Medium farmers also need help!

Since South Africa went into lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) more than a month ago, several initiatives have been launched to provide South Africans with a platform from which to express their gratitude for farmers, farmworkers and all those involved in the agriculture supply chain. South Africans and others across the globe have taken to social media to post messages of appreciation and to encourage farmers and others in the value chain during the crisis ( see page 9).

Earlier this year, just a few weeks before our lives were so irrevocably changed by the pandemic, I quoted Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, who said to farmers at the Grain SA Congress in Bothaville: “You could have chosen to be doctors, or lawyers [...], but chose instead to pursue a very unique calling that ignorant people look down upon: producing food. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Now, just like doctors, people have come to understand how utterly impossible life would be without farmers. Unfortunately, apart from the lip service paid by our political leaders to acknowledge the vital importance of the farming sector, government’s words of support have not been backed by any meaningful financial or practical support.

It is a mistake to think that just because the farming sector is one of a few industries allowed to continue during the five-week hard lockdown that the industry does not need funding for losses suffered due to the pandemic and related trade restrictions. The COVID-19 crisis relief available to farmers ( see pages 18 to 19) shows just how little support is being offered to the agriculture sector. There is some support for smallholder farmers, and the larger agribusinesses will probably be able to make use of some of the tax relief measures offered. But for a very large middle section, into which many of South Africa’s family farms and successful new black farmers fall, there is little or no support.

Yes, the food supply chain has been functioning, but as fresh produce farmer Mbali Nwoko writes in her column this week ( see page 21), many of those farmers who deliver their produce to fresh produce markets have been affected by a drop in demand caused by the sudden and complete shutdown of the hospitality industry. As Farmer’s Weekly has been reporting on its website during the lockdown, red meat producers have been unable to sell their stock at auctions and they fear a decline in demand due to the ailing economy and loss of consumer spending power. Wine producers have been unable to earn an income for almost the entire five-week period. Barley farmers are likely to suffer losses because of an anticipated decrease in beer production. Wool farmers have been unable to continue shearing and transporting their wool. Tobacco producers have also been hard hit due to the ban on cigarette and tobacco sales. Ultimately, there will be very few industries within the sector that will not face financial hardship due to the lockdown. The support packages made available to farmers up until now will not come close to providing the kind of assistance most farmers will need to recover from the damage their businesses will suffer, which will ultimately place South Africa’s national food security in serious jeopardy.