A collaboration between the Western Cape government and a nonprofit organisation is helping farmers deal with a range of challenges, including irregular electricity supply.
Guidelines for farmers have been provided by the provincial department of agriculture and GreenCape, a nonprofit that drives green economy solutions. Their step-by-step assistance is designed to help farmers make informed decisions about renewable energy and energy-efficiency measures. It underscores the importance of resilient farming, a modern agricultural approach that prioritises sustainability, adaptability and reduced environmental impact. It aims to safeguard farming against climate shocks and pests, and to ensure long-term productivity and profitability.
The guidelines have identified the rising cost of electricity and its irregular supply as challenges.
Siphiwe Sithole — the founder of African Marmalade Farms, an organic agricultural enterprise amid creeping suburbia in Gauteng — says energy costs for an average small to medium farm such as hers can be more than R10,000 a month.
She says power cuts during harvesting can cause low water pressure and even halt irrigation entirely, as well as damage electrical equipment. “When the electricity returns after a power cut, it is absorbed in its heaviest transmission current, damaging equipment due to the high voltage. [But] my worst fear about power cuts is how the darkness exposes farmers to crime.”
When the electricity returns after a power cut, it is absorbed in its heaviest transmission current, damaging equipment due to the high voltage
— Siphiwe Sithole
Jaco Weideman, a manager at Rentech Renewable Energy, says energy costs for smaller farms range between R8,000 and R35,000 a month. “Irrigation-intensive farms, dairy operations with refrigeration needs, and those using controlled-environment agriculture systems tend to have higher energy demands,” he says. “Energy consumption peaks during certain seasons; in summer, irrigation consumes more energy and in winter, heating and storage facilities drain the energy sources.”
Weideman highlights how power cuts affect farming by delaying logistics, stalling processing and increasing maintenance costs.
Sithole says a consistent power supply from renewable energy sources is important for food security. “It ensures continued production, reduces reliance on the national grid, eases regional demand and helps get farms to optimal capacity, to have a business-as-usual process carried out in an abnormal situation,” she says.
The GreenCape and Western Cape guidelines offer interventions that can be applied once an energy audit is completed. They say that such audits help farmers identify their energy needs and better manage their available energy sources, such as using LED bulbs.
The Western Cape department of agriculture and the national department have introduced numerous renewable energy awareness initiatives and structures to incentivise and provide subsidies for farmers who implement climate-resilient practices.
The Green Fund, among other such facilities, was established to encourage investment in climate-resilient projects across sectors, including agriculture.
Sithole, who relies on the national grid, is vulnerable to Eskom’s power cuts. “Farmers can do with alternative energy sources without increasing input costs. Regional or local maintenance plans, infrastructural upgrades, cable theft and vandalism, which happen at the local level, are some of the factors that disrupt electricity supply, disturbing farming and production operations,” she says. “Making the shift to energy- and climate-resilient operational models is a progression that needs to be rewarded and sustained.”
Weideman says farms that have implemented energy-efficient technologies or renewable energy solutions have lower monthly costs. “Beyond grid instability, municipal mismanagement — ranging from delayed infrastructure upgrades to poor maintenance of substations, which often leads to budget misallocations, procurement delays or even failure to invest in basic metering and load management technology — results in chronic outages triggered by billing disputes,” he says.
He says costs are rising at every level, making it expensive for farmers to achieve operational capacity. “Government- and NGO-backed subsidy programmes for renewable energy upgrades are instrumental in helping reduce the upfront cost barrier.”
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