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Briefcase nr 50
Drought hits
hard |
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Four million rural South Africans need immediate
drought assistance |
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The South African National Disaster Task Force
calls it one of the worst droughts in 10 years
while the Southern African Development Community
confirms that 27% of the country has received
the lowest rainfall in 88 years |
Head of the South African National Disaster Task
Force, Mokgethi, says that drought could affect
15 million people in the region, with at least 4
million needing immediate assistance. Amongst
the 4 million are 3 million communal or
subsistence farmers and their dependants spread
over seven provinces declared disaster areas.
They are Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape,
Free State, Mpumalanga, North West and Eastern
Cape. Mokgethi said, "The crisis facing the
country is not so much about the availability of
food, but the accessibility in the rural areas”.
South Africa, the regional breadbasket, usually
exports maize to its neighbours but will produce
only enough of the staple food for its own
population in 2004 the SADC confirmed. This will
be the lowest production in the last 30 years.
South Africa consumes 7.6 million metric tons (mt)
of maize annually, but conservative estimates
put production for the 2003/04 season at between
6.5 million and 6.7 million mt – a shortfall of
around a million mt. At the National Crops
Estimates Committee meeting on the 20 January,
Jannie de Villiers, executive director of the
South African Chamber of Milling explained that
maize has been planted on almost 2.56 million
hectares for the current cropping season, with
1.67 million hectares planted to white maize and
892 000 hectares to yellow maize. South Africa
can therefore expect over four million mt of
white maize and at least 2.67 million mt of
yellow maize. "We will not have to import any
white maize, but we might have to import a bit
more of the yellow maize," said De Villiers.
The inter-ministerial task team led by Provincial
and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi,
presented a report to the cabinet showing the
need for more money for drought relief. The task
team will propose that the R250m approved by the
cabinet late last year is not enough to assist
the four million people affected by drought. The
Water Affairs and Forestry Department requires
finance to assist farmers with their irrigation
needs and to erect water tanks and drill
boreholes to supply fresh water to rural
communities. The Social Development Ministry
needs extra funds for emergency relief for
people affected by the drought, while the
Agriculture and Land Affairs Department needs
funds for fodder and water for livestock to
benefit communal and commercial farmers. The
Health Department has requested more funds to
help prevent communicable diseases such as
cholera. Agricultural organisations have also
suggested that government could consider various
interventions when it draws up a drought relief
programme. AgriSA president Japie Grobler
explained that farmers expected relief for
transporting livestock to areas with enough
grazing land, for forced sales of cattle because
of the drought and to help in subsidising the
salaries of farm workers. "AgriSA's long-term
view is that government should underwrite
agricultural risks in order to maintain
stability in the production of food," Grobler
said.
South Africa's drought will have a regional
impact, as humanitarian agencies usually buy
grain from it to feed the region. High maize
prices will affect neighbouring countries like
Swaziland and Lesotho, whose markets are linked
to those in South Africa. Southern and central
areas of Mozambique are suffering, with the
capital Maputo having received less than 30% of
normal rainfall by December. In the southern
parts of Maputo most of the first crops planted
have failed and surviving crops are severely
water stressed. While the western third of
Swaziland has been wet, the rest of the country
has had erratic rains and dry conditions. The
initial estimate of 217 000 people in need of
food assistance as a result of the previous
season’s crop failure is likely to increase. A
dry start to the season in Lesotho has cut
plantings. Combined with problems last season
this will lead to an estimated 6-700 000 people
needing food aid in coming months. In Zambia,
which enjoyed a good harvest last year and a
surplus of 175 000 mt of maize, southern areas
are being hit by low rainfall. In Zimbabwe,
where over 4 million people need food
assistance, maize producing areas in the north
and east have been hit by drought.
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Neighbouring countries will feel the effects of
South Africa's maize shortfall. World Bank. |
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