State mulls drought relief for sugarcane farmers

Milei.vencel via Wikimedia Commons

Zokwana and Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti told journalists that the persistent drought was starting to hurt the economy and was making greater imports of maize and wheat a certainty. Meanwhile, there is even less relief in sight for beleaguered farmers as forecasts are made that the drought will last longer than initially expected.

Government assitance

Zokwana, responding to questions at a briefing by the economics cluster of ministers, said he had received a letter from sugar growers appealing for assistance in areas in which farmers were losing large portions of their crops. Assistance under consideration would enable farmers to replant with the advent of the new season. The debilitating drought affected three of the main maize-producing areas as well as KwaZulu-Natal's sugar areas. Zokwana said there would have to be imports of maize, particularly white maize.

Nkwinti said a team had been sent to rural KwaZulu-Natal to assess the extent of the problem particularly in areas affected by a shortage of water and by overgrazing. This had led to a plan to move livestock from the communal areas to state land with more grazing and resources. The scale of the problem of moving the animals would be known only once the team returned, Nkwinti said. However, there was concern in the communities affected that the movement of livestock was a way of getting them off the land.

Drought to last longer than expected

Earlier this week the South African Weather Service said the droughtproducing El Nino weather phenomenon, which had been predicted to last for most of the summer, was now likely to extend next year into the beginning of autumn. The drought cut SA's maize production by 30% last year and pushed up prices of the staple crop.

The weather service said in its monthly regional bulletin: "The forecasting system is confidently showing that going towards the mid- and late summer season, the likelihood of the continuation of dry conditions over most parts of the country is high."

Reduction of credits and crops

AgriSA president Johannes Möller said: "The ability of SA's farmers to continue producing at the levels needed to maintain national food security is threatened by the high probability of a second consequent year of drought in many regions. "In drought-stricken regions such as those in the North West, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, farmers are exposed to severe financial losses, which have made it very difficult for them to operate their businesses sustainably."

If financial institutions limited production credit for farmers, they would face severe constraints coupled with inadequate water resources, Möller said. He warned that, left unmitigated, these factors would result in lower crop production, labour shedding and rising food prices as has been the case this year.

Maize farmers are due to plant a reduced number of hectares next year. Down to 2.55-million hectares, this would be the lowest level since 2011.

Bronwyn Nortje

Source: Business Day