Emerging farmers in drought stricken Ladismith in the Little Karoo are the latest beneficiaries of fodder for their livestock from farmers in the Free State. The dairy farming area is just one of many towns in the Western Cape that’s been affected by the drought.
The donations were organised by humanitarian organisation, Gift of the Givers. Manna from heaven, that’s how elated farmers described the donation of fodder and maize. Since 2015, there’s been minimal rainfall in the area and dams are sitting at under 5%.
As a result, their animals are starving and they lost hundreds of animals. “All the farmers from Zoar I am representing them, and we don’t have enough words to say how thankful we are and how grateful we are. And really I hope in future we can also contribute and give back what we received today,” says a small scale farmer, Daniel Joon.
Farmer, Malcolm McGowan, is familiar with the work of the Gift of the Givers. They helped free his son, Stephen, after his capture by militants in Mali in 2011.
“You know we are very grateful to people like Dr. Imtiaz Suliman. He has helped me in the past obviously getting my son out. And now it’s funny it’s come back the second time to help me again. But he’s helping all the farmers and you know the times are very hard here,” adds another farmer, Malcolm Mcgowan.
“The emerging farmers are finding it very difficult as well because they battling to get fodder to keep their stocks surviving. This is a source of income for them as well. This town has one of the largest emerging farmers coming up. We as Gift of the Givers we are proud that the established farmers who are suffering with drought as well, they thinking of the emerging farmers to get fodder as well,” says Gift of The Givers’s Ali Sablay.
Next week the team will offer similar assistance to Eastern Cape farmers.
