Mount Fletcher Dam is still mostly empty, even after a recent storm. Picture: Joe Gqabi District Municipality
Drought is devastating Eastern Cape farmers, crops and livestock, writes Rochelle de Kock
IT is a crisis. Large parts of the Eastern Cape have been gripped by a drought and water shortage so severe that rivers, dams and boreholes are bone-dry.
Farmers are recording millions of rands in losses due to spoilt crops and unproductive livestock, while others are racking up even more debt just to be able to feed their animals.
The areas which have been hit hardest in the province are the Joe Gqabi and Chris Hani districts, as well as the Mhlontlo and Mount Fletcher areas.
This has placed food security in the country under threat as many maize and lucerne crops have been destroyed.
The price of maize has since doubled.
As thousands of additional animals had to be sold off because of the drought, the price of meat is expected to skyrocket, according to Aliwal North’s Maletswai Business Forum chairman, Jakkie van Zyl.
Grain SA has warned that about five million tons of maize will have to be imported into South Africa this year – about half of the country’s requirements.
Aliwal North falls under the Joe Gqabi district, which has been declared a disaster area.
Both the Kraai and Orange rivers, which supply water to the farms and town, have dried up.
The Orange River has since improved slightly, after water released from the Katse Dam in Lesotho on December 24 finally arrived in Aliwal North on Thursday afternoon.
“It’s the worst drought in decades . . . It was the first time ever that the Orange River stopped flowing for two weeks,” Van Zyl said.
“There are about 80 farmers who belong to the Eastern Cape side of our forum . . . The effects on the economy have been in two parts – it was fantastic for some businesses that supply water pipes, tanks, pumps and fodder.
“But for the farmers it has been devastating. Farming is very important to us, it’s our main sector in this area, specialising mainly in sheep and cattle farming.
“The ripple effects are starting to come now because the young animals are not productive. For instance, if the female sheep doesn’t get enough food and the vitamins it needs, it doesn’t produce; it doesn’t fall pregnant.
“This means that animal production becomes lower and it then affects meat supply in the country.
“The farmers had to sell off thousands of additional animals than they normally would have because of the drought.
“None of the farms have shut down just yet, but we are getting there soon . . . Farmers are getting into more debt to buy food for their animals.
“There have been a lot more applications for loans from agri businesses.
“That’s where they go if the bank does not want to lend them any more money,” Van Zyl said.
He said the solution to Aliwal’s water crisis would be for the government to build a dam to supply the town, farms and surrounding areas.
He also urged all South Africans to pray for rain for the drought-stricken areas.
Farmer Fanie Bekker, situated on the outskirts of Aliwal North, said the drought was the worst in four generations of farming at the Braamspruit farm.
The Kraai River, which they relied on for irrigation for their maize and lucerne crops, dried up months ago.
Four of the farm’s seven boreholes have dried up, and out of the 28 ground dams on the large property, only one still contains water.
“We are carting 20 000 litres of water from a neighbouring farm for our cattle and sheep,” Bekker said.
“Our maize crops are dying out. Our wool grow is bad and we are losing sheep, which are leaving lambs behind.”
Bekker said his farm usually supplied Sasko with white maize and the yellow maize was usually sent to dairy farms in Humansdorp.
Because of the drought, Bekker only planted maize and lucerne on 60ha of his 150ha land and none of the crops planted are salvagable.
About R25 000 is spent on seeds, pesticides, herbicides and lime per hectare.
His maize crops, which are supposed to be about 2.5m high by this time of the year, are only waist- or kneehigh.
“We will not be able to produce any maize this year. We will not be able to use any of these crops; they’re spoilt,” Bekker said.
“In all our years of farming here, it has never been this bad.
“The last time we had a bit of rain was in March.”
He said all the farmers had pitched in to cart water into Aliwal North when the town did not have water for 10 days over the festive season.
Maize, potato and cattle farmer Anton de Klerk, from Maclear, said the costs of planting his crops had amounted to about R5-million, and that excluded other running costs, and all of it would be lost due to the drought.
“We planted 50ha of potatoes and 250ha of maize and we cannot harvest any of it,” De Klerk said.
“We have our own dam on the farm, but even that is dry . . . It’s the first time in the history of Maclear that we have had such drought.
“We planted with cash this year, but for the next season we will have to take out loans and hope for the best.
“Other farmers took out loans to plant this season and they are in a lot of trouble now,” De Klerk said.
He said he had to transport his 800 cattle to other
greener parts of the town just to be able to graze.
Maclear was plunged into crisis in October last year when its two dams – the Maclear and Aucamp dams – started drying out.
While there has been some rain, it is too little to fill up the dams.
The Joe Gqabi Municipality has been carting water from a neighbouring town, Ugie, while they work frantically to install an emergency pipe from the Mooi River to supply the town.
Farmer Dwayne Kashula, also on the outskirts of Maclear, said he had only planted 70% of what he usually plants every year and already 30% of those maize crops were damaged.
“Our maize has been stunted big-time and our potatoes have taken a huge knock. Eight hectares of potatoes are officially dead,” Kashula said.
“If we’re lucky, our potential on potatoes is 1 500 pockets per hectare, whereas we normally get 5 000 pockets per hectare.
“It’s been a nightmare and we have really been struggling without rain.”
Kashula sells his crops and beef all around the country.
“This drought, which is just as bad or not worse in the Free State, is going to affect food security,” Kashula said.
“The grass on my side of Maclear has not been much, so I haven’t had the lush, green grass for the cattle to graze on. This means the cattle won’t conceive if there’s no proper food.
“Next year this time is when we will all feel it because then there won’t be enough maize and meat.
“A lot of the farmers are going to fall. The guys with debt are not going to be able to service that debt, and then they will need more money for the next season.”
Kashula, too, used cash to fund 95% of his crop production.
“I will have to take out a loan for next year’s production because I’ve now lost all that cash I planted in. It will take four to five good years to make up that money again,” Kashula said.
The government has stepped in to assist some of the farmers with drought relief, but it will be lobbying the private sector to help as the magnitude of the drought is too great.
Eastern Cape Rural Development and Agrarian Reform MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane, who visited various districts this week, said they were still trying to mobilise more resources to assist other farmers.
In the Ugie and Maclear area, he delivered 150 tons of lucerne, 75 tons of hay, 15 blocks of mineral lick, 100 rainwater tanks with fitted livestock equipment, and 760 000 litres of water to 76 sites, with more water still being carted.
He visited the Umnga flats, where about 440ha of land planted with maize was spoilt.
His department was also trying to find experts to revive boreholes and windmills, and to fast-track the issuing of water licences to farmers wanting to build dams.
“If it can’t rain in the next two weeks, we are in deep trouble; it’s a crisis area. This is having a debilitating effect on the state of the food sector,” Qoboshiyane said.
This story appeared in Weekend Post on Saturday, 9 January, 2016 |
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