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The drought isn't over: Farmers in urgent need of aid

Cape Town - Agri SA is making a desperate plea to the private sector and government for urgent financial aid to help struggling farmers bearing the brunt of drought.

It warned on Monday that farmers in certain parts of the country continue to suffer the negative effects of the drought and are struggling to survive.

Despite widespread rains over large parts of the country, parts of the Northern Cape, Western Cape, North West, Limpopo and the Free State are still in the grip of the worst drought this decade.

Johannes Möller, the president of Agri SA, explained that a drought is not a one-year phenomenon. "The western parts of the country, where devastating drought conditions have been experienced over the past three years, can testify to this."

It has had a serious impact on cash flow and production credit arrangements, which in turn will increasingly affect farmers’ financial survival, he said.

"The drought also had an extremely negative effect on the socio-economic conditions of rural farming communities and the development of our rural areas,” said Möller.

During the past year Agri SA launched various initiatives to provide needy farmers with drought relief. However, a shortage of funds has now resulted in Agri SA being unable to provide further assistance.

"We therefore call urgently on the private sector to make further contributions to the Agri SA drought relief fund," said Möller.

He also encouraged the government to come on board. "The time has now come for the government to provide further assistance to commercial and small-scale farmers to help them survive.”

Agri SA is concerned about the current welfare of farmers and farm workers and the humanitarian impact of the drought, as well as their ability to survive.

“Similarly, we are concerned about the lack of stock feed to pull animals through during this time. We are grateful for the generous support that Agri SA’s drought relief fund has already received and which can be used again to assist various farming communities."

Anyone wanting to help the farmers can make a deposit using the below details:

Beneficiary: Agri SA Drought Relief Fund
Bank: ABSA
Account Type: Cheque
Account Number: 40-6854-0775
Branch Code: 632 005 (Business Bank – Pretoria East)
Beneficiary Reference: RAMP

“Agri SA alone cannot meet the farmers’ needs and therefore we call urgently for financial contributions,” concluded Möller.

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