Communal Farming

Overgrazing can lead to serious encroachment by woody plant species. In severe cases, the veld is effectively incapable of supporting livestock.

Iam currently involved in a project in the Hewu district of the former Ciskei region in the Eastern Cape that uses regenerative methodology to teach communal farmers how to preserve their life-sustaining grazing areas.

Large areas of land in this district and elsewhere have become degraded to the point where invasive woody plant species such as the harpuisbos ( Euryops lateriflorus) have largely taken over. This is a serious problem, as no domestic livestock species can browse this resinous bush.

Over the years, attempts have been to remove harpuisbos by poisoning or physically removing them (bush cutting), but these are not feasible strategies in the long term and fail to address the underlying problem, which is overgrazing.

A WORSENING PROBLEM

Overgrazing or a lack of regenerative grazing results in the eventual disappearance of useful, palatable rangeland grasses.

In a variety of intricate ways, these grasses keep the soil healthy and balanced, which prevents the spread of woody shrubs like harpuisbos.

What many people fail to appreciate is that the continued encroachment of such woody species is starting to affect entire communities, as livestock farming becomes more and more difficult in these areas. In some cases, livestock owners have migrated from heavily degraded areas into areas where degradation is not too advanced.

This usually just expands the problem, as the newly settled areas, such as land reform farms, in time also degrade due to a continuation of the same destructive patterns of overgrazing. And with more people wanting to become involved in farming enterprises such as wool-growing, which has shown good economic returns in recent years, overgrazing is likely to become an even greater problem.

Wool sheep tend to be selective grazers, targeting the best and most fragile grasses, while cattle usually graze coarser, less palatable and more robust grasses. Eventually the more fragile grasses disappear and plants such as the harpuisbos take over.

Communal farming communities and policymakers need to take the conservation of rangelands seriously. Rangelands are the foundation of profitable livestock farming and a legacy that today’s farmers should be leaving future generations.

But there is good news. Recent field surveys in the Mceula village rangelands in the Hewu region have proved some naysayers wrong. Invasive vegetation species can in fact be controlled by regenerative grazing.

The community instituted holistic or regenerative farming methodology on its rangelands some six years ago and is seeing the return of good grasses to their rangelands. In fact, harpuisbos is dying off there!

I’ll cover a number of regenerative ideas and strategies in the next article.

PHOTOS: SHANE BRODY RIGHT AND FAR RIGHT: These photographs show the invasive harpuisbos dying off in the Mcuela Village rangelands, after farmers adopted regenerative farming methods. The encroachment of such plants leads to diminished grazing for livestock.

BY SHANE BRODY Shane Brody is involved in project management as part of an outreach programme aimed at transferring skills to communal farmers in parts of the former Ciskei and Transkei. Email him at farmersweekly@caxton.co.za. Subject line: Communal farming.