What Lessons Has SA Learnt From the Drought?

- Dawie Maree

The recent drought has once again brought home the reality that South Africans live and farm in one of the most water-scarce countries in the world. This fact is confirmed by the high-stress water score that the World Resources Institute gives South Africa (see Figure 1). The increasing pressure on local water resources is due mainly to a growing population, ongoing development, pollution (such as acid mine drainage), destruction of wetlands, and volatile and changing climate patterns.

On numerous occasions, the agricultural sector has been blamed for being one of the main culprits of excessive water use. Globally, agriculture uses about 70% of freshwater resources; in South Africa, the sector accounts for about 60%.

It should also be noted that in South Africa, the agricultural sector has the lowest security of supply; when water restrictions are implemented, irrigation farmers’ water supply is the first to be limited. Given the fact that irrigation farmers produce substantial quantities of the country’s food, there is a need to change attitudes about the water used in food production.