Mounting water stress requires more dam infrastructure

['Lindi Botha', 'Lindi Botha Is An Agricultural Journalist', 'Communications Specialist Based In Nelspruit', 'South Africa. She Has Spent Over A Decade Reporting On Food Production', 'Has A Special Interest In Research', 'New Innovations', 'Technology That Aid Farmers In Increasing Their Margins', 'While Reducing Their Environmental Footprint. She Has Garnered Numerous Awards During Her Career', 'Including The International Federation Of Agricultural Journalists', 'Ifaj'] Farmer's Weekly SA 2025-09-19 08:00:30

Agriculture is highly vulnerable to water-related risks, with limited availability exacerbated by significant losses caused by ageing national water infrastructure. Meanwhile, average daily water use in South Africa was 218ℓ/person, compared with the global average of 173ℓ, underscoring wastefulness in a water-scarce country. Esmeraldo said food production in South Africa could be vastly expanded despite the country being classified as arid. “Some 50% of irrigation systems are pivots, 19% drip, 12% micro, 13% sprinklers, and 6% flood irrigation. We need to focus on precision irrigation systems to get more from our water,” he explained.