Department of Agriculture continues to provide drought relief to farmers

Drought support in excess of R40 million has been allocated to farmers in the province for the months of March and April.

The Department of Agriculture in the Western Cape has been providing livestock farmers with vouchers to buy fodder throughout the drought.

During the second round of the summer Provincial Disaster Risk Assessment, conducted earlier in March, it was determined that monthly support to farmers in the Central and Klein Karoo will continue, as veld conditions in those areas had not improved.

Most areas of the Overberg had shown recovery and as such, support is no longer being provided. However, specific areas are still deemed to be critical and these will continue to receive support.

Support is also still being offered to farmers in parts of the Cape Winelands, West Coast and the Garden Route.

Minister of Economic Opportunities, Beverley Schäfer said: “Agriculture is an important sector of our economy in the Western Cape and we continue to support farmers throughout this difficult period in a bid to ensure that they can continue farming, thereby supporting important agricultural jobs.”

The breakdown for fodder support for March 2019 is as follows:

Central Karoo: fodder support to 631 farmers to the value of R8 982 048.22

Part of the Cape Winelands: fodder support to 65 farmers to the value of R525 032.42

West Coast:  fodder support to 780 farmers to the value of R7 626 311.62

Garden Route (Eden) & parts of Overberg: fodder support to 451 farmers to the value of R4 317252.80

The fodder support for April 2019 has been provided as follows:

Central Karoo: fodder support to 632 farmers to the value of R8 942 584.00

Part of the Cape Winelands: fodder support to 59 farmers to the value of R 434 822.18

West Coast:  fodder support to 443 farmers to the value of R4 788 615.30

Garden Route (Eden) & parts of Overberg: fodder support to 599 farmers to the value of R7 048 245.28.