasonal forecasting, Southern Africa
ISSN:2212-0963