Cape Chamber of Commerce warns of food security crisis due to load-shedding

The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry has warned of a looming food crisis if the causes of the rolling blackouts, which threaten the already fragile economy, are not urgently resolved.

Farmers are unable to water some of their crops because the irrigation systems depend on the power grid, the chamber said on Friday.

The chamber called for immediate steps to avoid a food security crisis due to load-shedding.

“Reports from the agriculture sector suggest many commercial crops are not receiving the necessary irrigation due to power supply challenges. This affects the Western Cape, a winter rainfall area, as much as it does other provinces where commercial farmers require intensive pivot irrigation,” it said.

“Power outages also affect cooling facilities needed during the fruit packaging process, which is of particular concern to the Western Cape where 200,000 people work in the agricultural sector. The province also handles 53% of SA’s agricultural exports, making power supply a critical factor across the value chain.”

The chamber said there are reports that up to 25% of SA’s staple food harvest, maize, is wilting in the fields due to power disruptions in the northern parts of the country.

“Other crucial crops such as potato, soya, fruit and nuts, all largely dependent on irrigation, are similarly affected,” according to Free State Agriculture which issued an SOS to the government last week.

“Among the interventions requested by farmers are a power generation subsidy for those forced to introduce alternative power due to Eskom’s failure and an alternative load-shedding schedule that offers more protection for primary sectors, such as less load-shedding at times when irrigation is most needed,” the chamber said.

The Western Cape government has also appealed to Eskom to take food security into consideration when applying load-shedding schedules. “The chamber shares farmers’ concerns, particularly in light of agriculture’s hugely important role in providing food security and employment.

“Reducing food security is tantamount to increasing social instability at a time when citizens are already under stress due to rising costs and widespread unemployment and a long list of other stress factors.”

In a survey of its business environment, the chamber said more than 40% of respondents said their energy supply is unreliable and more than 20% generate more than half their power from alternative sources. “This implies the power supply crisis comes at enormous cost to business competitiveness.

“Eskom and its political masters urgently need to do more to protect critical economic sectors while the country is racing to make up the power supply deficit — which is likely to be with us for years. Agriculture is one such sector requiring special consideration.”

The chamber said a hopeful sign was government’s willingness to allow more private sector involvement in the energy space, as evidenced by this week’s news that National Treasury has approved the City of Cape Town’s electricity cash-for-power plan.

Homeowners and businesses will be able to sell power they have generated on their property — a potential game-changer and benchmark for other municipalities. “As a chamber we are hoping this model can be replicated elsewhere as soon as possible.

“Treasury’s decision is good news for the agricultural sector, particularly for farming consortia which have long been asking to generate their own power and feed into the grid.

“We urge relevant role players to accelerate private participation in the energy sector. This will accelerate much-needed innovation and help grow the green economy. We look forward to assisting this process as much as possible.”

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