Agriculture minister Thoko Didiza to set up load-shedding task team

Agriculture, land reform & rural development minister Thoko Didiza met with farming organisations on Friday to discuss the load-shedding crisis and the threat it poses to food security.

A task team of the government, agricultural industry and energy experts will be set up to monitor the effect of load-shedding on the sector and its ability to provide safe and nutritious food for South Africans, the department said in a statement. 

SA has been placed into stage six load-shedding until further notice and farming organisations Agri SA and Grain SA warned of damage to food security in the next 24 months and the rising costs of producing food.

The minister told farmers she did not have control over Eskom but could make a strong case at cabinet for managing the effect of load-shedding on farmers, according to Agri SA.

Didiza said industry leaders in the food, beverage and farming industries used the meeting to highlight the threat to food security caused by the continuous load-shedding taking place at short notice.

The meeting analysed the possible development of alternative energy sources in the short, medium and long term, the department said.

“Despite the current challenges, the agricultural industries will continue to ensure the availability of food,” Didiza said.

Agri SA executive director Christo van der Rheede said almost the entire organised agriculture sector as well as food producers attended the meeting. Each party was given an opportunity to discuss their industry’s challenges.

Van der Rheede said the minister explained she had limited influence over Eskom but she could make a strong case to cabinet members to urge a more lenient implementation of load-shedding in agricultural areas.

“The minister understands the need to prioritise power provision where there is harvesting or irrigation taking place because we cannot have farmers losing their crops due to load-shedding level six,” he said.  

One of the solutions proposed is to include a rebate for diesel used for power generation by farmers. Agri SA wrote to the minister of finance in December to ask about this. The current diesel rebate of about R2.60/l is only in place for agricultural activities such as ploughing and the transport of goods to market.

Other solutions discussed at the meeting include subsidies for the cost of installing solar panel systems, as well as lowering the load-shedding levels for specific areas so that farmers can irrigate, process food or ensure that food products have adequate cold storage.

In recent years, farmers have been facing increased fertiliser, shipping and borrowing costs and are now struggling with the much higher costs of using diesel for power generation after shelling out for alternate power supplies. Some may be forced to reduce plantings.

Farmers who rely on electricity to pump river water for irrigation in areas such as the Northern Cape are unable to correctly irrigate their maize, lucerne and potato crops, leading to fears of crop failure, especially given the hot weather now. About 10% of SA farming is irrigation-intensive and requires power to pump river water to crops at specific times. 

Irrigation farmers cannot manage above stage two load-shedding, Grain SA said last week. 

Eskom had not responded to a request for comment at the time of going to print on Sunday.

childk@businesslive.co.za