Die Reënboognasie - The Rainbow Nation
Located at the southern tip of the African continent, South Africa is roughly twice the size of Texas with almost 3,000 km of coastline bordering the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. About 49 million South Africans are spread out over nine provinces. South Africa is a pluricultural country and multiethnic society with 11 recognized official languages, nine of which are indigenous, plus English and Afrikaans.
Cape Town is the legislative capital, Pretoria the administrative capital, and Bloemfontein the judicial capital. National Parks, nature reserves and South African wildlife are the country’s main tourist attractions. Although rich in natural resources, unfortunately only a limited amount of land is arable (about 10%).
Additional Online Resources:
- National Geographic - South Africa
- Lonely Planet - South Africa
- Fordor’s - South Africa
- US Department of State - South Africa
About Climate Change in South Africa
The overarching theme of the MyCOE GCE TechCamps is about Global Climate Change. Different regions of the world are expected to experience climate change impacts in different ways. The set of the three host sites provides a varied group representing different kinds of consequences of climate change expected in different places, while remaining coherent to the unifying theme of climate change.
In South Africa, we will explore intersected themes of Climate Change, Health, and Food Security. Droughts, soil erosion and other ravages of climate change have affected agricultural output and thus food security around the world, but sub-Saharan Africa is the region under biggest threat. The World Health Organization estimates more than 204 million are food-insecure here, including in South Africa. The FAO defines that food security is achieved when "all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life." Conversely, hunger and poverty exacerbate health outbreaks, representing moving targets in the wake of a changing climate.