Farmers bear brunt of South Africa’s severe drought: ’All we can do is pray’ | Global development | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/nov/17/farmers-bear-brunt-of-south-africas-severe-drought-all-we-can-do-is-pra
South Africa is in the midst of its worst drought since 1982, with 2.7m households facing water shortages. The lack of rain has been accompanied by soaring temperatures in many areas, including record highs in Johannesburg (36C) and Pretoria (39.8C). Some cities, including Johannesburg, have implemented water restrictions, drastically reducing the amount of water residents can use on their gardens and limiting showers to just three minutes.
But South Africa’s farmers are the hardest hit. “If that person is a crop farmer, if it doesn’t rain then he can’t plant. So he must watch the clouds and pray for rain,” said Kosie van Zyl, a senior consultant with Agri SA, a major agricultural association. “Look at our country, we’re actually a semi-desert. If there’s no rain, what can the farmers do? The problem is nature.”
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For Mike Muller, a former director of the Department of Water Affairs, there is a long-term solution, besides prayer – but it lies outside the country. “We need to be taking more advantage of the fact that when it’s dry here, it tends be wet in northern Zambia, Angola and Mozambique,” he said.
“We could all be more resilient if we weren’t reliant on one climate zone. The big strategic goal is far more cooperation through the region, and we’re not seeing that. We need to see agriculture happening in places which are more sensible, with more irrigation potential.”