AFASA seeks long-term drought relief

The African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (AFASA) expressed serious concern about the devastating drought raging over most of the country at the moment and issued an urgent request to government for immediate support for drought-stricken farmers.

The association said in a statement that it requested a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza to discuss the drought crisis in order to come up with immediate and longterm solutions to assist farmers.

According to AFASA, the 2023/24 grain crops were perishing under the ongoing drought.

The unfortunate part about these losses was that they had a domino effect on other industries such as the livestock production industry, as maize formed a major part of animal feed. Meanwhile, the effect of the drought in livestock production areas had also driven up the demand for animal feed, which consequently resulted in an increase in prices.

The reality was that some livestock producers could be forced to start culling animals.

Despite this, Dr Johan Willemse, an agricultural economist, told

Farmer’s Weekly the chances for large-scale government support for commercial farmers were slim.

An official disaster fund had been instituted by the state some 30 years ago, but with little effect on the agricultural sector so far. While the commercial sector was largely ignored in terms of support by the authorities, small-scale and communal farmers had received some assistance in the past. This support was mostly inadequate and did not add to food security in any significant way.

Dr Sandile Ndlungwane, chairperson of AFASA’s Grain Chamber, agreed with Willemse on the matter of the ineffective implementation of the official disaster plan. “That is why we want to meet with the ministry of agriculture so urgently. We need the issue of long-term mitigation plans to be addressed as a matter of urgency. A little relief now and then won’t go a long way to keep farmers on their land. We are worried that the sector does not have adequate instruments to proactively respond to disasters in South Africa and therefore we are forever a season away from facing food security challenges,” he added. –

‘WE ARE FOREVER A SEASON AWAY FROM FACING FOOD SECURITY CHALLENGES’