Farm abandonments crisis threatens food security, rural towns

SOUTH Africa's rural areas are in a death spiral, with thousands of farmers abandoning their land.

Of the 276000 farming units in Gauteng, including both large-scale and small intensive farming units, 70% lie unused as farms, with the majority either standing idle or being used as scrapyards or second-hand car dealerships.

Emerging farmers are among the hardest hit. Hundreds have quit, claiming the government has abandoned them, leaving them to fend for themselves with no skills and little access to markets.

Agri-Gauteng chief executive Derrick Hanekom said Gauteng was in huge trouble with farm abandonments.

"Land carryover from old to new owners was done haphazardly. Land was given to communities who are not farmers and, because of a lack of skills, are unable to farm," he said. "We are desperately trying to organise agriculture, with a big focus on micro-farmers who, if properly assisted, can produce large yields."

He said the government did not have the skills to do capacity development in the sector.

African Farmers' Association of SA president Mike Mlengana slammed the government. "Farms were and are viewed as weekend party destinations," he said.

"The consequence is farms which have the potential to produce vitally needed food are neglected, with no production occurring. The prevalence of abandonment is unbelievable.

"Getting a farm was about status, not production. We have farms which were highly active but are now useless."

Mlengana said lack of money was one reason emerging farmers walked off their land. "Many don't have money to farm or buy feed, seeds, fertilisers or water.

"There were no proper checks and balances to see who really had farming knowledge. Many people lied when applying for farms.

"The government doesn't understand the complexity of farming. The ... destruction of South Africa's farms is a direct threat to food security."

The revelations come at a time when Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti has published highly criticised policy proposals requiring commercial farmers to hand over half their farms to farm workers.

Professor Johan Willemse of the University of the Free State's agricultural economics department said the government's agricultural policies urgently needed revising. "They are plunging the country's rural towns into a death spiral, with farms collapsing. There are no proper support structures.

"To compete internationally, economies of scale dictate farms must expand and become heavily mechanised, which goes against what the government is doing."

He said the implication of farm expansion and mechanisation was the collapse of rural towns, where residents were heavily reliant on farms for jobs.

"There is virtually no government support for farmers. While most countries are making farms more productive to feed their cities, this is not even a debate here. To survive, we must rethink our policies. It is not about black or white, it is about feeding 50 million people."

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Rural Development departments did not respond to requests for comment. - Graeme Hosken