South Africa could face a failed maize crop once in almost every seven years if greenhouse gas emissions are not limited, a new study has found. Currently, a harvest with low maize yields is a one-in-20-year event.
The analysis was conducted by the International Food Production Research Institute and the Center for Global Change Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their findings were published earlier this year in the paper, Extreme Events and Production Shocks for Key Crops in Southern Africa Under Climate Change.
It considers the effect of climate change on four main crops in southern Africa: maize, dry beans, soybeans and groundnuts, over five decades (between the 2020s and 2060s).