Food Systems and Climate Adaptation Policy Capacity Building Workshop Report

The report details a three-day workshop involving civil society, labour, and producers to analyze the intersection of climate change and South Africa's food system. It critiques mainstream 'climate-smart' technical fixes, advocating instead for transformative alternatives like agroecology, land reform, and seed sovereignty. The document provides a framework for engaging with the Climate Change Act 22 of 2024, specifically through the National Adaptation Strategy and Plan (NASP) and Sector Adaptation Plans, to ensure that climate policy addresses structural inequalities and supports marginalized food system actors.

• South Africa's food system is both a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and highly vulnerable to climate impacts such as drought, flooding, and extreme heat, which exacerbate existing structural inequalities like concentrated land ownership and precarious labour.
• Mainstream climate responses in South Africa have focused on efficiency and risk management within the current agricultural model, whereas workshop participants proposed a transformative paradigm based on agroecology, secure land tenure, seed sovereignty, and the protection of informal food economies.
• The Climate Change Act 22 of 2024 provides specific entry points for advocacy, including the National Adaptation Strategy and Plan (NASP), Sector Adaptation Plans for water, land, and agriculture, and Sector Emissions Targets (SETs).
• Effective policy engagement requires overcoming power imbalances and 'tick-box' consultations through coordinated civil society action, capacity building, and the translation of materials into multiple languages.

APA

iej (2026). Food Systems and Climate Adaptation Policy Capacity Building Workshop Report. Institute for Economic Justice. https://iej.org.za/resource/discussion-paper/food-systems-and-climate-adaptation-policy-capacity-building-workshop-report/

Chicago

iej. Food Systems and Climate Adaptation Policy Capacity Building Workshop Report. Institute for Economic Justice, 2026. https://iej.org.za/resource/discussion-paper/food-systems-and-climate-adaptation-policy-capacity-building-workshop-report/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=iej |title=Food Systems and Climate Adaptation Policy Capacity Building Workshop Report |publisher=Institute for Economic Justice |date=26 February 2026 |url=https://iej.org.za/resource/discussion-paper/food-systems-and-climate-adaptation-policy-capacity-building-workshop-report/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{iej2026food, author = {iej}, title = {{Food Systems and Climate Adaptation Policy Capacity Building Workshop Report}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2026}, month = feb, url = {https://iej.org.za/resource/discussion-paper/food-systems-and-climate-adaptation-policy-capacity-building-workshop-report/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }