Year after year, natural disasters threaten agricultural production in South Africa. Due to the effects of climate change, an increasing number of farmers are rethinking their farming practices in order to adapt and create a resilient and sustainable farming future.
Agri SA’s risk and disaster manager, Andrea Campher, joins this session of Farmer’s Inside Track to give insight into disaster management in Mzansi’s agri sector.
Flooding and other threats
Campher says that farmers are vulnerable to a variety of risks, including drought, flooding, pest and disease outbreaks, hail, and other climatic factors.
She adds that from February 2021 to 2022, South Africa declared a national disaster following floods that hit various parts of the country. “To the detriment of some provinces, particularly KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape province, and rural infrastructure in the Free State was damaged.
“If we look into disaster management, it would also be beneficial if we can bestow powers upon the presidency to allow for integrated government management, as it affects different departments within government, for instance, agriculture, department of housing, social development and Transnet.”
Disaster management challenges in Mzansi
According to Campher, government lacks the resources to address the aftermath of natural disasters, or financial capacity, due to excessive red tape and inadequate budgeting.
“Therefore, proper town planning for floods, for instance, in the KZN area [is needed],” she says. “Also moving to climate smart practices, using technology, early warning systems, and so forth are just a few ways in which farmers can then adapt to the effects of climate change.”
Campher highlights that there is currently no framework to protect farmers. Farmers will take it upon themselves to be more climate smart even though farming is also impacted by climatic factors, she says.
In the episode, Campher also discusses:
- The establishment of a risk management framework to safeguard the agri-sector;
- Preparation of mitigation by farmers for current and future situations; and
- How disaster management is everyone’s responsibility.
Want to know more? Listen to the full episode of Farmer’s Inside Track.
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Option 3: Click here to listen on Google Podcast
ALSO READ: Drought disaster means ‘dololo’ without farmer support
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