Power cuts threaten food security

• Agri SA spells out the consequences of load-shedding for agriculture

Escalating load-shedding leading to late shipments has dire consequences for export commodities, putting SA’s standing as a reliable market source in the balance, says Agri SA. The organisation cautioned against future food shortages and high food prices if the situation continued.

Escalating load-shedding leading to late shipments has dire consequences for export commodities, putting SA’s standing as a reliable market source in the balance, says Agri SA.

The organisation further cautioned against future food shortages and high food prices if the situation continued.

Agri SA executive director Christo van der Rheede has written to Eskom CEO André de Ruyter asking for urgent engagement on the load-shedding outlook in the coming weeks.

In 2021 alone, the agricultural sector contributed about R131bn to GDP, Van der Rheede said.

“The agricultural sector is the second-biggest consumer group for electricity, exceeded only by residential consumers. In 2021 the sector consumed more than 5,446.1 GWh [1GWh equals 1billion watt hours]. That the sector requires this much power indicates that the absence of power will have a substantial adverse effect on the productive capacity sector.”

At this stage everything from poultry, livestock and forestry to sugar cane, table grapes and bananas will be affected.

“Some of our biggest export crops will certainly be affected by load-shedding. For example, fermenting wine and other perishable products require cooling, which is reliant on electricity.

“Moreover, citrus, a major export from SA, requires electricity for various pest control processes. The disruption of cold chain and packing processes is likely to affect the quality of our produce and lead to delays in exporting. This will diminish SA’s reputation as a reliable supplier of quality produce,” Van der Rheede said.

The sector is responsible for nearly 900,000 jobs. Electricity is essential for modern farming methods and the storage of fresh produce, and the recent increase in load-shedding is seriously disrupting operations.

“With load-shedding escalating as SA enters the summer crop planting season, the current energy crisis may have implications for food security into the coming year, unless farmers can put measures in place to mitigate against the effects of loadshedding,” Van der Rheede said.

The consequences of loadshedding for the different agricultural commodities are farreaching, with potentially devastating outcomes.

Van der Rheede said it usually takes up to an hour to return irrigation systems to full operation when load-shedding ends, costing farmers time and incurring additional labour costs.

Blackouts also disrupt cooling and packing with ramifications for food quality, and they pose a health hazard for humans and animals alike as they disrupt access to clean water for consumption and disrupt wastewater treatment, he added.

“For export commodities, the consequences include a disruption to cold chain protocols mandated by foreign markets and late shipments. These outcomes will diminish SA’s standing as a reliable source market.

“Ultimately, the greatest threat of load-shedding is to the country’s food security. As crops fail for lack of irrigation or farmers plant less for fear of losses, the country will only experience the consequences of loadshedding in the future as the produce anticipated from this summer’s crop fails to materialise. The result will be food shortages and high prices.”

According to department of agriculture, land reform & rural development statistics, the sector spent about R9bn on electricity in 2021. This is more than 7% of its expenditure on intermediate goods and services. A reliable power supply is especially critical for irrigation and water treatment.

Van der Rheede said Agri SA is aware of the recent announcement that Eskom will approach the market to procure 1,000MW, but farmers need to know what the plan is beyond this initial attempt to stabilise the grid on order to plan for the season ahead.

The organisation wants the power utility and the government to work with farmers to avert a food certainty crisis in addition to the power crisis.

The latest estimates are that load-shedding is costing SA about R4bn a day — or R28bn in the past week — with economists saying the effect could be greater as it is difficult to quantify accurately given the scope of the unknowns in the smaller sectors and enterprises, along with other knock-on effects.

In July, manufacturing giant Tiger Brands Foundation (TBF) operations manager Karl Muller announced that apart from the financial losses for the corporate sector, load-shedding contributed to a huge rise in food waste.

“A lot of food is spoilt as a result of load-shedding. Frozen foods can defrost and food items that need refrigeration warm up, while food that is in mid-cook or needs a complete cycle in an oven, such as bread, is often ruined by blackouts,” said Muller.

As a result, many SA households are less likely to risk buying expensive food items, such as meat, in case it gets spoilt during prolonged episodes of loadshedding.

“People are likely to turn to fast food when fresh food has either been spoilt or cannot be cooked due to power outages,” said Muller.