Daily Dispatch

Safety net for farmers is vital

YESTERDAY we reported that the rural development and agrarian reform MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane had told the Bhisho legislature the Eastern Cape government would not spend a cent on relief programmes for drought-stricken Eastern Cape farmers.

Instead the province had applied to national government – the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries – for an amount of R254-million – if it was approved.

Hopefully some of this communication was lost in translation, but the explanation from Qoboshiyane’s spokesman – that provincial government “does not budget for disaster in our budgets” – suggests otherwise.

Granted, farming can seem like a bottomless pit. And granted rural development has already shelled out for provincial farmers – in the 2015-16 financial year Qoboshiyane says it helped 7 266 farmers battling with drought and the following year more farmers needed aid, so a total of 8 192 got drought relief funding.

But this was surely to be expected. The country has been in the grips of the worst drought in 23 years and its impact was predictable and has been well documented.

And although technically easing it is nowhere near over.

In fact, the Sarah Baartman district municipality remains in drought, and is, along with parts of OR Tambo, still chronically short of water, according to Daff.

The veld in many areas inland is also still so dry that farmers have to rely on Agri Eastern Cape to supply grazing.

The poor condition of “rangeland” is confirmed by Daff which recently rated parts of the province on its lowest tier of “below normal”. As a result the government is seeking to limit herd sizes.

This is not the only consequence of the drought which continues to be a challenge.

The prevailing dryness presents a significant threat of fire. Fire has already devastated 42 000 hectares of land in the Lady Grey area and just yesterday a fire was reported in the vicinity of Jamestown.

Understandably fears of further devastation remain.

While the SA Weather Service reported “above normal” rainfall for the Eastern Cape in mid-August, this will never sufficiently mitigate against the impact of years of chronic drought.

All of this begs the question of why, at this juncture, did the notably hardworking Qoboshiyane decide not to set aside funds as a safety-net for farmers. Other provinces have. Farming is important for the Eastern Cape in particular.

Not simply for purposes of food security but because, at grassroots level, it creates jobs that require relatively few skills. It was recently verified by Stats SA that this province proportionately has the highest number of households in South Africa engaged in and dependent on agricultural activities for survival.

Hopefully what the MEC meant to say was that accessing drought relief funding was a top priority and that the need for a back-up plan was being urgently reconsidered.