Deadline: 19-Apr-2022 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

The Government of South Africa has identified agriculture as one of the key sectors that could contribute to greening the economy due to its backward and forward linkages with job generation, food security, foreign export earnings and raw material production, making the sector an important engine for the growth of the rest of the economy. At the same time, this potential is significantly threatened by climate change . With more than 70 percent of its croplands relying primarily on rainfall for farming, existing cropping and livestock systems will be directly affected by expected climate induced changes in precipitation and temperature patterns. The agricultural sector is therefore one of the focal sectors of South Africas National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (NCCAS) that was promulgated in 2020 and of the countrys updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement . The adoption of climate smart agriculture technologies provides opportunities for sustainable intensification consistent with food security and development goals, and climate change adaptation and mitigation needs.

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