Economic Opportunities
(a) What measures does his Department have to repopulate the egg-laying chicken population in the Western Cape’s agricultural sector after the culling of tens of thousands of birds due to avian flu, (b) what is his Department doing to combat the outbreak of army worm in the province which prevails because of the unusual climatic conditions and (c) how will a 100% cut in the water supply to the agricultural sector, as part of increasingly strict water regulations in the province, affect agricultural employment and food security in the province?
- State vets from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture are working with
farms to disinfect their chicken houses so they can start restocking.
At some farms, sentinel birds are placed in houses as a method of detecting any trace of the virus. Early reports show that some farms are testing sentinels, and all are negative for the virus.
It is important to note that restocking is not a process that must be rushed. Then we run the risk of culling again. In addition, restocking is the decision of individual farmer.
State vets have put the following recommendations in place on restocking:
- Farms are advised to have a full biosecurity audit on the property performed by a veterinarian and address all recommendations and concerns arising from this audit prior to re-stocking the farm with poultry;
- The property is still under quarantine and no birds or products may be permitted to leave the property until the quarantine is lifted;
- The owner must sign that they understand restocking at this stage is at their own risk and no compensation or incentive will be paid if the birds must be culled due to HPAI;
- Clinical surveillance on the sentinels or restocked poultry must be undertaken during this period;
- No Fall Army Worm (FAW) infections have been reported in the Western Cape.
The FAW is a migratory lepidopteran (moth) pest species that originates in tropical regions of South America (e.g. Brazil, Argentina) and the Caribbean region and is also present in some southern states of the USA (Texas, Florida).
In Africa it was reported in 2016 (West and Central Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and yield losses amounted to 30-60%. The adults (moths) are strong fliers for migrating to new areas on prevailing winds/ weather systems. FAW can attack over 80 different plant species.
It has been detected in Limpopo, Gauteng, Northwest, Mpumalanga, Free State, Northern Cape and KZN. Crops included maize, sorghum, some reports of soya and groundnuts which needs to be verified and potatoes.
A National FAW Steering Committee is operational at DAFF with a DAFF FAW Joint Operation Centre (JOC) and 9 provincial JOC committees. In the Western Cape, it is being coordinated by the DAFF office in Stellenbosch.
The agricultural sector of the Western Cape has been kept informed and is on high alert as a pro-active measure. A number of extension officers of the Department have also recently undergone training by DAFF in the identification of FAW.
Control guidelines for Fall armyworm in South Africa can be found on the DAFF website: http://www.daff.gov.za/daffweb3/News-Room/Media-release/Fallarmy, as well as lists of agro-chemicals have been disseminated immediately after received from DAFF.
It has been confirmed by the Chairperson of the DAFF FAW JOC on the 14th of November 2017 that no FAW has been detected in the Western Cape. However, the agricultural sector of the Western Cape has been kept informed and is on high alert as a pro-active measure. A number of extension officers of the Department have also recently undergone training by DAFF in the identification of FAW.
c) The impact of a 100% cut in the supply of water to the agricultural sector for an entire season will significantly impact our economy .
The Western Cape has around 193 000 hectares of irrigated fruit and vines, contributing around R13 billion to the Gross Value Added (GVA) of the Province in 2015/16. This translates into 72% of the total GVA of the agricultural sector and these farming units employ around 97 000 farmworkers. Vegetable farming also employs a couple of thousands of jobs which will also be affected. These 97 000 jobs will be at risk, as farmers will choose to preserve their trees and vines in the scenario of a 100% cut and therefore have no produce to harvest.
This could drive up food prices, and we know that poor households already spend around 40% of their income on food.
In the past two years, the Western Cape Department of Agriculture has invested more than R20 million in food security projects across the Western Cape. Due to the current drought, we’ve adopted water-wise practices in our initiatives.
