Flood waters wash away crops in Nigeria

Floods described as the the worst in several decades have caused devastation in large parts of Nigeria, including the submerging of crops across wide areas, causing fears of a food crisis. Up to 24 of the country's 36 states are reported to have experienced severe flooding.

Chairman of Bayelsa State Cassava Growers Association, Mr. Ekiye Akainza described this as a disaster year. Many settlements, thousands of hectares of farmlands were submerged, with scores of deaths reported.

Tunde Arosanyin, an official of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) said it was no longer possible to plant crops this year as farmers had already "lost the active season without hope of recovery."
He also said there would be low crop and livestock supply in the market from December as demand would outstrip supply while prices would skyrocket.

David Ogwu, the Laison Officer 1 for Ibaji Local Government, expressed optimism that the rains would cease in the next four to five weeks but wondered where the people would start from.
"Where will the people find seedlings to plant? Where will the maize seeds, cassava stems, yam seedlings, sorghum and the rest crops come from?"

One farmer estimated that up to 95 per cent of rice farms in Kano state had been destroyed.



African Agriculture

Floods destroy crops at Kenya irrigation scheme

More than 100 acres of crops estimated at over Sh5 million have been destroyed by floods in Kiboi Irrigation Scheme after River Yeptos in Baringo County (Kenya) burst its banks.

About 200 farmers who had crops at the scheme feared food security may be threatened as a result of the floods.

The scheme chairman, Julius Aengwo, said farmers expected a bumper harvest this season but their hopes have been dashed by the raging floods.

“Since we experienced adequate rainfall this season, we had anticipated enough food for our families and surplus for sale but for the past two weeks, the entire crop has been flooded and we have incurred huge losses,” said Mr Aengwo.

He said several acres of crops such as beans, butternuts, watermelons, maize, cassava and sweet potatoes were submerged and had began to rot.

Aengwo urged the Government to consider the farmers’ plight and provide them with seeds to start planting afresh after the heavy rains subside since they had invested all they had on the farms.

According to Baringo North district crop officer Wesley Chemjor, almost half of the crops in the irrigation scheme have been extensively damaged.

“We had projected farmers would earn about Sh10 million from maize, beans, watermelons and other fruits such as mangoes and bananas but it’s regrettable almost the entire crop was destroyed,” Mr Chemjor said.

Area District Agricultural Officer Kibett Maina reiterated that farmers at the scheme had suffered greatly as result of the floods.

He urged farmers in Kiboi and Barwessa irrigation schemes to embrace soil conservation measures to prevent more losses.

“For now, farmers should make water canals, plant trees along their farms and make use of the water divisional boxes to prevent over spilling and avert more flooding in the future,” said Mr Maina.

He said last year, the Government and the World Food Programme (WFP), had rehabilitated the irrigation scheme and anticipated to benefit more farmers and boost food security in the semi-arid area.

“The Government together with WFP had injected about Sh8 million for construction of water divisional boxes, construction of a night water storage tank and construction of canals,” said Maina.

About 100 families have been displaced in Nyatike District, Migori County. 90 victims have sought refuge at Nyora Primary School where they were taken by the Red Cross officials after their houses were submerged after River Kuja burst its banks.

In 2 East Africa

Floods cause crop loss, homelessness in Ugandan district

by Steven Ariong

At least 300 families in Namalu Sub-county in Uganda's Nakapiripirit District have been displaced and crops destroyed following torrential rainfall that left the area flooded on November 24.

An estimated 50 hectares of cassava gardens, green grams, potatoes and peas in Namalu Sub-county were totally destroyed by floods.

Ms Lucy Nakut of Morugajore village said seven hectares of her cassava gardens in Okudud village were totally destroyed and her hut and chicken were washed away by water torrents. She has relocated with her three children.

Mr Mark Logiroi, another victim, said he has always had plenty of food but the floods, he said, will force him to begin begging. “What I had harvested and stored in my granary and what I was expecting to harvest have been destroyed and I don’t know where to start from,” he said.

Mr Simon Lemukol, the LC3 chairperson of Namalu Sub-county, described the aftermath of the floods in the area as a total loss to the families of Namalu. He said residents of Namalu have never experience such floods.

“We used to have heavy rains and floods but not of this kind, which hits for a single day and displaces a big number of people like this,” Mr Lemukol said. He appealed to government for relief material to the affected families, and urged that the families should be supported to embark on fresh farming if they are to cope with the loss.

Former Nakapiripirit chairperson John Nangiro appealed to government to provide food and planting materials to help the affected families to cope. He said transport in the area has also been affected by the floods since calvats have been washed away.

Two months ago, torrential rains that battered eastern Uganda for days left Bulambuli, Kween, Kapchorwa, Butaleja, Bukedea and Amuria districts submerged, with the residents counting the cost and relying on relief. The floods also ravaged road networks linking Sironko, Bulambuli, Nakapiripirit, Moroto, Kotido districts.

The Monitor

Nigeria: 60,000 farmers affected as floods destroy crops

by Seye Adeniyi

A devastating flood has destroyed assorted farm produce worth one billion naira in Silame Local Government area of Sokoto State, says the Chairman, Alhaji Mani Maishinko. Maishinko told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Silame, Sokoto, recently that the produce affected included rice, millet, beans, onions, sweet potatoes, pepper, tomatoes and guinea corn farms.


He said that more than 60,000 farmers in the area were affected. ``Over 80 per cent of the people of Silame local government are either farmers or fishermen and they were all affected. The incident occurred when the River Rima which traverses the entire local government area was inundated and it over flooded its banks,'' he said.

The chairman attributed the cause of recent flood disaster in the area to climate change.

The Tribune

South African grape production to fall after flooding

by Brian Latham

Oranjerivier Wine Cellars, a South African grape producer and vintner, said its output of wine grapes will fall about 36 percent this year after floods damaged vineyards.

The wine-grape harvest will come to about 100,000 metric tons, Henning Burger, the cooperative’s viticulture manager, said today by phone. Raisin production at Upington, South Africa-based Oranjerivier probably will slide by half to 25,000 tons, he said.

“These are just estimates at this stage, as the full effect of the flooding hasn’t yet been calculated,” Burger said.

Floods on the Orange River damaged vines in late January and early February. Heavier-than-normal rains may persist for months, the South African Weather Department said Jan. 26. The country is the world’s 10th-largest grape producer, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.

“We can’t comment on the cost to farmers yet, but it is very heavy,” Burger said, adding that infrastructure was damaged as well as crops.

Oranjerivier, started in 1965, is the Southern Hemisphere’s largest grape-producing cooperative and ranks second worldwide by harvest size, according to its website.

Bloomberg

Flooding costs South African farming $392 million: industry

Floods in South Africa have cost the farming sector about 2.8 billion rand in damages, and farmers are hoping for a government bailout, an industry official said on Monday.

Heavy rains, mainly in January, killed more than 100 people and saturated farms in one of Africa's major food producers, leading the government to declare 33 municipalities disaster areas.

"The flood damages around the country run to about 2.8 billion rand, according to our assessments," Johannes Moller, president of Agri SA, told delegates at an agriculture conference.

He said crop losses accounted for 1 billion rand, while infrastructure losses on farms, mostly along the Vaal and Orange rivers, cost farmers about 1.8 billion rand in the Northern Cape, with the remaining 200 million in damages elsewhere in the country.

Moller later said  they were hopeful government would provide financial assistance to get more than 1,000 commercial and emerging farmers back on their feet within 12 months.

"I'm quite hopeful that in the end that government will decide to give financial aid, because that's the only way that we can start rebuilding and do it within one season," he said.

Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said last month that there would not be a financial package, but rather an "assistance package", including talking to banks to negotiate terms of debt payments for those who incurred losses due to the floods.

"I think in this case we would prefer if government paid some damages upfront and get a commitment from farmers that they will create jobs (in return)," Moller said.

Flood-affected farmers would be satisfied if 25-50 percent of the 1.8 billion infrastructure losses could be borne by government, Moller said.

He said in the absence of the financial assistance, some farmers may become bankrupt, but the majority should recover, although it may take between five and eight years.

If government left commercial farmers to fend for themselves, and the agriculture sector was hit by another natural disaster next year, it would have a "serious impact" on food security, Moller said.

Reuters

Southern African farmers face heavy flood losses

by Fidelis Zvomuya

Temba Mduli’s fields resemble a vast lake, studded with treetops and half-submerged buildings. Once-green corn, soya beans, potatoes and sunflowers have been turned yellow by some of the worst flooding to cut through northern South Africa in years.

"I will be lucky just to get fodder out of the bad parts,” he says, as his two John Deere tractors sit nearby, submerged to their steering wheels. “That’s what I’m left with after Mother Nature wreaked havoc here."

Higher than normal rainfall has brought widespread flooding to eight of South Africa’s nine provinces, hitting the country’s economy and provoking fears of food price hikes.

With 33 districts declared disaster areas, more than 20,000 people are in need of assistance, 8,400 of them homeless or displaced, local officials say.

In Mdluli’s home district of Benede Oranje in Northern Cape province, the Vaal River has cut a swath of destruction, soaking fields, engulfing roads and shutting down transport hubs. Leafy crops like lettuce have been shredded by high winds.

“This is a devastating loss,” the farmer says. “The water came so fast that there was no time to evacuate treasured farm implements and household goods to higher ground.” He estimates the damage on his 25 hectares (62 acres) of land will run to $50,000.

This year’s rainy season has brought abnormally heavy rainfall to countries across southern Africa. According to Washington Zhakata, national coordinator of Zimbabwe's Climate Change Awareness Programme, the unusual rains may be driven by La Nina, a climatic pattern believed to have contributed to recent severe flooding in Australia, Brazil and the Philippines.

Scientists from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in a 2007 report, also predicted that rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will alter the amount, intensity and frequency of rain that many parts of the world receive, potentially worsening the severity and frequency of floods and droughts in southern Africa.

As farmers like Mdluli begin to count the cost of the flooding, there are fears for farm jobs in South Africa if the government does not step in with assistance.

Total property losses in South Africa as a result of the floods are estimated at about half a billion dollars. Agricultural losses may represent as much as $284 million of this, according to Dawie Maree, an economist at Agri SA, the country’s largest commercial farmers’ union.

But Maree warns, “You can’t do a full assessment before the water level has subsided.”

Farming in South Africa is a business with high costs and narrow profit margins, according to Jo Gondo, president of the National African Farmers Union (NAFU).

Gondo says he expects some farmers may be forced to give up their land because insurance will not fully cover their losses, and government assistance is insufficient to make up the difference.

Tina Joemat-Pettersson, the country’s agriculture minister, has announced that farmers will receive assistance with an aim of returning their operations to 80 percent efficiency by March. Pettersson said flood-hit farmers will be helped to replace infrastructure, seeds and fertilizers, but she ruled out cash compensation.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says thousands of hectares of agricultural land and crops in southern Africa have been damaged by floods and heavy rains in recent weeks. The skies show no sign of giving relief, with above-average rainfall forecast for the next few months.

“With the rainy season still only halfway through, and with the cyclone season due to peak in February, several agricultural areas along rivers in southern African countries remain at high risk of flooding, including portions of Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa,” the FAO warned in a statement.

Localised crop losses have been reported near rivers in southern and central Mozambique. The government has declared a red alert for these areas as water flows in major rivers remain above safe levels. Mozambique has recorded 13 flood-related deaths, and thousands of people have fled their homes for higher ground.

The prospects of further flooding are raising concerns about the food security of affected people in poorer parts of the region.

“Food insecurity levels are already critical in the affected areas of some of these countries and floods will only further worsen the ability of poor farmers to cope and feed their families in the coming months,” said Cindy Holleman, FAO’s regional emergency coordinator for southern Africa. The FAO is working with regional and national early warning systems to monitor developments in major river basins and to assess the impact of flooding on food crops.

Fidelis Zvomuya, based in Pretoria, South Africa, is a writer specializing in environmental reporting.

Alertnet

Floods take heavy crop toll in Lesotho

From a distance, the fields of maize that cover almost every hillside in Lesotho’s Thaba-Tseka District look green and lush. On closer inspection, the plants have a sickly yellowish hue and the heads of corn that should be ripening in time for the April harvest are nowhere to be seen.

For most of the farmers in this remote, mountainous district, and in many other parts of Lesotho, there will be no harvest this season. Heavy rains which started in December and are expected to continue through much of February have washed away top soil and nutrients and left fields waterlogged and weed infested.


The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that in some of the worst hit districts up to 60 percent of crops have been destroyed while nationally at least 4,700 livestock, mainly sheep and goats, have died.

Lesotho’s mountainous topography and erratic weather mean it already produces only enough grain to meet about 30 percent of its needs. The country had increased its production of maize - the main cereal crop - and sorghum during 2010, but the heavy rains are likely to reverse those gains.

“It’s going to affect food security in the worst way because Lesotho doesn’t produce enough food as it is,” said Matsiliso Mmojaki, head of the national Disaster Management Authority (DMA).

Out of a population of just over two million, Mmojaki estimated 250,000 will need food assistance in the coming months.

In the village of Phaila, in Thaba-Tseka District, Tsepo Phaila, 31, watched one afternoon in early January as a river of water swept down a hillside, tearing up the trees he and his family had planted for firewood, and flooding their maize field. By the time the water receded, only a few broken stalks poked up from the mud.

"We can't plant there any more because the topsoil has washed away," Phaila said.

The family has one other smaller field where maize plants are still standing but are too rain-damaged to produce a harvest. "There's nothing we can do right now," said Phaila, explaining that the maize and the firewood provided the only source of income to support himself and nine other family members.

Many other households in the village and across northern Lesotho are facing a similar predicament, but the government has yet to declare the situation a disaster.

"Should we say because the government hasn't declared it a disaster, it's not a disaster?" asked Teboho Chalane, the Ministry of Agriculture's extension officer for Thaba-Tseka District. "A lot of people have been affected; there will be no maize for them, so we need to do something to make sure they get something to eat."

He added that if seeds could be distributed quickly, there was still time for affected households to grow vegetables before the start of winter. In the longer term, said Chalane, communities needed to become less reliant on maize and start keeping livestock such as poultry and pigs that could be bred and sold.

As for the fields of stunted maize plants, his advice to farmers was: "Take a scythe and cut them all down."

Like many parts of Southern Africa, Lesotho had been warned to expect a heavier than usual rainy season due to the La Niña phenomenon, but Mmojaki of the DMA said "the intensity [of the rains] was just beyond our imagination; it has never really happened here."

A rapid assessment of the damage conducted in January found that in addition to the extensive crop losses, a number of roads had been washed away making some health facilities unreachable. Stocks of essential medicines, including antiretrovirals (ARVs) and drugs to treat diarrhoea, an outbreak of which had spread across the country, were running low.

The DMA has developed a contingency plan and submitted it to the government for approval. It includes urgent repairs to roads, bridges and water supply systems as well as assistance to farmers in the form of subsidies, seeds and fertilizers.

The plan comes with a price tag of US$68.5 million, an amount that economic policy head in the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning Motena Ts'olo said the government would struggle to raise at a time when the global economic slowdown and reduced revenues from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) were already straining the national budget.

"The rain has created even more pressure and I don't know how we'll manage, but somehow we'll have to," she said.

IRIN

South Africa to offer limited assistance to flood-affected farmers

by Giordano Stolley

Recent floods caused about R1-billion in lost agricultural production, and another R1-billion in damage to farm infrastructure, AgriSA president Johannes Möller said on January 25.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the farmers' body in Pretoria, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said the government would seek to help farmers, but that "there will not be any financial compensation."

As soon as government had better figures it would announce further details of the package it expected to roll out.

With the rainy season expected to continue until March she expected more flooding.

"The government is committed to assisting farmers so that they can become productive again as soon as possible," she said.

No farmers would receive cash payments, but that assistance would be in the form of replacing infrastructure, implements, seeds and speaking to financial institution with the aim of persuading them to extend the period or repayment that indebted farmers might have.

Joemat-Pettersson welcomed organised agriculture's role in forming a panel of experts that would advise and help the government when it rendered assistance to the agriculture sector.

President of the National African Farmers Union of South Africa, Joe Gondo, said the agreement reached between the unions and the ministry would also see smaller farmers getting back on their feet after the floods.
He expressed concern that the floods would result in increased food prices in the near future. It was also a concern that much of the water had simply ended up as run-off and could not be stored for future use.

It was a sentiment echoed by Transvaal Agriculture Union deputy president Louis Meintjes, who said: "We have been on record that they should look at the long term weather pattern forecast models that show that South Africa will have the same amount of rain but over a much shorter time span."

He said rain data from the past three years had backed up these projections.

"We really need to rethink our whole policy on storage of water. We need more dams. Look at the amount of water that's gone into the sea."

He said his union was concerned at local municipalities becoming involved in the roll out of any government assistance because of local authorities' lack of capacity.

Mail and Guardian

Severe flooding damages farming areas in South Africa

Heavy summer rains across South Africa have caused severe damage to agricultural areas and destroyed scores of households. The worst hit province is Northern Cape followed by North West.

Kwazulu-Natal have reported 39 deaths thus far due to flooding and lightning

Agricultural Minster Tina Joemat-Pettersson was distressed on January 16 after a flight over flooded agricultural areas along the Vaal River in the Northern Cape and Northwest Province.

"I am devastated," she told the South African Press Association in a telephonic interview after a flight over around the flood-hit areas in Douglas, Prieska and Warrenton in Northern Cape and Christiana in North West to look at the damage caused by the floods.

It was estimated that 20 000 hectares of agricultural fields were under water.

She said the government would also look at social relief for the poor and farm workers.

Due to the huge agricultural area flooded, there were also concerns about the knock-on effect of threatening higher food prices later on, which may cause inflation to rise. However, she said that a full assessment could only be made once the water levels had dropped.

Joemat-Pettersson said there was also the threat that many farm workers would be displaced because many farmers could be ruined due to the flooding.

Sapa reported that the Orange River also burst its banks and food parcels had to be delivered towards Pofadder, with several rescue operations taking place as roads flooded.

More rain has been predicted by the South African Weather Service across large parts of the country.

Mail and Guardian

Climate extremes make survival in the Sahel harder all the time

In some ways Alhaji Bunu Fodio is lucky: at least his house is still standing. Most of Kagara, his dusty village in Nigeria’s far north, was smashed to smithereens during this year’s rainy season when an unexpected deluge burst a nearby dam. Floods destroyed homes and farms in at least a dozen nearby villages. Mr Fodio lost his entire harvest of maize and sorghum.

Kagara lies on the edge of the Sahel, an arid belt of land on the Sahara desert’s southern fringe that spans Africa from Senegal in the west to parts of Ethiopia in the east, and is constantly battling the elements. During the Sahel’s nine-month dry season, roughly from October to June, the subsistence farmers who make up most of its inhabitants eagerly await the rain. Temperatures can touch 50 degrees Celsius. Many go hungry towards the end of these dry months, known as the “lean season.” The United Nations Children’s Fund, better known as UNICEF, says that malnutrition kills 225,000 children a year in five Sahelian countries alone (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger).

But now the rains have started bringing problems too. Farmers and aid workers say rainfall has been more erratic and stormy for at least the past five years, though it is unclear whether any areas are getting more water overall. Kagara is just one pocket of woe; an hour’s drive north, this year’s floods left over 50,000 people homeless in the desert country of Niger. Ruined harvests caused crippling food shortages that put more than half of the population at risk of going hungry in the spring. Countries across the Sahelian belt have suffered similar deluges. The number of those who routinely lose crops, cattle or houses in such floods has been rising steadily since 2005.

So the Sahel’s inhabitants are increasingly facing a cycle of extreme dry and wet spells, raising doubts as to whether the region is really habitable at all. Each season seems to exacerbate the problems of the next. When torrential rains destroy crops, Sahelians are even likelier to suffer from food shortages in the following dry months. “This next season will be very worrying,” says Carlos Muñoz, an adviser in west Africa for Oxfam, one of several aid agencies in the area.

The rest of the world spends vast sums sustaining life in the Sahel. The UN’s World Food Programme, which is funded largely by governments of rich countries, has asked its backers for $300m-plus to spend on emergency aid this year. The European Union has spent €74m ($98m) providing food vouchers and arranging cash-for-work schemes, among other things. Other groups forked out for tents and cholera treatment during the floods. Such handouts helped ensure that Niger’s food shortages did not cause a full-blown famine earlier this year.

Mr Muñoz acknowledges that repeated bouts of emergency action are no way to tackle a recurring problem. But donors are more willing to stump up cash for dramatic emergencies than for prevention, where success is harder to measure. “This is more expensive but more sexy,” he says. “Donors like to see impact.”

The biggest fear is that climate change will make survival for the people of the Sahel impossible. Scientists disagree on whether the belt will get drier or wetter in coming decades, but either is generally bleak. Some predict 25% less rain a year by 2100. Others predict a 25% increase that, if the rain came in isolated bursts, would mean more of those destructive floods.

In any case, Petra Tschakert, an expert in climate-change adaptation in west Africa at Pennsylvania State University, says the main concern is the ever more unpredictable and violent rainfall, not the amount. “Farmers can adapt to trends. They cannot adapt to extreme weather,” she says. One of the few areas of scientific consensus is that Sahel temperatures are rising and will rise further in the coming years. This can disrupt rainfall patterns and provoke storms, as warmer air is capable of holding more moisture. Some farmers in northern Nigeria are already noticing such changes. “We had to plant four times last year,” says a villager in Kagara, who lost of a third of his maize crop through false starts. “Each time the rain had started but then it suddenly stopped.”

Some longer-term solutions are being tried out. Mali’s government has made big efforts to irrigate farmland, largely thanks to loans from outfits such as the African Development Bank. A project near its Bani river began in February. Farmers in several countries are planting “short-cycle” crops, such as a kind of maize that can be harvested in three months instead of the more usual five.

The nascent weather-insurance industry offers hope too. Both farmers and aid agencies can buy this insurance, which uses complex indices to track climatic patterns and predict crop yields. Insurance companies can resell some of the risk in capital markets using “weather derivatives” and “catastrophe bonds”. This, it is claimed, is working well in India.

A snag, however, is that the data for such indices are lacking in much of the poor and remote Sahel, though fledgling schemes have been tried in Ethiopia since 2006. Some Sahelian governments charge outside bodies for gathering the data. Mannava Sivakumar at the World Meteorological Organisation, another UN body, says many of the Sahel’s weather stations report to the outfit’s central hub half as often as they should—or not at all. “How can a doctor help you if he cannot take your temperature?” he asks.

Some Sahel-watchers say the inhabitants must seek alternatives to reliance on cattle or crops: easier said than done. “In most cases, there is food available but people cannot afford it,” says Sibiri Jean Zoundi, an agricultural economist at the Sahel and West Africa Club, a coalition of the region’s governments and foreign-aid groups started by the rich-country OECD. Imported food is almost always available after failed harvests, but it is costly. Crippling poverty means that some families go hungry even after good harvests. Moreover, the Sahel’s population is growing at 2.6%, more than twice the global rate, outpacing economic growth. The size of plots is ever diminishing. More people are being forced to settle in flood-prone areas.

Back in Kagara, Mr Fodio is wondering how to feed his two wives and ten children in the coming months. “We are looking to the donors,” he says, sporting the fez-style cap worn by Nigeria’s mostly Muslim northerners. “And, of course, we are looking to Allah.”

The Economist

Floods destroy crops in South Africa

Some 400ha of crops including maize, potatoes, pumpkins and dry beans at the Vaallus Irrigation Scheme outside Douglas in the Northern Cape , were destroyed by recent floods, according to a preliminary damage report.

More than 1 000ha of irrigated crops were, on the other hand, damaged by drought. This was due to farmers having to remove irrigation pumps and equipment from the river before it was flooded. Although most of the farmers were able to restore the pumps, the yields will be seriously affected, according to agribusiness GWK’s Gellie Geldenhuys.

GWK is finalising the report in conjunction with Northern Cape Agri and the agriculture department.

Meanwhile Santam’s regional manager for the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern and Western Cape, Kobus Claassens has estimated the damage caused by a hailstorm earlier in February to crops, mainly maize, between Wesselsbron and Bothaville, at between R30 million and R35 million. About 11 000ha were hit by the storm. Only 5 500ha were insured against hail damage. The damage was between 2% and 100%.

“In Douglas, the water levels are decreasing markedly and the majority of farmers are back on track, it’s too late for the crops,” said Geldenhuys. “I can’t say how many farmers were insured against flood damage, but one must keep in mind that irrigated crops can only be insured for a maximum of 70% of the damage.”

The level of the Vaal River in the Bloemhof area has fallen under the traditional flood line, according to the local district farmers union’s Ernst Viljoen. Farmers are repairing irrigation infrastructure but serious damage was done to the irrigation pivots, amongst others. “It’s impossible to even make an educated guess about the extent of the damage, he said. “We’ll only be able to do that once all the flooded houses and buildings are accessible again.” 

FarmersWeekly

Southern Africa swamped by floods

Vast areas of southern Africa have been hit by the worst flooding in 50 years, says the Red Cross.

With more than 100 people dead, an area 1,500km (930 miles) wide, from Namibia in the west to Mozambique faces rising waters from several rivers.

The Red Cross says it has only managed to reach a small fraction of the more than half a million people who have already been affected. It is appealing for helicopters and boats to reach isolated communities.

Matthew Cochrane, from the International Federation of Red Cross, said if Zimbabwe's Kariba dam reaches capacity, authorities there may be forced to open the floodgates. If this happens, Mozambique would be hit by a wall of water and tens of thousands more people would be displaced, he warned. Nearly 100,000 people have already been made homeless, he added.

He said the organisation expected the flood waters to remain for at least the next four to eight weeks. Mr Cochrane said the waters had reached densely-populated communities - up to 30km (19 miles) from the Zambezi river - that had never been affected by flooding before.

"They've been hit with floods and they've got no natural reflex to evacuate, to protect their possessions, to find higher ground," he said. "So the floods have been particularly difficult for them and there's a huge need for them to receive support."

The Red Cross said it had only reached about 35,000 people across the region with basic humanitarian aid, like mosquito nets, tarpaulins and water purification sachets.

It said heavy rain was continuing to fall in the Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Zambia.

This would wash more water down the Zambezi basin and could flood east to Malawi and Mozambique, it added.

BBC

Floods destroy crops in southern Africa

by Sam Banda

Zambia and Namibia have been hit by floods following heavy rains which reportedly destroyed crops among others. The reports come barely a few days after another southern African country Malawi was hit by floods in the southern region which affected about 3,400 families.

Media reports say that Namibia has declared a state of emergency in flood-hit areas as waterways burst their banks in the narrow Caprivi Strip between Zambia and Botswana. About 400,000 people are said to have been affected on both sides of Namibia's border with Angola.

Data from Namibia's Hydrological Service is said to have showed river levels along the Kavango River at their highest since 1963. The official death toll in Namibia is 92 but aid workers said it would almost certainly be much higher.

The reports further said that the floods are the worst in 40 years for the two countries according to disaster officials. A Reuters report said Zambia has put its air force on standby to airlift people to safety.

"We've heard some incredible stories," Matthew Cochrane, a spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said.

Cochrane further said that communities have been separated by rising water. "Crocodile attacks, hippo attacks, snake bites. These are some of the risks people face. Then there's the more mundane risks: malarial and diarrhea diseases, and just the lack of food," he said.

In Zambia things have also got out of hand with water levels in some districts higher than they had been since 1969. A road linking the rich copper nation to Zimbabwe is said to have been damaged and that the country’s Southern Province is the worst hit, with more than 20,000 households affected and 5,000 houses destroyed.

Zambia’s National Coordinator of Disaster Management has since asked people leaving n low land to move to higher lands. In January, rains in Malawi and Zambia are said to have caused flooding in Mozambique that killed 45 people and left 285,000 homeless.

The African continent is currently experiencing the rainy season which are bringing about floods. This has also threatened to increase waterborne diseases like cholera.

Africa News

Floods, long dry spells, politics threaten food security in Zimbabwe

Drought in several Zimbabwean provinces is likely to damage the main 2008 maize harvest and could worsen an already tight food security situation there, the United Nations' food agency said on April 10.

"The food security situation in Zimbabwe is critical," Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a statement. "Food insecurity for about one-third of the vulnerable population keeps worsening."

Zimbabwe's economy lies in ruins with the world's highest inflation, chronic food shortages and long queues for bread. Once the breadbasket of southern Africa, Zimbabwe now needs to import maize.

Political deadlock since March 29 elections also threatens to worsen Zimbabwe's crisis. The opposition says it beat veteran President Robert Mugabe and he should step down, but results have still not been announced from the presidential election.

Mugabe's foes blame his policies for ruining the economy. He says Western sanctions are responsible.

The Rome-based FAO said maize growth and yields for the harvest in May and June are likely to be hit by prolonged dry spells since February in several provinces, which came after floods in some low lying areas in December and January,

Zimbabwe has so far imported about 81 percent of its 1.03 million tonnes of cereal import needs for 2007/08, including 589,000 tonnes of commercial imports, mainly from neighbouring Malawi and Zambia, and 250,000 tonnes of food aid.

On top of floods and drought, farmers have suffered from shortages of key inputs, including fertilizer, seed, fuel and tillage power this season, the agency said.

"With dwindling foreign exchange reserves and shrinking purchasing power, another year of low cereal production would severely affect the food security condition for a significant part of the population unless substantial assistance is provided," FAO said.

Reuters

Flood-caused crop damage worsens in Malawi

Malawi's president on February 2 flew over the flood-stricken Shire Valley, where nearly 50,000 people have lost their homes and crops to raging waters that have wreaked havoc in many parts of southern Africa.

More than 70,000 people have been displaced in Malawi. In neighboring Mozambique, more than 90,000 have been evacuated to resettlement camps, and southern Zambia and Zimbabwe have also been badly hit.

Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika toured the stricken area by helicopter, and voiced concern at the large tracts of crop fields have been destroyed.

He pleaded with people to leave the fertile agricultural area and move to higher ground. "Government is ready to assist you building houses, schools and clinics," he said. "Please let us cooperate so that floods cease to be a perennial problem."

Residents in the flood-prone area have resisted government's call for them to move upland because they claim the low-lying areas have alluvial soils good for agriculture while the higher ground is rocky and patchy. Some also believe they will be cursed if they abandon the lands where their ancestors were buried.

But Mutharika said they could build houses on higher ground and continue farming in the valley.
"It doesn't make sense to continue staying where you know you stand the risk of being swept away by floods," he said.

Flooding regularly affects many parts of southern Africa in the rainy season. But this year the rains have come earlier and been more torrential than usual.

Mozambique often bears the brunt of the flooding as the mighty Zambezi and other rivers from landlocked African countries hurtle toward the Indian Ocean. It has a highly praised disaster management program, including a program of forced evacuations, which have successfully limited the number of casualties.

IHT

Torrential rains reduce hopes of a bumper harvest in Zambia

Torrential rains have drowned Zambia's hopes of a fourth consecutive bumper maize harvest and there is still no sign that the rain will ease off as the country comes to grips with the extent of the damage.

Heavy downpours that began in the last week of November 2007 have swamped large areas along the banks the swollen Magoye River, washing away infrastructure and flooding many hectares of agricultural land. Southern Province was hardest hit with 6 people killed and thousands fleeing from their flooded homes.

"These rains have really brought misery on us; we have been reduced to beggars. All our fields are completely washed away, while others are still submerged, and we have no other means of earning a living apart from farming," said Robson Taulu from the flooded town of Sinazongwe.

People in flooded communities say the losses are massive. Initial assessments in 6 districts of Southern Province by the Zambia Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZVAC), estimated that the crop losses of maize, millet and sorghum would range between 40 percent and 50 percent.

Chief Mwanachingwala, a traditional leader in Mazabuka, a town in southern Zambia, commented, "My people are only waiting helplessly for handouts from the government and aid agencies. Many goats, chickens, pigs and other livestock have disappeared and we have no information on where they could be just now. We don't know what will happen to us ... if the rains continue."

A year ago Zambia experienced widespread flooding in many of the same areas but still managed to produce a surplus of 250,000 tonnes of maize above its annual consumption of 1.2 million tonnes. Much of that surplus came from the productive central region, which was not spared this year.

"There is no doubt that our crop harvest will be affected. Some farmers, including large-scale farmers, have had their crops extensively damaged," said Guy Robinson, president of the Zambia National Farmers Union. "Our prayer is that the rains should subside as soon as possible."

Concern is growing that flooding could worsen in the coming weeks: precipitation forecasts by the National Centre for Environmental Predictions indicate increased rainfall in the southern parts of the country in the next 10 days.

IRIN

Water logging endangers crops in Zimbabwe

Heavy rains that have been pounding most parts of Zimbabwe since late last year have washed away crops, raising fears that the crisis-hit country could again face severe food shortages this year.

Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union (ZFU) President, Silas Hungwe, said the heavy rains will impact negatively on the country’s harvest. “The rains have had a negative impact on the country, plants are now water logged and in some areas, crops have been washed away . . . We fear that we will not realise much this year.”

Zimbabwe, together with southern Africa neighbours Mozambique and Zambia, have since last year battled floods after above normal rainfall since December.

The floods have left at least 21 people dead in Zimbabwe while villagers in low-lying regions have lost their property and livestock. The government has already declared the floods a national disaster.

Former Grain Marketing Board (GMB) chief executive, Renson Gasela, who is also a senior member of Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), party said the country would be lucky to harvest 600 000 metric tonnes of maize this year because of the floods. Zimbabwe,requires at least 1.4 million tonnes of maize every year. A chaotic land reform programme initiated eight years ago has left Zimbabwe unable to feed itself.

“The figures are worrying, just last week the projection was that the country was to get 800 000 metric tonnes. The figures have since been revised downwards because there is no fertiliser to save the crop, while the rains are not stopping at all,” said Gasela.

Last week, Zimbabwe’s Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (AREX) said the rains were adversely affecting farming operations, with most crops now showing signs of nitrogen deficiency due to water logging.

Agricultural experts say this year’s farming, dubbed “the mother of all agricultural seasons,” had virtually gone to waste because of incessant rains and failure by the Harare authorities to ensure adequate supplies of seed and fertiliser.

ZimOnline

Tobacco crop also threatened...

Shortages of fertilizer and coal, among other factors, may reduce the country’s planned tobacco output of 120 million kilogrammes this year, the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association has said.

At least 90 percent of the targeted 60 000 hectares have been put under the crop this year.

"The incessant rains are threatening the crop as a result of water logging and nutrient leaching, whilst the erratic supply of fertilizer and coal has worsened the situation," ZTA president Andrew Ferreira said. "Apart from delays in delivering coal, the National Railways of Zimbabwe has doubled its costs in transporting coal," he added.

He said the association was pressing the Government to review the support price, pegged at US$1,50 per kg as of last year, noting production costs had risen.

As a result of these problems, Mr Ferreira said ZTA projected a tobacco output of 58 million kilogrammes, which is an average of 1 200 kilogrammes per hectare.

Last year, Zimbabwe produced 74 million kilogrammes of tobacco.

New Ziana.

Zimbabwean farmers urged to increase fertiliser to counter flood-caused leaching

Farmers should increase fertilizer application on their crops to counter increased leaching and water logging amidst the current heavy rains, Zimbabwe's extension service, Agritex, has urged.

Agritex official Mr Bernard Mache said while the country had received above normal rains, crops were under threat from water logging and leaching.

"The continuous rains are threatening agriculture production across the country while fields have been affected by leaching of nutrients, especially in sandy soils," he said.

Most crops planted on sandy soils are turning yellow, a sign of nitrogen deficiency.

Mr Mache said some crops planted on fields that have become waterlogged were experiencing stunted growth. "Farmers should stagger the application of fertilizers in mitigating the effects of the rains.

They should have started planting their crops with basal fertilizers. Then if the conditions are conducive, application of top dressing should be done once the crops show signs of nitrogen deficiency," he said.

The Herald

Floods to worsen Zimbabwe's farming woes

Zimbabwe faces more food shortages due to poor planning, lack of fertilizer and fuel as well as floods, farm organisations have said.

Zimbabwe, formerly a net grain exporter to southern Africa, has battled serious food shortages since 2001 when President Robert Mugabe's government seized farms from whites to resettle landless blacks.

"With these rains, a lot of fertilisers and nutrients have been leached from the soil and the crops are yellowing," said Philip Tavuyanago, director of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU). "Farmers need top dressing fertiliser, which is in serious short supply. Fuel is another snag."

President Mugabe's government -- which last year said it had invested heavily in grain production to end food shortages and halt costly imports -- had projected a 3 million tonnes maize crop in the 2007/8 season. The forecast was based on about 2 million hectares being put under the staple crop.

However, a recent report prepared by the government's agricultural technical and extension service (Agritex), revealed that just over 1.3 million hectares had been tilled and only 719,000 hectares of land had been put under maize. Agritex said the shortage of inputs, such as fuel, seed, fertiliser and chemicals had resulted in lower planting.

Incessant rains which have been pounding the country since December had also delayed planting and caused flooding in some parts.

Tavuyanago said while there had been a marked improvement in land preparation, prospects for higher production had been dimmed by the shortage of inputs. "In the absence of inputs, we might just have prepared big hectarages without yielding much," Tavuyanago said.

United Nations aid agencies Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have said 4 million Zimbabweans -- about a third of the population -- will require food aid by the first quarter of 2008.

State media has reported that Zimbabwe would need to import at least 1 million tonnes of maize after deliveries of the 2007 crop to the state grain procurer, the Grain Marketing Board, amounted to only 700,000 tonnes. The country requires about 1.8 million tonnes of maize for annual consumption.

Zimbabwe is also grappling with a severe economic crisis, blamed on Mugabe's policies. Inflation has rocketed to nearly 8,000 percent, the highest in the world.

Mugabe, 83 and in power since independence from Britain in 1980, denies mismanaging the economy and says it has been undermined by western countries opposed to his land reforms.

Reuters