June 7, 2008
By Bronwynne Jooste
Independent Online - Cape Town, South Africa
Desperate farmers in the central Karoo are cashing in their pension funds and moving to town as a lengthy drought lays waste their farms and livestock.
Photo: "The animals are all dead or dying and the people are weak," she explains, cradling her child who had been admitted into the centre three days before. "I had almost 80 cattle, they are all dead. I only have five camels and a few goats left. We've got no food and no water and we can't sell the animals to get any." (Dieter Telemans)
The four-year drought is reaching critical proportions, with livestock and game dying at an alarming rate. The barren land is strewn with the carcasses of dead animals.
It's also having a devastating social and economic impact, as the area is the central production region for export wool and meat.
'Even oryx, which are actually desert animals, are battling'
Areas like Merweville, Beaufort West, Leeu Gamka and Prince Albert are among the hardest hit.
Carl Opperman of Agri WesCape said the "gradual deterioration" in the region had taken its toll on the land. There was virtually no grazing left for starved livestock. Very few farmers had lambs this season and some newborn lambs were dying just days after birth because ewes were not able to produce milk.
Even the most robust animals were suffering, said Opperman. "Even oryx, which are actually desert animals, are battling. It's come to the point that the feed actually has to be taken to the animal."
The crippling drought has seen a drop in farmers' incomes of up to a third compared to three years ago.
Chairperson of the Merweville Farmers' Union Antonie Botes is one of the farmers feeling the pinch.
Only nine of the 90 springbok in his game camp two years ago have survived.
Opperman said farmers like Botes were "lucky" they had been able to salvage a handful of their livestock.
Others had been forced to abandon their farms. The barren land was simply not economically viable and farmers were using their pension funds to start over. Many were locking their up farms and moving to urban areas.
Scores of farm workers now face uncertain futures and the region has seen a massive decline in job opportunities.
And as calls for more investment in the local agricultural sector are being made, Opperman said the drought was dissuading potential farmers.
"There is already a limited number of up-and-coming farmers.
"Now something like this happens and those who have just started are in deep trouble; they stand to lose everything."
Farmers from neighbouring communities like Heidelberg and Uniondale, which have not been as badly affected, have been trying to lessen the load. They are collecting enriched and raw fodder to ship to the distressed regions.
Last week farmers from Heidelberg sent 50 tons of fodder, worth about R90 000, to Merwe-ville but this much-appreciated assistance will only tide the farmers over for about two weeks.
The Western Cape Agriculture Department is also heeding the call for help and has allocated funds.
Opperman said they were still trying to secure assistance from the national department.
Even if the rains start to relieve the arid land, Opperman said much of the damage had been done.
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