Food security is becoming a growing issue in South Africa Photo Pexels
South Africa – Food security is becoming a concern in South Africa as farmers are finding it more difficult to compete in this market. Established farmers as well as emerging farmers are feeling the pressures with little to no help from government.
The World Food summit of 1996 defined food security as existing when all people have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to always meet their dietary needs for an active and healthy lifestyle. To achieve such in South Africa is extremely hard as we face many complex problems from a farming perspective, said Sulaimaan Patel, Head of Rural Development and social investment at Agri SA Enterprises.
“From a farming perspective the major farmers play a very important role in terms of general food security in South Africa. However, if we look at the smaller communal and emerging farmers, they play a role in terms of food security and vitalizing rural and communal economies.”
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The problems farmers are facing today
The war in Ukraine has impacted many across the globe. From rising fuel prices to the cost of fertilisers increasing, farmers are feeling the heat. It has become harder for emerging farmers to produce food and run their farms efficiently. They are starting to feel discouraged and distressed for a variety of reasons, explained Patel.
“We have the inflated cost of diesel which has a knock-on effect through the entire food and fibre value chain. From farming inputs through to productions, going right through the logistics value chain, ultimately results in a price increase for the end consumer. We have the total collapse of the railway system which could have combated the high diesel prices. Fertiliser costs are at an all-time high. Poor infrastructure continues to impede agricultural activities especially when we look at the emerging farmer landscape. Road infrastructure which is key to delivery and distribution of inputs and outputs to and from farms is one of the most serious obstructions facing the sector.”
Emerging farmers have even more worries
With little to no funding, emerging farmers have even more problems to deal with. In an already tough economy, they must deal with all these obstacles as well as not having surplus money to find solutions.
“Emerging farmers are at the point of frustration and that is because they have little to no access to funding or credit. There are minimal interventions from the government side for the majority of emerging farmers. There are serious barriers to entry especially when we look at the higher value crops. This also leads to a huge market access problem for emerging farmers because it’s very difficult for them to meet the minimum requirements to access the more formal markets. A general lack of access even in terms of connectivity in terms of access to reliable information and market pricing.”
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Government and load shedding has crippled the farmers
Farmers have been getting help from AgriSETA to upskill their labour and improve how they run their farms. After that, government is supposed to step in, but they have not, said Patel. There have been no opportunities afforded to them. These are questions that need to be answered.
Loadshedding has also been hard on farmers. A household can easily power a few appliances with a generator, but farms have massive equipment that require massive amounts of power. For well-established farmers they could have the capital for generators, but emerging farmers do not have that luxury.
“While some farmers might have the means to move off the grid and look at other options. The majority of small-scale, small commercial farmers those just aren’t options for them given the high cost associated with those types of technologies. As well as theft and rural insecurity. Security is a major issue in rural areas. You have a lot of farmers complaining about theft of their solar panels. When there are not enough cooling systems [operating] in the cold storage areas, a lot of food goes to waste which has a very negative impact on the country’s food security.”
These small-scale farms are also the backbone of rural economies and provide food for them. Losing produce or not producing enough can have detrimental impact on rural areas.
The role of Patel and his department
In these tough times emerging farmers need all the help they can get. Patel and his department ensure they can provide that help. They help with funding so they can grow their business and fuel the rural economy.
“We fund emerging farmers coupled with comprehensive real-time mentorship. Look for farmers that are already producing in the rural areas. We build capacity on those projects in order to create employment for youth within the rural areas in order to stimulate the rural economies.”
With the ongoing war, high fuel prices and broken infrastructure, it is a struggle to provide food security. Patel has urged those who wish to pursue something in the agricultural sector to thoroughly research about it. The hope is that as more farms open, South Africa will have to rely less on imported foods. This will make us more food secure in the future.
