While recent widespread rains have brought some relief‚ “parts of the Northern Cape‚ Western Cape‚ North West‚ Limpopo and the Free State are still in the grip of the worst drought this decade”.

That’s according to Agri SA‚ which on Monday reiterated its call for donations to assist needy farmers.

 Its president‚ Johannes Möller‚ said: “Agri SA alone cannot meet the farmers’ needs and therefore we call urgently for financial contributions.”

While the agricultural association had “launched various initiatives to provide needy farmers countrywide with drought relief”‚ said Möller‚ the “time has now come for the government to provide further assistance to commercial and small-scale farmers to help them survive”.

“The shortage of funds has now resulted in Agri SA being unable to provide further assistance and we therefore call urgently on the private sector to make further contributions to the Agri SA drought relief fund.

 He said Agri SA is concerned about the welfare of farmers and farm workers and the humanitarian impact of the drought‚ as well as their ability to survive.

  “A drought is not a one-year phenomenon – the western parts of the country‚ where devastating drought conditions have been experienced over the past three years‚ can testify to this.” – TMG Digital