Economic Opportunities
Whether his Department is prepared for the La Niña weather pattern that causes more rainfall than normal and potential floods; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Changing weather patterns and the impact these have on the agriculture sector is a key focus area in the Western Cape.
This is why we launched the Smart Agri initiative in partnership with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, the University of Cape Town’s African Climate and Development Initiative and a wide range of stakeholders in the private sector.
The weather forecasts indicate that the expected La Niña weather pattern will result in more rain than normal in the summer rainfall areas but not necessarily have the same kind of impact on the winter rainfall areas. My department is monitoring this situation very closely and sends early warning notifications out to farmers and farmer organisations to warn them of possible high rainfall and flooding events.
The technical staff of the programme Sustainable Resource Management is also on standby to provide technical guidance and support on how to manage flood events and the possible recovery work after any flooding events in the rural areas, whenever required.
