The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) on Monday said delivery and distribution of feed, which forms part of its R212-million drought relief programme, is almost complete in the provinces, excluding Gauteng, that were declared as drought disaster regions.
The department last year requested funds for drought assistance from the National Treasury through the National Disaster Management Centre of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, following the verification of drought in the declared areas.
Provinces also made R198-million available through equitable share funding, which was used to assist affected farmers. Funding from programmes such as the Prevention and Mitigation of Disaster Risk programme was also expended with interventions on borehole drilling and construction of fire breaks.
DAFF noted that it would continue offering “much needed” support to the affected farmers.
Last year, Treasury projected that the country would need to import some two-million tonnes of maize owing to the impact of the drought on farm output.