SA’s agricultural sector, a key driver of economic growth, exports roughly half of its produce in value terms and requires cold storage to keep fresh and frozen perishable fruits and vegetables at a desired temperature to maintain the quality of products for sale.
In many of SA’s export markets, such as the EU, stringent regulations are applied to produce coming from SA, and the escalating load-shedding in recent months has presented fruit exporters with a challenge.
Fhumulani Ratshitanga of Fruit SA, a non-profit umbrella body for the local fruit industry, said the continuous running of generators was an additional cost to farmers’ input costs adding strain to the already stretched operational expenditure that has been compounded by the rising cost of raw materials such as fertiliser.
“Farming, cooling, packing and exporting can only be managed up to stage three with the use of generators and power grids for those lucky enough to have and maintain such infrastructure,” Ratshitanga told Business Day.
“Any level higher than that makes this process difficult.”
Citrus, maize, nuts, wine, apples, pears, sugar, fruit juices, berries, soya beans and wool were among the most critical products exported from SA in 2022.
The growing concern about persistent load-shedding comes as data compiled by SA Canegrowers, a farmers’ group, revealed last week that the SA sugar industry is set to lose R723m in 2023 due to load-shedding.
Assuming that growers need a minimum of six hours of continuous energy for proper irrigation, the cane growers association said its scenario modelling illustrated that load-shedding at stages 4-6 will cost growers more than R723m in 2023 while an escalation to stages 6-8 could cost the industry more than R1.8bn.
It added that anything beyond stage 8 could cost the industry more than R2.4bn.
According to the chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of SA, Wandile Sihlobo, about 20% of maize, 15% of soya beans, 34% of sugar cane and nearly half of SA’s wheat production is under irrigation.
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Justin Chadwick, CEO of the Citrus Growers Association (CGA), backed the sentiment on irrigation saying the vast majority of irrigation systems run on electricity, which aids in the watering system’s ability to operate pump stations virtually 24/7 to ensure the right volume of water is used for irrigation within a weekly cycle.
“The recent heatwaves experienced in the northern parts of the country have made the need for regular irrigation even more critical in order to prevent heat stress of fruit on trees.” he warned.
Chadwick said the decentralised nature of pump stations on a typical farm means it is impossible for generators to do the job, with the result that “the ongoing recent bouts of load-shedding have had a major impact on growers’ ability to irrigate their fruit”.
Despite SA’s agricultural trade data showing an upswing owing to good rains that boosted harvests, industry-wide calls for the government to urgently put short-term measures in place to mitigate the impact of rolling blackouts on the agricultural sector are mounting.
Recently the Agricultural Business Chamber of SA said it was holding continued engagements with Eskom and the government as severe load-shedding had increased food security risks in the country. The Franchise Association of SA has also added its voice to calls for the government to take urgent action to resolve the energy crisis and bring national security under control.
The CGA said it is critical that the national government works with Eskom to put plans in place to add additional capacity to the national grid as quickly as possible.
Chadwick said while this process was being finalised, the government needed to look into providing financial assistance to farmers in the form of diesel rebates and tax incentives for alternative power sources.
In recent engagements with the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development, the farming industry has also requested the government to consider exempting farming areas from load-shedding or to implement lower stages in these areas.
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