Progress on the distribution of drought relief to farmers
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) received R212 million from the National Disaster Management Centre for drought relief to farmers to be implemented in affected provinces. The allocation letter was issued on 4 November 2016 and confirmation in terms of Division of Revenue Act was received in early December 2016.
DAFF had to start with the procurement process which normally takes 3 months or 90 days. The department approached National Treasury for deviation from normal procurement processes which was subsequently granted. DAFF requested to appoint six to ten service providers for eight provinces.
Six service providers per province were selected from the Central Supplier Database (CSD) except for the Northern Cape. Quotations were requested from prospective service providers in terms of the supply chain requirements of DAFF. Based on the quotations received, service providers were appointed.
The appointed service providers started to distribute feed to farmers using distribution lists supplied to them by DAFF officials and their provincial counterparts. Delivery and distribution of animal feed was administered by DAFF and provincial departments of agriculture (PDAs) officials.
To date, DAFF has completed the distribution of feed in seven provinces. Only in the Northern Cape distribution is still underway.
With regard to the provincial department of agriculture in the Northern Cape Province, R20 million was allocated to procure animal feed and in addition, R5 million was allocated to transport donated feed from Western Cape and Mpumalanga.
Currently, the department has spent R210 million of the allocated R212 million. With the allocated funds, DAFF has managed to assist 74 335 farmers. Currently, DAFF has distributed 613 481 bags of animal feed and 3 790 tonnes of Lucerne.
Allocations to provinces were as follows:
|
Province |
Allocation R |
|
Eastern Cape |
29 000 000 |
|
Free State |
31 000 000 |
|
KwaZulu-Natal |
23 000 000 |
|
Limpopo |
28 000 000 |
|
Mpumalanga |
26 000 000 |
|
Northern Cape |
25 000 000 |
|
North West |
38 000 000 |
|
Western Cape |
12 000 000 |
|
Total |
R212 000 000 |
For more information, contact:
Steve Galane
Cell: 083 635 7346
