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Farm crisis puts food supply in jeopardy

FROM 120,000 in 1994, only 37,000 commercial farmers remain in South Africa, which has led to the country teetering on the brink of becoming a net importer of food.

Farmers blame "unreasonable" laws, unionisation of farm workers, expensive water, electricity and other necessities, a shrinking supply of arable land and the threat of land reform, as reasons for farming becoming unsustainable.

As a result, experts say the country is starting to import wheat. The land is on the brink of having to import meat and poultry, which is produced less and less locally.

The South African economic system focuses too much on commercial farming (that is large-scale farming). Input costs (water, electricity, seeds, labour, fertilisers, diesel and finance costs) are very high, making it unprofitable and eventually forcing farmers to quit farming.

In contrast, according to research, peasant farming is more productive and profitable.

"In farming, bigger does not mean better." (Tomich, et al, 1995:114). The farm size is inversely proportional to productivity. In general there seems to be a "decline in output per unit area as the total area of a farm increases. The agriculture strategies focusing on peasant farming start with a major advantage."

Between 1982 and 1997, Zimbabwe was known as the breadbasket of Africa. About 66% of maize was produced by peasant farmers using communal land with questionable land tenure. In 1984 Zimbabwe supplied South Africa with yellow maize when this country had a shortage.

Zimbabwe achieved this because of guaranteed markets, fleets of trucks, a tractor purchase scheme, research, extension and credit facilities for peasant farmers. This became successful because of a backward integration strategy, which was implemented by the Zimbabwe government and the Agricultural Union of Zimbabwe.

Farmers say the latest threat, the New Security of Tenure Bill, which is up for public comment, will be the last straw that will drive more farmers away.

Farmers say the bill will give workers the right to keep livestock on the farms where they work, which will be allowed to graze "indiscriminately". The bill will also give workers the right to plant their own crops and build homes for themselves and close relatives, from which they may never be removed.

The bill, said Andy Tladi, one of the farmers who will be leaving for the DRC later this year, gives farm workers a "blank cheque" to do whatever they want on land that doesn't belong to them.

"The bill will worsen the situation for farmers. You are going to see workers putting up villages on farms. If you allow 10 people to build houses on a farm, in 20 years you could have up to 30 families. So how does a farmer continue to grow and invest under such circumstances? I am a black farmer and I won't be able to handle that. A lot of farmers will leave," he said.

The Department of Rural Development should focus on promoting farm workers to become peasant farmers, after which they will use their own land for animal production. If farm workers become peasant farmers, the problem of housing will be solved since they will build their own houses on their own land.

Mthobeli Mxotwa, spokesman for Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti, said the bill aims to "stop cruelty against workers".

He said: "Workers get kicked off farms and dumped on the side of the road. The Land Tenure Act and Extension of Security of Tenure Act were found to be toothless as evictions continued. We decided to tighten the new bill to give farm workers rights. We also extended those rights to landowners."

AgriSA vice-president Theo de Jager said in the early 1990s there were about 120,000 large and medium-sized commercial farmers in the country. By the end of 2011, the figure had shrunk to 37,000.

"We are increasingly becoming dependent on imports for certain commodities. Five years ago we had a thriving tea industry, today we have nothing. We import from Kenya and Uganda," he said.

Kenya and Uganda have the most successful programmes in peasant farming on the continent and that is why they are in a position to export. If the SA government facilitates investment in research, farming production, marketing and finance of peasant farming, the output of crops like wheat will increase.

Andre Jooste, markets and economic research centre senior manager at the National Agricultural Marketing Council, said farmers around the world had to restructure in 1995 when agricultural markets were liberalised.

"Subsidies were taken away, tariffs were liberalised and barriers were lowered," he said.

The government must develop policies that will counteract the effects of changes that took place in 1995 and 1997. It must create an environment conducive to the promotion and sustainability of peasant farming in South Africa.

  • Tjale is an independent economic analyst

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