Commercial farmers in drought stricken areas battling to survive
18 July 2016
Agri SA’s office is currently inundated with calls for drought relief assistance from very desperate commercial and emerging farmers. We therefore call on the corporate sector and public to contribute financially to the Agri SA drought relief fund in order to finance the purchasing of feed pellets and the transportation thereof to farmers in need.
Another big concern to Agri SA is the fact that more and more highly productive and successful commercial farmers are struggling to make ends meet. We appeal to our commercial banks and agri businesses to find ways and means to prevent large scale bankruptcies amongst these farmers. We also appeal to government for assistance as these farmers have played a crucial role to produce food on a large scale for the commercial market.
It’s especially farmers in parts of the Northern Cape, Free State and North West, Eastern Cape and Western Cape that face a severe crisis currently and who are in desperate need for financial assistance. They can no longer afford to buy animal feed and lack the cash flow to keep farm operations going. Boreholes on many farms are also starting to dry up and animals are busy dying. Farm workers and their families also have a desperate need for humanitarian assistance.
The continuous devastating impact of the drought in parts of South Africa do have a very negative and destructive effect on the socio-economic fiber of many rural communities. Losing more and more of our commercial farmers who are the backbone of economic growth and job creation will just exacerbate the conditions of poverty and unemployment.
Agri SA is appealing to the corporate sector and the general public to contribute towards the Agri SA Drought Relief Fund because our farmers need our assistance now more than ever.
Herewith an updated report about Agri SA’s drought relief assistance provided to farmers:
|
Contributions by the corporate sector, international donors, church communities and general public |
R16 million |
|
Amount of commercial farmers assisted |
12 921 commercial farmers |
|
Amount of emerging farmers assisted |
3 053 emerging farmers |
|
Total amount of farmers assisted |
15 974 farmers |
|
Amount of bales (round and square) distributed |
66 557 bales |
|
Amount of bags of feed pellets distributed |
36 609 bags of feed pellets |
|
Amount of farm workers and rural family members provided with food hampers and bottled water |
9 057 farm workers (x4 members = 36 228 rural family members) |
|
Amount of trucks used |
579 trucks |
|
Amount of donors who donated funding |
1 300 donors |
|
Amount of maize meal and food hampers distributed |
236 tonnes |
|
Amount of botteld water distributed |
548 000 litres |
|
Amount of water tanks donated and boreholes sunk |
20 water tanks 3 boreholes |
|
FINANCIAL DISBURSEMENT TO PROVINCES FROM DROUGHT FUND |
|
|
Northern Cape |
R 3 418 421.00 |
|
North West |
R 3 389 474.00 |
|
Free State |
R 3 189 474.00 |
|
Western Cape |
R 2 250 000.00 |
|
Eastern Cape |
R 889 474.00 |
|
Kwazulu-Natal |
R 505 263.00 |
|
Other provinces |
R 607 895.00 |
The shortage of winter fodder is a real problem and any contributions are greatly appreciated by the public. Further disbursements from the drought fund will be made in August and September to provinces that experience a severe shortage of winter feed.
Herewith the banking details below:
Beneficiary: Agri SA Drought Relief Fund
Bank: ABSA
Account Type: Cheque
Account Number: 40-6854-0775
Branch Code: 632 005 (Business Bank - Pretoria East)
Beneficiary Reference: RAMP
Issued by Omri van Zyl, Executive Director, Agri SA, 18 July 2016
