FARMERS HARVEST IN LIMBO

MBABANE – The rains experienced countrywide in the past days have had humongous ramifications in the agricultural sector.

The Eswatini National Agricultural Union (ESNAU), an apex body of farmer organisations in the kingdom that safeguards the interests of farmers through advocacy and capacity building is in the process of identifying and analyzing the extent of the damage caused by the recent rains. The union’s Executive Director Lwazi Mamba confirmed with this publication that there had been a huge outcry from local farmers whose produce have been adversely affected by the rains.
He made an example of a farmer who incurred damages close to E140 000 on his property he uses for farming including his cars.

Affected

“The most affected farmers according to our database are from Luyengo, Mafutseni, Ngwempisi and other parts of Manzini between Friday and Saturday,” he said. When asked on which farmers were affected, he said the most affected were vegetable farmers who produce cabbages, maize, beans, lettuce and others to name a few. He further mentioned that farmers with greenhouse infrastructure were the only ones who were not affected. “As ESNAU, we empathize with the affected parties. For now, it is scanty to conclude on the number of affected farmers and the amount of damage caused as we are still gathering more information to get an accurate analysis of the damage,” Mamba said. He further urged farmers who owe financial institutions to talk to their financial providers and discuss a way forward under the current circumstances.

According to a recent report from NAMBoard, the export activity of scheduled agricultural products is mostly driven by large scale enterprises and a few small scale or individual traders. Through the regulation of scheduled products in the previous financial year, the organisation has facilitated the export of over 100 000 metric tonnes of produce valued at E500 million to the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), The Southern African Development Community (SADC), Kenya, Nigeria, some parts of Europe, some parts of Mediterranean States, The Republic of China (Taiwan) and United States of America (USA).

Exported

The most exported scheduled agricultural products are animal feed, table eggs and citrus. The main fruits exported by the country are oranges, grapefruits, banana, mangoes, avocadoes, lemons, dragon fruits, pineapple and paw paws. Under the category of vegetables, baby vegetables are dominating the export market followed by green maize and a few conventional vegetables. Furthermore, the main products under the category of maize and maize products include animal feed, popcorn, maize waste and top chops.

It is expected that export volumes of wheat products will increase because of noodles that will enter the export market. When asked for clarity on extent of the damage caused by rains, Communications Officer at Namboard Melusi Dlamini said, “We are yet to do a complete assessment and find out the extent of the damage farmers incurred in the past days.” Economist Thembinkosi Dube shed light on the matter as he said the country would experience a hike in some vegetables, depending on the extent of the damage. He went on to say, “At some point in time, tomatoes were scarce locally such that their prices increased. “

Negative

He further said this would have negative effects on the economy as this would also decrease the number of exported farm produce the country exports to other countries. Sabelo Nkumane, a farmer from Nhlangano, said he incurred a loss of close to E20 000. He said the rains damaged his vegetable garden which he had anticipated to make a living out of and support his family. “I am yet to liaise with my financial provider on this as my cabbages, lettuce and mostly cauliflower were extensively damaged by the recent rains and the estimate of the damage is close to E50 000,” he said.

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