The high cost of SA’s worst drought in 23 years
BY Sizwe sama Yende and staff reporter —
SA’s worst water shortages in 23 years have caused a decline in farming output that will lower its GDP and cause food-price increases
The drought devastating parts of South Africa will cause the country’s farmers to lose up to R10 billion this year.
Worst affected are KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, Limpopo, North West and the Northern Cape, where farmers growing white maize, yellow maize, soya beans and sunflowers have incurred major losses.
A report released by the UN’s food and nutrition working group last month found this drought – the country’s worst since 1992 – had caused a decline in maize production that had already led to an increase in food prices of 6.4%. Read full article here
