Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
Tackling a difficult conversation
In this issue of Farmer’s Weekly, we include a news story on the KwaZuluNatal Department of Agriculture’s initiative to help farmers battle stock theft in the Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality (see page 18). Sibusiso Ndlovu, a farmer in the Loskop region, speaks about the emotional impact that stock theft has had on him. He says that in 2022, stock thieves stole 12 of his cattle, while in November 2023, he lost goats and an additional seven cattle to stock thieves. “It was heartbreaking and discouraging seeing my cattle being taken away from me. I spent many years trying to save to be able to buy cattle, but in a moment, I lost everything.”
Unfortunately, Ndlovu’s story is just one of many, and there are thousands of commercial, small-scale and subsistence farmers who lose their livestock and crops to stock thieves. The cost of this to the economy is probably difficult to determine, as many cases of stock theft go unreported, but it is not just the economic impact that should be taken into account; we should also be considering the mental and emotional impact that this kind of crime has on farmers.
Farming is a tough profession, and it is becoming increasingly so as profit margins continue to shrink. The difficult nature of this career choice is obvious not only in South Africa, but across the globe. In 2018, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention determined that farmer suicides were at 50,7 per 100 000 farmers. This is significantly higher than the average of 14,9 per 100 000 suicides measured across other industries. Considering the volatility of markets, the unpredictability of the weather, and governments increasingly trying to implement policies that would put farmers out of business (as seen in Europe), it is not surprising that so many farmers end their lives; they simply have nowhere to turn.
A recent article in the Macon Telegraph highlighted this point perfectly. The article spoke about the mental well-being of farmers in Georgia in the US, and cited the Farmer’s Mental Well-Being Project study in which 1 600 farmers, which included farm owners, farmworkers and farm managers, were asked questions about their mental health. About 29% of the respondents admitted to having suicidal thoughts at least once a month. When only taking into consideration first-generation farmers, this number was even more shocking, with 60% of the respondents admitting to having suicidal thoughts.
While mental health and suicide are not topics many people wish to discuss, and may even be taboo in some cultures, we cannot afford to turn our backs on the issue. We need to accept that farmers, farmworkers and farm managers operate under high levels of stress, and these levels of stress are increasingly high for farmers in South Africa, where problems such as stock theft and farm attacks and murders are commonplace. Government and private sector role players need to educate farmers and their workers about mental health and the risks of depression and other mental health problems. Education is the first step towards ensuring better mental well-being. The stigma around suicide and depression should also be dispelled; this is simply something we need to talk about, whether it’s a conversation we want to have or not.