Agriculture
Question by:
Hon Andricus van der Westhuizen
Answered by:
Hon Ivan Meyer
Question Number:
11
Question Body:
- What is needed for grazing in the drought-stricken areas of the Western Cape to recover to normal stock carrying capacity, (b) under ideal circumstances, what time horizon might apply for this and (c) what has been the effect of the drought spanning the last few years on the employment numbers and/or the number of families being supported by agriculture in the Western Cape?
Answer Body:
11 (a) The areas affected by the drought would require at least three consecutive years of average to above average rainfall for the natural veld to recover. Whilst the natural veld are recovering, farmers are advised to adhere to sustainable grazing practices, i.e. only keep the core herd in order to prevent over grazing.
- It is predicted that good veld conditions will only return after three consecutive years of average to above average rainfall. The extended drought of six years resulted in significant deterioration of the veld.
- Using Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Surveys, we noted that in 2015 (the period before the drought), farm employment was 197 645 in the Western Cape. This employment number declined to 167 500 in 2018, a loss of over 30 000 jobs were lost during this period. From the Western Cape Farmworker census, the average size of a farmworker’s household was around 4 people, which translates to 120 000 – 140 000 livelihoods affected by the layoffs caused by the drought.
Date:
Friday, September 4, 2020
