Several areas within Western Coast last month, after series of heavy downpours suffered devastating floods, that wreaked havoc on irritation equipment, Private roads, riverbanks and vineyards and fruit orchards.
The flooding brought damages to the tune of R1bn, to the Western Cape agricultural sector. However, the area is anticipated to be confirmed as a disaster by the agricultural department in the province, to raise money for repairs.
According to a revised estimate, the West Coast, Cape Winelands, and Overberg suffered the most from the damage, which came to R1.053 billion.
According to Ivan Meyer, the MEC for Agriculture, restoring the rivers, riparian areas, vineyards, and orchards would cost the province about R748 million, which happens to be the most costly of infrastructures destroyed by the downpour.
He noted that, silts that have been removed upstream and disposed downstream into rivers, vineyard and orchards, happens to be the leading cause of the damages. A cost of R7.7 million has been designated for irrigation system renovations, while a cost of R1.4 million is estimated for fencing works.
“The above estimates do not consider potential losses experienced along the agriculture value chain, nor provide any insight into the impact on future exports.”
Ivan Meyer, MEC for Agriculture.
According to the Western Cape department of Agriculture, damages on crops for farmers amounts to R278 million, and revenue losses for workers, sums up to about R18.7 million.
CEO of Agri SA Western Cape Jannie Strydom confirmed that, the provincial department’s quantifications were “quite representative of the damages that we’ve seen” and centered on a poll conducted from impacted farmers.
According to Gerrit van der Merwe, vice-chairman of the Western Cape Citrus Growers Association, the projected flood damages to the citrus sector totaled R500 million and affected 8000 hectares of plantations in the Orange Valley, Elephants River Valley, Clanwilliam, and Citrusdal.
He claimed that, due to fruit falling off trees due to severe rainfall, farmers saw a 10 to 15% decrease in fruit production. “The fruit on some trees had been lost completely. The impact of these losses can carry into next year,” Merwe said.
Merwe explained that, farmers couldn’t reach their farms with their tractors to harvest or rehabilitate their farms, which he claimed, contributed to the shortfall in harvest this year.
“The volume of fruit is affected, and lower quantities will be sent to market. This will have a direct impact on jobs as fewer people are needed to pack the fruit. We are expecting 10% less fruit to be packaged.”
Gerrit van der Merwe, Vice-Chairman for Western Cape Citrus Growers Association.
Van der Merwe continued that, numerous farmers in Citrusdal, were forced to cope with the emotional consequences of the flooding and were also compelled to seek solutions to return to their farms amid the emergency.
“Small farmers have also been affected differently, and people in rural areas within Citrusdal were displaced. We had to organize food for people in the community. Some are busy rebuilding their houses.”
Gerrit van der Merwe, Vice-Chairman of the Western Cape Citrus Growers Association.
According to Krisjan Mouton, farmer in Citrusdal, some of the fruits will not be of good quality for export, thus, amounting to the losses that some producers will incur.
Farmers in the area, he said, were doing their best to reconstruct what they could, but there happened to be few farmers among the rest with “money lying around” to undertake the repairs.
“There was just a mass of water that came down the Elephants River. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. One of the farmers in the area planted an orchard in November last year and the trees were still small. The whole orchard was under water and most of it is gone now. A dam burst and the water flooded another farm, causing around R4 million worth of damage.”
Krisjan Mouton, Farmer.
READ ALSO:Minister Admonishes Health Unions To Call Off Strike After 6% Pay Rise
