DAFFOfficial newsletter of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

November 2015

Namaqua Afrikaner sheep handed over to farmers

As a part of the Imbizo Focus Week, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister, Mr Senzeni Zokwana, handed over 138 Namaqua Afrikaner Sheep to farmers in Mothibistad. From left is Northern Cape MEC Norman Shushu, Ms Goitseone Mucwane, Tlou Chokoe from DAFF and Mr Senzeni Zokwana, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Ms Mucwane was one of the recipients of the Namaqua sheep.

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Editor Piwe Mbiko (012) 319 6936 piwem@daff.gov.zaSubeditor Lerato Mofokeng (012) 319 7927 leratomof@daff.gov.zaReporters Thuli Lehong (012) 319 7929 nokuthulale@daff.gov.za Samuel Kgatla (012) 319 7181 samuelk@daff.gov.za Musa Khumalo (012) 319 6695 musak@daff.gov.za Innocent Mhlanga (012) 319 7827 innocentm@daff.gov.za Rony Moremi (012) 319 6622 rincertm@daff.gov.za Jamela Nkanyane (012) 319 6903 jamelan@daff.gov.za Mercia Smith (012) 319 6666 mercias@daff.gov.zaPhotographer Jarius Mmutle (012) 319 7366 jarusm@daff.gov.zaInterns Zama Buthelezi (012) 319 6958 ZamaB@daff.gov.za Dimakatso Modise (012) 319 7819 DimakatsoMo@daff.gov.zaDistribution Salome Bodibe (012) 319 7085 salomeb@daff.gov.za Sheila Flockton (012) 319 7141 sheilaf@daff.gov.za Website: www.daff.gov.za

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As a part of the Imbizo Focus Week, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister, Mr Senzeni Zokwana, handed over 138 Namaqua Afrikaner Sheep to farmers in Mothi-bistad.

In the past year, DAFF, together with the Northern Cape Province initiated a project on the conservation and sustainable use of the Namaqua Afrikaner sheep breed. As part of this project, 23 farmers from Dr John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipal-ity were trained in conservation strategies for farm animal genetic resources, sheep husbandry (including diseases control) protocols, as well as reproduction and

breeding of sheep.Farmers welcomed the Afrikaner sheep

handed over to them as part of the project initiated by the department to improve the conservation of the Namaqua Afrikaner sheep breed in the John Taolo Gaetsewe Municipality in the Northern Cape Prov-ince. Twenty three Namaqua Afrikaner sheep farmers (10 women and 13 men) from five local municipalities were the ben-eficiaries of the 138 sheep. Each farmer received five ewes and a ram to enable further breeding of these animals.

The Executive mayor of JT Gaetsewe Executive Mayor, Cllr Mosikatsi welcomed

the initiative stating that, “Agriculture is the backbone of our district, farming is very important to us.” She emphasised the importance of agriculture in the midst of retrenchment of people from local mining and other programmes. Furthermore, she highlighted the importance of the preser-vation of animals as an enabler for our people to take part in our economy.

In his welcoming note, MEC Norman Shushu said, “Working together with the community and the local farmers; we can achieve more as a district and a province.

Conservation and sustainable use of Namaqua Afrikaner sheep

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Mothibistad community members attended the imbizo in numbers. Here they sit listening attentively to Minister Zokwana when he addressed them.

Mothibistad

By Thuli Lehong

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An economy that is anchored in agriculture is a good economy because agriculture is the essence of life as enshrined in our Constitution.”

This is despite the agricultural produc-tion being plagued by various challenges such as the decline in animal genetic re-sources caused by changes in production systems, disease outbreaks, inappropriate breeding policies and practices and inap-propriate introduction of exotic breeds and drought. Erosion of animal genetic resources threatens the ability of farmers and livestock keepers to respond to envi-ronmental and socioeconomic changes, including changing diets and consumer preferences.

Minister Zokwana mentioned in his ad-dress, that he had committed to donate 100 Namaqua sheep to farmers in the

Northern Cape.“Today, it is my pleasure to be here in

the Northern Cape to fulfil that promise. We know that through this donation, the farmers of this area, as the key custodians of our farm genetic resources for food and agriculture, will continue to play a vital role in the conservation and sustainable use of these resources, thereby contribut-ing enormously in addressing challenges around food security.” Another reason for this particular breed is specific around its ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions. “This unique breed is adapt-able to semiarid and low production input systems which is particular relevant in the current drought situation we find ourselves in,” he said.

Furthermore, he said, “We recognise the need for conservation and sustainable use

of our indigenous breeds. The Namaqua Afrikaner Sheep breed is one of these breeds, because it not only adds value to South Africa’s rich agrobiodiversity, it also plays a major role in the social, cultural and economic history of our country.”

“We are happy to have received these sheep; we want to continue to increase the numbers of these sheep, which are unique to our province. With the training we received, we are confident,” said Mrs Kgalalelo Morongwa, who is one of the beneficiaries.

Minister emphasised that the depart-ment is working hard to ensure that the effect of the drought in mitigated. “We will also continue to work within inter-governmental system to implement the National Policy on Food and Nutrition Security,” he concluded.

The Namaqua Afrikaner is an endangered sheep breed indigenous to South Africa, primarily used in smallholder farming systems. The Namaqua Afrikaner dates back to between 200 and 400 AD when the Khoikhointribe entered South Africa with their sheep flocks and is considered the oldest indigenous sheep breed in South Africa. The Nama people kept theoriginal Namaqua Afrikaner in the harsh dry areas of the north-west Cape and southern Namibia. It is a fat tailed breed adapted to the environmental conditions of the Karoo in South Africa.

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Some members of the Mothibistad community had the opportunity to direct questions to Minister Zokwana and Northern Cape MEC Shushu.

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I n S e p t e m -ber 2014, The Ministry of the Department of Agriculture, For-estry and Fish-eries declared the month of Oc-tober as “Food Security Month.’’ The objective of this declaration was to heighten public aware-ness on issues pertaining to food insecurity in the coun-try, therefore strengthening solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnu-trition and pov-erty. It was also characterised by the series of events that highlighted the importance of food security is-sues in the country, such as the launch of the planting season in Charlestown, KwaZulu-Natal and the World Food Day which were held in the Eastern Cape.

This years’ planting season was cel-ebrated and launched at the Amajuba Berries Farm in Charlestown in the Ama-juba District Municipality in KZN on 7 October prior to the main event, which is the World Food Day, celebrated in the Eastern Cape province under the theme “Umnotho Usemhlabathini, Masibuyele Emasimini/Our soil is our wealth, back to the fields of agriculture.’’

This event was used to launch October as “Food Security Month.’’ The Minister and Deputy Minister of DAFF launched

Launch of Food Security Month

By Innocent Mhlanga

the planting season to symbolise the readiness of the nation to engage in all kinds of activities that are related to food production and also to awaken all farming communities to prepare to start all proc-esses related to food production. It is an event that is organised to make a call to all citizens of South Africa to participate in food production and food security related activities.

The event also gave DAFF and the KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural De-velopment an opportunity to reflect on the progress made since the previous event of the Imbizo Focus Week and the Food Security Month in the Amajuba District.

The Deputy Minister of the Department

of Agriculture For-estry and Fisheries (DAFF), Gen Bheki Cele has priori-tised food security, job creation and contribution to the country ’s gross domestic product (GDP) as the main focus areas of the department.

Food secur i t y has taken the cen-tre stage because of the number of households that go to bed hungry in South Africa. Since the adoption of DAFF’s Food and Nutrition Security Policy (FNSP), the department has been engaged in a number of food production initia-tives. The Fetsa Tla-

la Food Production Initiative is one of the programmes that were adopted as part of implementing the FNSP.

The panel on the Ukhozi FM current af-fairs show and the TNA Breakfast, which was broadcasted live from the farm on that day, consisted of Minister Senzeni Zokwana, Deputy Minister Gen Bheki Cele, KZN Premier Senzo Mchunu and KZN DARD MEC Cyril Xaba. They encour-aged all stakeholders to join hands in eradicating hunger, reducing poverty and encouraging all citizens at household level to engage themselves in agricultural inter-ventions and activities and programmes that promote self-reliance and ensure that they have food on their tables.

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The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Honourable Senzeni Zokwana visited the Lusizo Agricul-tural Cooperative on 16 November at Monsterlus in the Sekhukhune District. The revisits to the project was part of the monitoring and ensuring the sustainability of the project and strengthening the relationship with the stakeholders.

The cooperative was adopted by the department earlier on during the Wom-en’s Month event commemoration at the Hlogotlou Stadium where the former Director-General gave a keynote address on the behalf of the Minister. The project started in 2002 with eight members and currently has seven members (two men and five women). They farm on a 2 ha plot which they acquired through the local municipality. Their field is fenced, but the fence needs to be repaired. They have a good working borehole and DAFF through the provincial Department of Ag-

By Samuel Kgatla

Minister visits project in Sekhukhune district

riculture and Rural Development helped them with mechanisation and products inputs such as fertilisers.

Stakeholders from the agricultural industry had ample time to interact with their lovely Minister and the Elias Mot-soaledi Local Municipality Mayor, Ms Julia Mathebe during the discussion part programme and the report on status of service delivery of municipality. The mu-nicipality is the Minister’s constituency.

The Minister encouraged the coop-erative’s members to continue farming and to ensure that there is enough food security for them and their families.

“I am glad you are putting food on the table for your family and also sell to the community. We need to find common agenda to assist our farmers. I grew up in the subsistence farming industry and we were producing food. We need to improve the participation of farmers. We are busy engaging with farmers to

volunteer and become mentors. We are very proud of the farmers who are work-ing, producing and looking after their farmworkers. We need to find a way to portray farmers in a good way. We must strengthen the partnership with the peo-ple of this area,” he said.

Some of questions asked during the discussion included the fixing of dams, a plea for seeds, bursary programmes in agriculture, reviews for showgrounds; stock theft, inadequate support for emerging farmers, water shortages and inaccessible roads.

In response to the question, the Minis-ter informed the public that DAFF offers bursary programmes for those who are furthering their studies in the sector. He mentioned that programmes such as Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP) and Ilima are avail-able to assist farmers with finance and seeds.

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The National Forum for Extension and Advisory Services – Public Sector (NFEAS) workshop was held at the Holiday Inn Express Sunnypark, Pre-toria on 29 September 2015. The PS-FEAS comprised delegates from DAFF, Provincial Departments of Agriculture (PDAs), DAFF’s State Owned Enter-prises (such as Agricultural Research Council, the National Agricultural Marketing Council, etc.).

There was a lineup of presentations from DAFF, the South African Council for Natural Scientific Profession (SACNASP) and the Department of Rural Develop-ment and Land Reform (DRDLR). Dr Rolf Becker from SACNASP presented on the progress with regard to the registration of the Extension Practitioners with the pro-fessional body. Dr Becker indicated that the progress is slow because of, amongst others, incomplete application forms, non-payment of application fees, lack of supporting documents such as copies of Identity Documents and transcripts of academic records. The professional body is also unable to contact some of the ap-plicants because contact details were not provided on the applications. The PDA’s representatives were requested to give the information to their subordinates and to

National Forum for Extension and Advisory Services

encourage the practitioners to apply and include all the required documents.

Ms Matsunke Molefane from Sector Transformation (DAFF) presented on Young Producers and Entrepreneurs Strategy. The presentation highlighted that South Africa (SA) has the third highest rate of youth unemployment. The strategy proposes the placement of women and people living with disabilities in programmes of employ-ment in order to reduce the unemploy-ment rate in SA. Ms Zanele Mkhize from Monitoring and Evaluation (DAFF) made a presentation on Employment of Graduates in Extension and Advisory services. This ini-tiative is meant to employ young graduates between the ages of 19 and 35 years who are in possession of at least a four year qualification in agriculture. The Norms and Standards for Extension and Advisory Services in Agriculture stipulate that a per-son employed as an agricultural extension or advisory services officer at all levels is required to have a minimum qualification of a bachelor’s degree in agriculture (B. Tech/Bachelors/Hons. degree).

Mr Krauzer Bapela and Ms Carmen van der Merwe from DRDLR presented on the Agricultural Graduates Placement Programme (AGP). The AGP targets unem-

ployed agricultural graduates regardless of their age. This programme also includes graduates who are excluded by the pro-gramme presented by Ms Zanele Mkhize as graduates over 35 years can also apply. Graduates will be based on farms and not offices and will be supervised by experi-enced agricultural officials. On successful completion of the programme, graduates may be offered an opportunity to lease the land for farming purpose for a certain period. The programme will run for three years, but the placement of graduates will be for a period of 12 months with an option to extend the contract to at most three years.

Ms Motshidisi Khoza made a presenta-tion on the Expenditure Review on Exten-sion Services to guide budget allocation for the implementation of policy on Ex-tension. A presentation on Job Profiles of Extension Practitioners was presented by Mr Jeffrey Ngaka, thereafter commissions were formed to discuss the job profiles and reported back at the plenary.

Two announcements were made by Mr Abram Shiya and Mr Jeffrey Ngaka after all the presentations were made. Mr Abram Shiya announced that the utilisation of ICT tools such as the Decision Support System and the Digital Pens by the practitioners has improved and that more of the tools will be procured in the future. Mr Jeffrey Ngaka announced that PDAs are expected to deploy Extension Practitioners to the Commodity Organizations and that signed letters from HODs confirming that prac-titioners who have been deployed should be forwarded to DAFF.

Appointment of SMS members on acting capacity

Chief Director for NESS Mr Bonga Msomi has been appointed an Acting Deputy Director General Food Security and Agrarian Reform while Mr Tozamile Lukhalo is appointed Acting Chief Director National Extension Support Services until

National Forum for Extension and Advisory Services workshop.

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Mr Vongani Shivambu (centre) was introduced to the forum by the Chairperson: Acting Chief Director: National Extension Support Services Mr Tozamile Lukhalo (right) as an official seconded to the position of Deputy Director Extension Partnerships. The Deputy Director Extension Partnerships, Mr Jeffrey Ngaka (left) is seconded to coordinate the development of a Comprehensive Producer Support Policy (CPSP).

December 2015. Extension Service Providers are re-

quested to contribute to the subsequent newsletters by sending their activities with pictures or any information relating to extension through their extension coordi-nators via email to vomganisg@daff.gov.za. This will help give other PDA’s ideas when executing their own extension and advisory services.

GFRASThe 6th GFRAS (Global Forum for Rural

Advisory Services) annual meeting was held at Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan from 14 to 17 Sep-tember 2015. Mr Jeffrey Ngaka presented on the use of Digital Pens in extension and Advisory services. The presentation was well received by the delegates and interest was shown by all in attendance. The digital pen does much and simplifies the work of Extension Practitioners and their supervisors when it comes to ensuring quality of service and reporting.

The Second Africa Wide Agricul-tural Extension Week, 2015

The African Forum for Agricultural Advisory services (AFAAS) hosted the 2nd Africa Wide Agricultural Extension Week, 2015 in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa from 12 to 16 October 2015. The theme of the conference was “Reinvigorating Extension Services for Market-led Agriculture within the Context of the Malabo Declaration.”

Agriculture in this context includes crops and livestock farming, pastoralism, fisher-ies and all other value chain actors in the innovation system. AFAAS also held its 5th General Assembly during this period. The event brought together agricultural Exten-sion and Advisory services practitioners and other agricultural value chain actors from across and outside Africa. South Africa sent delegates from national and provincial departments of agriculture to attend this event.

Words of advice from ERP Monitoring and Evaluation to PDAs:

Provincial Departments of Agriculture are advised to look at their business plans when preparing the presentations of their ERP progress to the Monitoring and Evaluation delegates from DAFF. For each pillar, the presentations should clearly outline the plan, achievements and chal-lenges/failures. For example, if the PDA had planned to register 20 agricultural extension practitioners with SACNASP and only five were successfully registered, this information should clearly reflect on the slides and interventions required should be proposed where necessary.

People who attended the GFRAS meeting in Kyrgyzstan.

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The South African citrus industry has performed well in the 2015 export season as a result of improved compli-ance and improved working relations amongst the stakeholders.

This good performance was attested by the statistics presented during the Annual Citrus Coordinating meeting that was held on 30 September 2015 at Tzaneen Country Lodge in the Limpopo province, hosted by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The purpose of the meeting was to reflect on the current citrus industry export performance and prepare for the up-coming season. The department confirmed that the remaining consignments which were exported after 30 September 2015 until end of October 2015, continued to show improved performance in terms of compliance with the trading partners’ import requirements.

Furthermore, the meeting saw DAFF delegates, members of the Citrus Growers Association, citrus experts, producers and others converging to reflect on the 2015 export achievements and challenges as the citrus industry is one of the largest contributors to the South African economy. The reports show that the citrus industry did better this year than last year. It was also outlined that the citrus industry has improved in compliance but there’s still a need for improvement, especially regarding pest control aspects, the number of incor-rect markings and labeling on the cartons which resulted in interceptions in the im-porting countries during inspections; this is unacceptable as it jeopardises our markets and puts future market access at risk.

Kuban Naidoo from DAFF confirmed that exports going to countries such as China and Korea increased and that this is good for the country.

“It is true that our export volumes in-creased drastically in both countries. We

just have to continue working hard. We need to improve our systems to ensure less rejection owing to carelessness by packhouses. The packhouse training and maintenance must be intensified, espe-cially in consultation with the stakeholders. DAFF, together with external clients, must strengthen this issue of training in order to do well next year,” he said.

Moreover, he mentioned that for this year, 8 157 consignments passed through to countries such as China, Japan, Korea and Thailand and only 161 consignments were rejected.

In addition, Ms Phindiwe Dingile, DAFF attaché based in Japan said that South Africa has been a proud exporter, being the second largest exporter of citrus fruit to Japan after the US but the number one exporter of grapefruit by volume.

“The South African Embassy in Tokyo has recognised the Japanese market as one contributor towards securing South African agricultural jobs. In an effort to support the South African National Growth Path and the Agricultural Policy Action Plan’s strategy of expanding export markets, the mission has identified the short, medium and long- term initiatives to ensure market expansion into the next generation. For the short term,

the embassy has introduced the annual SA Citrus Season Launch at the beginning of the season. We have observed the impact through new importers joining us in 2015,” she said.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Citrus Growers Association (CGA), Mr. Justin Chadwick indicated that the South African citrus industry has shown consistent growth over the past ten years; and in 2015 once again exported a record volume. “Planting data shows that this growth will continue in the years to come – the challenge is going to be that there is a market for the fruit. Working with DAFF, CGA aims to increase market access to markets in South East Asia by opening new markets (such as the Philippines) and optimising existing markets (such as getting approval to use break bulk vessels to China and changing the import requirements for lemons to China. At present, citrus is the biggest employer in agriculture, and each additional hectare under citrus adds another job. By expand-ing market opportunities, the citrus industry can continue to create jobs,” he said.

The Tzaneen Citrus Coordinating meet-ing resulted in more follow up visits to some of the packhouses as part of addressing the challenges encountered in the 2015 export season. DAFF would like to thank all who are committed to sustaining the citrus export markets through improved compliance and cooperation. Plans are in place for the 2016 season as the industry is aiming to do even better and all role players are encouraged to comply with the export requirements for their respective markets in order to continue making an immense contribution to growing our economy.

Full link for MRLs (http://www.daff.gov.za/daffweb3/Branches/Agricultural-Pro-duction-Health-Food-Safety/Food-Safety-Quality-Assurance/Export-Standards/Citrus-and-Subtropical-Fruit

By Samuel Kgatla

Citrus Industry performs well in 2015 season

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Citrus Industry performs well in 2015 season

The Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, General Bheki Cele encouraged forestry communi-ties to consider agroforestry as it of-fers potential for greater food security in the country. He mentioned this during his response to the questions at the crucial forestry imbizo held at Mabeleni Dam just outside Mthatha, OR Tambo District Municipality on 08 December 2015.

The General even suggested that people can grow nuts and mushrooms as part of agroforestry while waiting for the trees to grow.

“The forest here has got fertile soil and my colleagues advised me that nuts and mushrooms can be planted here. I encourage people to consider it and not to only wait for many years for the for-estry to mature. We have forestry experts within DAFF and they can always tell us what to plant in the forest. Nuts have

By Samuel Kgatla

Deputy Minister encourages people to consider agroforestry

easy market and can be sold anywhere at any time.”

He encouraged companies such as Mondi, SAPPI and Merensky to work together with communities to avoid problems. “We must work with these companies on the issue of coexistence. We have to fix policy issues in the forestry. Even DAFF money must spread to all the sectors of the department and not only to agriculture. People must watch what they eat, especially the rotten food because they cause food poisoning, of which many people are not aware of it,” he said.

Some of the challenges faced in the area includes communities that need legal assistance when entering into part-nership agreements, inaccessible roads, forestry not having financial assistance such as Micro Agricultural Financial In-stitutions of South Africa (MAFISA), long forestry leases, no disaster relief fund in

forestry and temporary jobs instead of permanent in forestry and others.

The Deputy Minister, accompanied by MEC for Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, Mlibo Qoboshiyane also visited One Tree, a child school project to inspire children to be the champions in the tree planting campaign in the OR Tambo District Municipality contributing positively towards climate change, environmental degradation, sustainable environment, food security, disaster risk reduction, eco-nomic empowerment or rural household and the sawmill project.

Moreover, MEC Qoboshiyane added that they must look at what they need in the forestry development and that is the reason they had the forestry imbizo. He stated that the province has got a huge forestry development and must start doing things for themselves in stead of buying furniture from overseas.

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South Africa is currently facing a seri-ous drought and the threat of water shortages in major centres. Although this is a scary notion for city dwellers who are currently dealing with wa-ter restrictions, largely as a result of failing infrastructure, we should give some thought to the farmers and com-munities in far flung rural areas whose very livelihoods are at immediate risk. In the city, we are so far removed from the source of our water that it is incon-ceivable to turn on your tap and have nothing come out. But for people who

Protect our water sources

rely on water directly out of a river, they understand the true value of the precious water source areas that feed our rivers.

So where do our freshwater resources come from? Certainly not from a tap! In South Africa we have a number of key “water factories” that feed the rivers that supply the dams that fill the reservoirs that pump water to your tap. These water source areas can be mountain catchment areas, such as the Drakensberg; grassland “sponges” like the Steenkampsberg and

the dolomitic aquifers like the Marico Eye. These water factories contribute signifi-cantly to the overall water supply of the country (as well as beyond our borders) and they support economic development right from their origin to where their rivers meet the ocean.

But many of these water factories are under threat. Some have already been severely degraded – such as the head-waters of the Olifants River (Emalahleni,

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Protect our water sources

Ogies) which features a hub of opencast coal mining activity. Polluted water from this area flows through the communal areas of Bushbuckridge and eventually into the Kruger National Park. The source of the Orange-Senqu River is the Lesotho highlands and much of this water is being dammed and transferred into other rivers, often at the expense of local communities’ access to water. The Waterberg complex – another high water yield area – has been earmarked as the next Industrial Develop-ment Node and water is being traded off for coal energy. In the Karoo – a highly water scarce ecosystem - fracking may pose a serious risk by contaminating vast groundwater aquifers. In addition, the headwaters of the Mzimvubu River is now facing the threat of fracking by a foreign consortium that is putting both the water source and rural livelihoods that depend on it at risk.

The question that we should be asking is: how important is fresh water, really? Do we need to sacrifice our key water factories in the name of unsustainable short-term economic development? The Endangered Wildlife Trust believes that there are smart solutions to both the water and develop-ment challenges that we, as citizens of this country, face and it is imperative to address these challenges in a far more strategic and sustainable way. Collective action and strong partnerships are key to affecting real change and we have seen the impact this has had on issues such as university fees and e-Tolls. We would like to see civil society working together with government and industry more frequently and effectively to plan sustainable eco-nomic activities; ensure equitable access to water; and implement water-smart solutions at the catchment level. Furthermore, a loud and unified voice, speaking out against the destruction of water source areas, is the basis of ensuring a supply of clean water for every South African.

South Africa has developed the National Water Resource Strategy 2 (NWRS 2) and

we have identified our National Freshwa-ter Ecosystem Priority Areas (NFEPAs). We know what needs to be done. The NWRS 2 sets out key strategic actions under Water Resource Protection, with the following objectives:

Manage for sustainability by using •Resource Directed Measures (RDM) to set and approve a management class, and associated reserve and resource quality objectives, for every significant water resource in the country.Invest in strategic water resource areas •by increasing their protection status.Maintain National Freshwater Ecosys-•tem Priority Areas (NFEPAs) in good condition and include them in pro-tected area network expansion plans, where appropriate.Protect riparian and wetland buffer •zones and critical groundwater re-charge areas.Invest in the strategic rehabilitation of •key catchments to improve water qual-ity and water quantity through Natural Resource Management Programmes (NRM).Minimise pollution from wastewater •

treatment works into surface and groundwater resources.

But knowing and doing are not the same thing. If we are serious about protecting our precious water resources, we cannot allow unsustainable and destructive activities to proceed in key water source areas and we need to plan economic development at the catchment level, with a clear strategy for maximizing benefit-sharing to all who share the catchment.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) works in partnership with the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) and Conservation South Africa (CSA) through the Healthy Catchment Alliance (HCA). This Alliance provides a platform to share experiences, provide a diverse set of skills and expertise to a range of projects and create a loud and unified voice when it comes to protecting our water resources. The work we do includes; secur-ing water source areas under Biodiversity Stewardship, rehabilitating mountain and grassland catchment areas, diversifying and greening local economies and empowering communities to monitor, value and protect their rivers. We are currently working with local partners, such as Environmental and Rural Solutions (ERS) and the South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) in uMzimvubu, uMzimkhulu and Amathole catchments in the Eastern Cape and south-ern KwaZulu-Natal, with plans to expand into other priority catchments over the next few years. The Healthy Catchment Alliance was selected as a finalist in the Biodiversity category of the EcoLogic Awards for our collaborative approach to solving environ-mental challenges in the region.

It is critical that we protect our water source areas and maintain their natural functionality if we are to ease the effects of water scarcity. Climate change predictions do not bode well for water availability and we need to disrupt the current status quo of water management if we are to build climate resilient communities that value water above all else.

Value water above all else

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“Hunger is an every-day challenge, and people continue to wallow in poverty, low levels of food produc-tion and high levels of unemployment.” This was the most high-lighted statement of the seventh meeting of the SADC Regional Vulnerability Assess-ment and Analysis Programme.

Member states were in discussion earlier this year, where they dis-cussed and identified, among other things, food security and vul-nerability, poverty, un-employment and the impending drought in the region.

During the week it was found that maize prices have remained high in the regions since 2013/14, espe-cially in South Africa, and it was said that this may cause an undesirable situation in terms of the SADC relying on South Africa for maize.

The main objective for the meeting was so that member states can share and disseminate information on the national and regional vulnerability assessment for the 2015/16 consumption year; the other objectives were to highlight the depth and levels of food insecurity and vulnerability in the region for the 2015/16 consumption year and to discuss and endorse action-able recommendations to address food insecurity and vulnerability in the region.

The findings were that the number of food insecure people in the regions have increased by 13% (27,4 million this year

compared to 24,3 million last year) which was an above-average year, with the ex-ceptions of Mozambique and Swaziland where the numbers continue to decrease, and in comparison to last year, a major increase in the food insecure populations are noted in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

It was also seen that wastage among children under the age of five is above 5%, which is unacceptable. Also, cop-ing mechanisms in vulnerable areas are fewer meals, migration to urban areas and abroad in search of employment and casual labour opportunities and increased sales and relocation of livestock.

Member states made a number of short recommendations to the discussions, where it was recommended that immedi-ate relief is required to meet the needs of acutely food insecure households. Member

SADC Regional Vulnerability Assessment

states should carry out an update of assessment by Oc-tober/November, including nutrition monitoring, inten-sify implementa-tion and scale up existing safety nets and social protec-tion programmes to address the higher caseload of the food insecure population and, in order to improve grain vulnerabil-ity, member states should encourage free trade to en-sure markets are fully functional.

Looking at long term solutions, it was recommended that interventions to reduce poverty should include expanding nutrition education and dietary diversification campaigns, improv-ing accessibility to safe drinking water im-proving sanitation facilities and promoting malaria control, primary health care and immunisation programmes. It was also suggested that there should be a promo-tion and scale up of nutrition sensitive and Climate Smart Agriculture such as water harvesting and conservation agriculture, which should be part of extension services along with messaging and inputs.

All in all, at the end of the meeting member states agreed that the recom-mendations were rather general and they needed to focus on being specific in order for these findings and recommendations to be tabled to senior officials for consid-eration.