Agri SA launches water desk to ensure farmers get fair share of precious resource

4th May 2018

By: News24Wire

  

Font size: - +

Agricultural industry association Agri SA has launched a water desk that will be dedicated to helping farmers across the country get equitable access to water, it said on Friday.

Several policy proposals could increase the cost of water and reduce the amounts available to agricultural users, Agri SA said in a statement.

It said it was therefore crucial that engagement started early, so there could be a fair outcome.

Farmers were already dealing with several challenges that included severe drought and climate change, it added.

The association is made up of 23 commodity organisations (for agronomy, animal production and horticulture), nine provincial Agri SA organisations, corporate members and around 1 000 farmer associations.

The purpose of the water desk was to focus on policies and proposals, such as the draft National Water and Sanitation Master Plan and the National Water Resource Strategy.

The desk would also give input on water research priorities and gather insight from top water experts.

Janse Rabie, an environmental lawyer who heads the association’s natural resources centre of excellence, will lead the desk alongside water scientist Gregory Smith.

"The Agri SA water desk will be a one-stop shop for Agri SA members, where they can get up-to-date information and advice on all things water related," said Rabie.

"Given the complexity of water rights and the fast-changing policy environment, we believe that a dedicated water desk is the best way to enable agricultural water users to stay abreast of all legal developments which will have an impact on the way they farm and do business."

Rabie previously said that many farmers in the Western Cape had to make do with almost none of their allocated water since January this year, because of nationally-imposed and strictly-enforced water restrictions.

He said this had led to hardships in the community, which included job losses for seasonal farm workers.

Edited by News24Wire

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION