Pretoria - The Provincial Departments of Agriculture have offered R14.7 million to be used for drought relief for small-scale and subsistence farmers in five provinces, which are currently worst affected by drought.
The National Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said reports from agricultural sectors were received from five provinces namely the Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and KwaZulu-Natal.
“The Provincial Departments of Agriculture submitted their declaration requests to the Provincial Disaster Management Centres in accordance with the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002).
“To date, declaration confirmations have been received from the North West and Free State as per the Disaster Management Act, while in other provinces the process is still ongoing. The department has yet to receive written confirmation of disaster declaration from KZN,” the department said in a statement.
The department explained that the allocation is being used to cater for many affected farmers’ emergency needs such as, but not limited to, providing animal feed, water sources and intensifying awareness campaigns.
Declared drought disaster stricken provinces will then submit their disaster funding requests to National Treasury through the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC).
Assistance for affected provinces
To date, the department said it has approached the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Land Bank for possible assistance.
“The institutions indicated that they have plans in place that can be used to assist affected farmers. The plans include providing soft loans, among other things.”
However, the department emphasised that records of disaster declarations in terms of the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002) are the main requirements to unlock such assistance.
“To ensure drought impact mitigation, the department continues to monitor conditions in the provinces and will issue updated early warning information/advisories to the sector, which includes strategies farmers should consider in planning their activities when dry conditions are forecasted.
“Strategies advised are using grey water – especially in food gardens, harvesting water during rainy days, irrigating in the late afternoon/early evening to reduce evaporation, using drip irrigation instead of sprinklers as it saves water and reducing livestock to protect limited grazing land and providing additional feeds,” the department said.
The department continues to coordinate and facilitate the process between NDMC and the Provincial Departments regarding both declarations and funding requests.
“The NDMC within the Department of Cooperative Governance is coordinating these national response efforts, particularly funding requests to National Treasury. All sectors are affected by the dry conditions and as such concerted and integrated efforts are required to ensure that the effect of the drought is mitigated,” it said. – SAnews.gov.za
