by Olwetu Batyi | Jul 30, 2020 | atp1
INTERFACING SOME PERSPECTIVES ON FOOD SECURITY WITH THE NUTRITION DEMANDS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Since the dawn of the new South Africa in 1994, the South African government had introduced numerous remedial food security policies and programmes which sought to address the damage done to black agriculture by many decades of neglect from the apartheid regime. In the Eastern Cape Province, distinguished food security programmes included household food production and the cropping programme. Funding for these food security programme is sourced from the provincial voted funds, and conditional grants in the names of Ilima / Letsema, Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme.
As outlined below, the focus areas for DRDAR’s food security programmes are; household food production, grain production, horticulture and fodder production.
• Households for the production of vegetables and poultry production inputs on a limited scale for household food production. In the current financial year an amount of R20 million is available for this program.
• Grain production. This is a major enterprise which takes biggest slice of the budget on an annual basis, this financial year an amount of R 80 million is allocated for this purpose. The reason of such an initiative is that, maize is the staple food in the province and is also used to support livestock production e.g. poultry, piggery, smallstock and dairy. It is mainly produced in the Eastern part of the province in Alfred Nzo, O.R. Tambo and parts of Joe Gqabi
district. It is produced under dryland condition. The good part of this potential is that; it is produced where poverty levels are high.
• Horticulture. The Central and Western parts of the province have the potential to produce the horticultural crops. This category of the commodities has the potential to create decent jobs and the bulk of the produce is exported. The examples of these commodities are citrus, deciduous, pineapples and vegetables. An amount of R 22 million is allocated for this financial to support the growth and expansion of these commodities through production inputs and infrastructure.
Fodder production is one of the commodities that has been incorporated into the Food Security programme. Due to the persistent drought that has seriously affected the province, DRDAR has taken a decision to support the production of Fodder in the province. This financial year an amount of R 10 million has been set aside for the establishment of lucern production in the three districts: Amathole, Chris Hani and Sarah Baartman. The plan is to upscale the production of fodder in the subsequent seasons.
Not with standing the commendable strides made in rolling out these food security programmes, food insecurity still remains high, not only in the Eastern Cape Province, but in the whole country. Today, about half of the country’s human population is either food insecure or is at risk of food insecurity. At household level, the picture is also not impressive. Some 28% of households are at risk of hunger, while 26% are experiencing hunger.
by Olwetu Batyi | Jul 30, 2020 | atp1
PREPARATIONS OF THE NEXT MAIZE SEASON AVOIDING LOSSES DUE TO NORTHERN CORN LEAF BLIGHT DISEASE
by Olwetu Batyi | Jul 30, 2020 | atp1
Covid-19 Agricultural Disaster Fund
THE MEC for the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform Nomakhosazana Meth today handed over vouchers to farmers as part of the Covid-19 Agricultural Disaster Fund set up to ensure sustainable food production during and post the Covid-19 pandemic. Through the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development government allocated R1,2 billion to assist smallholder and communal farmers across the country.
Briefing the MEC ahead of the handover, Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Acting Chief Director, Dudu Nghona said the amounts given to farmers varied according to the needs of the farmers. Elated MEC Meth said the vouchers were life changing to farmers who had been negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. “Now that the farmers have received this funding, life will never be the same for them. I am glad that we also have young people who have benefited out of this.
” Chairperson of the Eastern Cape Poultry Farmers Association Mhlobo Mbane said he was grateful for the funding and urged the department to conduct strict monitoring and evaluation so as to ensure that the vouchers were used for what they are meant for. He also thanked the Department’s Extension and Advisory Services for ensure that farmers received the applications on time even under strict Level 5 lockdown regulations. Another farmer, Nonkululeko Nduzulwana who runs a poultry and piggery farm in Buffalo City Metro received vouchers to the tune of R50 000. She said the vouchers would be used to buy more broilers and pumps for the farm. Nduzulwana’s farm supplies ANCA Poultry in Stutterheim with eight-week-old chicks every two months.
“We are grateful for the support we have received. The vouchers will go a long way in supporting us to buy more broilers and other supplies for the farm. Our dream is to increase our capacity to 300 000 because we have the market and demand,” said Nduzulwana. 72-year-old Myra Nogaga who runs a farm of 1000 layers said she really needed “this support. I feel ‘wow’. I have joy in my heart. We had experienced hardships during the lockdown because our layers died as we could not access feed. I lost about 10% of my layers. Now with these vouchers worth R50 000, I will be able to buy more. I am very grateful to government for this intervention.
” Out of the farmers who received vouchers was also 19-yearold Nomagcinandile Suduka who runs a small poultry farm in Great Kei Municipality. The teenager said she was elated to have receive vouchers to boost her poultry enterprise. “I’m going to buy more chickens as I have already build structures to accommodate more chickens. With these vouchers I will buy 100 more chickens”. Of the10618 applications in the province, 1622 applications were successful 556 of which were women while 217 were youths.
The total amount to be issued to farmers amounts to R65 694 654. Reasons for non-approval stem from non-compliance with the criteria such as the number of years in farming, proof of access to land, annual turnover from agricultural enterprise activities of not less than R 20 000, number of jobs created by the enterprise and proof of access to markets. To date the total number of 2612 vouchers for 875 applicants have been received. The vouchers are meant to buy feed, medication, fertiliser, and chemicals depending on the commodity of each applicant.
EASTERN CAPE DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND AGRARIAN REFORM
SINCE the outbreak of COVID-19 that rapidly turned into a global pandemic, the agricultural sector is among those that were hard hit and subsequently, interventions were made by the government to alleviate the threatening effects. The assistance to the sector started with a R 1,2 billion disaster agricultural support fund from the national Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. The R1,2 billion was shared among all the country’s nine provinces and benefited a total of 1630 farmers in the Eastern Cape. To this date 1505 vouchers have been issued to farmers whose applications were successful. The applicants that did not qualify were reconsidered in phases two and three. In the Eastern Cape the distribution of the vouchers is managed by the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR).The DRDAR has also been making strides to ensure smooth running of the agricultural sector for sustainable food security. This saw the department distributing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to farmers across the province. The effects of COVID-19 have worsened the situation of the already struggling agricultural sector in the province. And to this end the department has developed what it has termed a ‘Sector Recovery Plan’ which includes giving support to household through he household security programme where 10 000 households were identified to receive agricultural inputs.. DRDAR is also supporting crop farmers with production inputs and mechanization for various commodities including maize, vegetables, citrus, deciduous fruit, pineapples, chicory and blue berries. The budget allocated for these crops amounts to R 107-million targeting 21 191 hectares of arable land.
by Olwetu Batyi | Jul 30, 2020 | atp1
Tips on winter cropping for Eastern Cape Farmers
CROPPING has always been a seasonal exercise that relies mostly on the type of crops and their aptness for that particular season in the field of agriculture but with the growing demand for food all year round, farmers have found themselves faced with a challenge to produce crops even in incongruous seasons
. Some farmers with the experience that has come over the years in crop production and emergence of technology have found ways to yield high quality produce regardless of seasonal changes. But emerging farmers, especially those who just turned commercial still struggle in seasons like winter where there is a dire shortage of water and extremely low temperatures.
To address this, the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform in the Eastern Cape which is the custodian of agriculture has embarked on an initiative to take emerging and subsistence farmers by the hand in the process of elevating them to successful farmers. This includes all year round crop production.
As MEC for the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, Nomakhosazana Meth says “everything else can stop except agriculture” and with the Winter season upon us, the department is using its specialists in crop production to share pointers on cropping during winter with special focus on types of crops suitable for the period and how farmers can best overcome the challenges that come with the season.
According to the department’s agricultural scientist, Simphiwe Mhlontlo, climatically, the coastal part of the Eastern Cape is a transition between the subtropical climatic conditions of KwaZulu Natal and the Mediterranean conditions of the Western Cape. And this is one of the reasons why the coastal areas such as Port St Johns receive long hot conditions and high rainfall in Summer, with very mild Winter.
“However, the interior is characterized by very cold winter during the months of June, July and August; and July has been observed to be the coldest month in most areas,” said Mhlontlo. The average temperatures in winter in most inland areas can drop to as low as 2°C while during the summer months of December, January and February the highest average temperature is around 35ºC and is normally recorded during January. The province receives most of its rainfall between October and April after which there is a usual decline from May to September and the most minimal rainfall received is usually in July. High frost incidences are usually experienced in most inland and mountainous areas starting in May until July.
“Based on this, it becomes very difficult for farmers in the inland areas of the province to practice dryland winter cropping but can produce crops such as wheat, peas, onion, winter cultivars of cabbages, among others, under irrigation. Wheat is one of the grain crops that has been grown successfully in the past in areas such as Ncora Irrigation Scheme where temperatures met its vernalization (cold) requirements. In essence, vernalization is the cooling of seed during germination in order to accelerate flowering when it is planted,” Mhlontlo added.
In coastal areas with mild winter such as Port St Johns, farmers can increase their web by growing a variety of vegetable crops including green mealies.
Another benefit of growing crops in winter in cold areas is the reduced disease and pest outbreaks as the conditions are not conducive for their survival and the farmer will be saving as there will be less application of insecticides and eventually, less cost of production. Mhlontlo further advised farmers especially emerging farmers to conduct thorough research before buying seeds and seedlings so they can establish the difference between winter cultivars and others.
by Olwetu Batyi | Jul 30, 2020 | atp1
DRDAR LEVELS UP FIGHT AGAINST ANIMAL DISEASES WITH REINFORCEMENTS
The Eastern Cape government through its department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform has always waged a strong war against animal diseases of which some are deadly to both animals and humans. The diseases are either caused by bacterial or viral infection, but they pose a major threat to animal population and effectively impact negatively on the province’s agriculture sector and the economy at large.
This has been evident with farmers losing drifts of pigs following the outbreak of the African Swine Fever in the first semester of the year. Annual vaccination programmes have been put in place as a mitigation measure but the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR) has gone greater lengths to reinforce its team at the forefront against the animal diseases in the province. To this effect, Dr Kim Rosslee is among the reinforcements to join the department. Dr Rosslee is a State Veterinarian designated at the Mnquma Local Municipality area which includes the vast areas of Butterworth, Nqamakwe and Centane.
She completed her studies in 2018 at the University of Pretoria Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute in Pretoria with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science Following this, she was placed in Butterworth, Eastern Cape for her compulsory community service year for 2019 and joined the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform as a full time employee this year.
“This beautiful area in which I work provides me with a variety of challenges and cases involving many different species, namely: cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, dogs, cats and chickens,” she said.
Apart from treating sick or injured animals, veterinarians are also involved in disease preventions through vaccination and dipping programs. The Annual Vaccination Program is divided into quarters, each dedicated to certain devastating diseases that are harmful to human and animal health.
According to Dr Rosslee, diseases such as Anthrax and Rabies are preventable through vaccination, both of these diseases are fatal to humans. Viral diseases such as African Horse Sickness and African Swine Fever have been major problems in Mnquma this year. And just on her first year with the department she was welcomed by the latter diseases that broke out in some parts of the province but she has put on a great fight against the diseases –something which she attributes to the support she receives from both the DRDAR Mnquma-based and provincial office.
While our focus was on the viral diseases an outbreak of African Armyworm occurred during the early stages of the National Lockdown. “This is a migratory pest of pastures causing it to become toxic to the livestock who ingest it. I work together with a great team in Animal Health, the workload was easy to carry,” said Dr Rosslee.
