OVERVIEW
Agriculture The capacity of the Clanwilliam Dam is set to double.
SECTOR INSIGHT New methods are tackling climate change.
T
he wall of the Clanwilliam Dam is to be raised, doubling the capacity of the dam and bringing an additional 5 000ha of land under irrigation. After a lengthy delay, the decision to go ahead with raising the wall of the Clanwilliam Dam was confirmed in October 2018. The 13-metre addition will cost R2.5-billion and could support high-value crops for export such as citrus and table grapes. The land could also form part of the land reform programme. Not only is agriculture in the Western Cape central to the earning of foreign currency through exports, but agriculture underpins many downstream manufacturing enterprises and has enormous potential to create jobs. Nearly 30% of exports come from agriculture, with food and beverages contributing a further 24%. Premier Helen Zille noted in her 2018 State of the Province Address that the key sectors of the province’s non-metro towns (such as retail and manufacturing) have a strong dependence on agriculture and agri-processing. The Western Cape Provincial Government reached its target of 100 000 new jobs in agri-processing in 2016 but the sector has since been buffeted by bouts of avian flu and a once-in-a-generation drought. City dwellers have learnt about the concept of “resilience” by putting buckets in their showers and restricting personal usage to 50 litres per person per day, but it is the agricultural sector which has had to make the biggest adjustments to climate change. The Provincial Government introduced a Smart Agri plan to coordinate efforts to tackle the effects of climate change on agriculture. Developed by two provincial departments (Agriculture WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2019
76
and Environmental Affairs and Development Planning), the African Climate and Development Initiative of the University of Cape Town and several private-sector participants, Smart Agri has six priorities: • Conser vation agriculture: minimal soil disturbance, crop diversity and permanent soil cover. Wheat yields have increased dramatically as a result of this programme. • Restoring degraded landscapes. • Improved catchment area managem ent , including removing alien plants. • Energy efficiency. • Giving priority to climateresistant crops and livestock. • Sharing knowledge. The sector supports almost 10 000 farms and employs 214 000 people. Farming carried out on the Western Cape’s 13-million hectares of agricultural land comprises approximately 21% of South African commercial agriculture. Seven of the 10 biggest export earners are either agricultural products or agri-processed goods. These are citrus, wine, apples and pears, grapes, fruit juice and tobacco.
