In the face of increasing climate variability, it is becoming critically important for South African farmers to use every drop of water with maximum efficiency. Despite serious challenges related to prolonged droughts and water scarcity, farmers can increase their resilience through careful planning, maintaining soil health, and implementing efficient irrigation systems.
These farm-level practical methods align with the recommendations of the GreenCape guide 'Greening Your Farm: Water Focus,' which emphasizes that improving water resilience begins with understanding exactly how water is used on the farm before investing in new sources or infrastructure. The guide urges prioritizing efficiency improvements, optimizing existing resources, and applying best management practices before expanding water supply.
Commercial farmer and agronomist Lesego Mohube, who works near Heidelberg and Nigel in Gauteng, shares practical strategies that can be applied by both small and large producers to improve water use efficiency and prepare for drier conditions.
According to Mohube, water shortage is only one of the problems facing local agricultural production. She notes that many emerging farmers rely on seasonal rainfall due to a lack of boreholes or adequate storage infrastructure, while others struggle with insufficient irrigation systems or the necessary training for their effective operation and maintenance.
Furthermore, pressure is increasing due to competition for shared water resources, especially in communal farming areas, and many producers overlook the equally important issue of water quality. Regular maintenance of pumps, filters, storage tanks, and irrigation lines is also paramount to preventing costly operational failures during critical growth phases.
Efficient water use must always be combined with responsible environmental management. GreenCape advises farmers to regularly test water for irrigation and livestock to ensure it meets South African water quality standards. Poor water quality can reduce yields, negatively affect animal health, damage soils, and clog equipment, making routine water monitoring an integral part of management.
Mohube urges farmers to comply with the South African National Water Act (Act No. 36 of 1998) by implementing five key practices: obtaining legal water use permits, preventing pollution by avoiding runoff of agricultural fertilizers, pesticides, and livestock waste into natural streams, protecting ecosystems, monitoring and accounting for daily water consumption on the farm, and immediately repairing leaks in infrastructure to prevent unnecessary losses.
She stresses: 'Water is becoming an increasingly valuable resource. Farmers must use it sparingly even outside drought periods, as we cannot predict how climatic conditions will change.'
One of the most effective ways to increase drought resilience is through soil management. To maximize moisture retention in the soil without significant capital expenditure, Mohube recommends five basic soil health improvement practices:
If drip irrigation is available, Mohube considers it one of the best options during dry periods, as water is delivered directly to the crop's root zone with minimal evaporation loss. GreenCape notes that improving irrigation efficiency should be a primary priority. The guide advises tracking water volumes, promptly fixing leaks, and using irrigation planning tools or technologies to deliver water only when crops need it, rather than following rigid calendar schedules.
For producers without drip irrigation infrastructure, efficiency can be improved through simple operational adjustments: strategic watering times (early morning or late afternoon), checking soil moisture before activating systems, collecting rainwater from roofs and hard surfaces, and grouping crops with similar water needs to simplify watering schedules.
For farms already using drip irrigation, regular maintenance is critical: frequent line checks, cleaning pumps and filters, and training staff to detect pressure drops before equipment fails.
Mohube uses soil moisture monitoring devices to eliminate guesswork when scheduling irrigation. Visual assessment of the soil surface can be misleading, as sufficient moisture often remains deeper in the root zone. She advises measuring soil moisture directly to avoid overwatering.
Modern soil moisture sensors provide color readings at different depths, allowing farmers to make precise decisions. However, even inexpensive manual probes or soil augers provide valuable visual data on root zone moisture status.
Proactive seasonal planning prevents severe water stress later in the production cycle. Farmers should audit available water reserves before planting, calculate how many weeks the reserves will last during peak summer heat, and prioritize crops, directing available water to high-yield crops during periods of severe restriction.
It is also necessary to continuously monitor pump performance and line pressure, adjusting them according to field slope, and adapting the irrigation schedule based on local wind patterns, which cause significant drift and evaporation when using overhead sprinkler irrigation.
Water conservation is just as important for livestock producers as it is for crop growers. Mohube recommends knowing the approximate water consumption of animals to provide them with sufficient amounts without excess waste. This includes repairing leaking pipes and troughs, regularly sanitizing troughs to prevent bacterial growth, fencing off natural water bodies to protect against erosion and pollution, and providing adequate shade over enclosures to reduce the animals' need for water due to heat stress. Furthermore, daily herd water consumption should be tracked for early leak detection.
Not every farm has the budget for major infrastructure repairs, but GreenCape emphasizes that many of the most significant water savings come from improving daily management, not from large capital investments. For farmers seeking immediate and low-cost results, simple operational changes can provide substantial water savings without major financial strain, such as applying organic mulch, active weed control, and optimizing watering times.
When funds become available for larger infrastructure projects, investments should be strategically targeted to build long-term operational sustainability: installing precision drip irrigation, implementing soil moisture sensors, developing additional boreholes, and increasing storage capacity. Mohube notes that reliable storage ensures security during dry spells and allows for rainwater harvesting when it is available.
Nevertheless, GreenCape reminds producers that before building new infrastructure or drilling additional boreholes, they must first maximize the efficiency of existing water resources.
Water problems are no longer solely an environmental issue in Mzansi; they are becoming one of the most serious threats to the country's food system. This was stated at the Water and Food Indaba event, which recently took place at the Two Oceans aquarium in Cape Town. Farmers, researchers, politicians, and community leaders discussed lessons learned from the 'Day Zero' period, analyzing how water scarcity continues to affect agriculture, food production, and the lives of communities across the country.
Community organizer and feminist activist Anriette Abrahamse from Bonteheuwel on Cape Flats noted that the problem facing many working-class people is not a lack of solutions, but a lack of political will. She stated that the government knows perfectly well what needs to be done, but this will is absent, arguing that community concerns about basic services are too often ignored.
Referencing the quarantine experience during Covid-19, Abrahamse explained how residents turned to community gardens after it became clear that food parcels were not a sustainable solution. They occupied unused land, relying on the older generation to teach the youth farming and reviving traditional water-saving methods to sustain the gardens under limited resources.
According to Nkosinathi Swartbuy from Movement4Care, water is not just an environmental issue, but an issue of inequality. Swartbuy argued that access to water, much like access to housing, is still determined by apartheid-era spatial planning and economic inequality. He emphasized that where people live continues to determine the quality of services they receive, from water supply and sanitation to life-improving opportunities.
Citing the Constitutional Court's victory in the Tafelberg housing complex case, Swartbuy stated that the government is responsible for using state lands and resources to gradually realize the constitutional rights of citizens. He noted: 'Water, like housing, has become a commodity. Access to water is determined not only by your race, but by your class.' He also stressed that the fight for water is inseparable from the fight for decent housing and basic services. Swartbuy warned that if the issue of inequality is not resolved, many communities will continue to face obstacles in accessing water, sanitation, and food security, even while living in one of the country's wealthiest cities.
Independent filmmaker Miki Redelinghuys recounted that the fight for water during the Covid-19 quarantine exposed inequalities that many Cape Town residents faced long before the pandemic. Speaking at the Water and Food Indaba, Redelinghuys shared insights from filming the Reclaim the City movement in her film Mother City. She recalled how volunteers weekly delivered five-litre containers of water to settlements in the city center after authorities cut off water and electricity, demonstrating how communities stepped up where the state failed.
Reflecting on the strongest moment of the documentary, Redelinghuys quoted Nkosinathi Swartbuy from Movement4Care: 'Covid did not create inequality. It did not create the abuse of black bodies. It simply revealed what already existed.' Redelinghuys noted that the pandemic highlighted the sharp contrast between different communities: 'While people in the suburbs exchanged recipes, people in townships worried about where they would get their next meal.'
Effective fertilization through irrigation begins with quality watering. Netafim agronomist Luis Furi shares his experience on how precise drip fertilization allows expensive nutrients to be directed directly into the active root zone where they are most needed by crops.
Despite rising fertilizer prices, the solution is not to reduce their quantity. According to Luis Furi, a Netafim agronomist for Southern and Eastern Africa, farmers should focus on increasing the efficiency of nutrient application.
One of the most effective methods for increasing nutrient use efficiency is fertigation—the process of delivering fertilizers through an irrigation system. However, Furi emphasizes that the success of fertigation depends entirely on how competently the irrigation system is managed.
Furi explains that fertigation is the process of delivering fertilizers via irrigation water. He specifies that water-soluble fertilizers are dissolved in the solution, or liquid fertilizers are used directly, after which they are introduced into the irrigation system with precisely controlled concentrations. This ensures the efficient delivery of nutrients according to the specific needs of the crop at different growth stages.
He notes that fertigation delivers nutrients directly into the active root zone, where plants can absorb them most effectively, while minimizing losses and environmental impact.
According to Furi, effective irrigation is the foundation of successful fertigation. Since fertilizers are delivered through the irrigation system, the efficiency of fertigation cannot be higher than the efficiency of the irrigation itself. He advises farmers to first develop an irrigation strategy suitable for the soil type, conditions, and specific crop before implementing a fertigation program.
Improper irrigation management, especially overwatering, causes nutrients to move outside the crop's active root zone, leading to leaching. In addition to wasting expensive fertilizers, leached nutrients can negatively affect natural ecosystems.
Furi asserts that combining fertigation with a properly designed drip irrigation system offers significant advantages. He explains that drip irrigation systems can achieve application efficiencies of up to 95%, ensuring the delivery of both water and nutrients with equal precision. Unlike granular fertilizers, which rely on rain or irrigation to move nutrients into the soil, fertigation supplies the necessary elements exactly when the crops require them.
Since irrigation affects root development over time, nutrient roots concentrate in the moist zone, allowing nutrients to be placed precisely where the active roots are located.
Furi insists that effective fertigation must be considered at the earliest stages of irrigation system design. The system must be capable of delivering the required amount of fertilizer within the available irrigation window. He adds that irrigation systems must match the soil's water-holding capacity, the crop's requirements, and environmental conditions. This process requires collaboration between agronomists and irrigation system designers.
Furthermore, Furi highlights the importance of considering fertilizer solubility, safe application concentrations, and monitoring the electrical conductivity (EC) of solutions to prevent salt damage to plant roots. Automation is becoming increasingly valuable, as modern systems can calculate nutrient needs, track application rates, and collect real-time data. This information helps farmers evaluate past decisions, improve future management, and reduce human error. Furi urges farmers to utilize these technologies.
According to Furi, fertigation technology is rapidly evolving parallel to the widespread adoption of drip irrigation. He notes that modern fertigation technology has progressed from simple manual injection systems to fully automated cloud platforms. These systems allow producers to remotely control irrigation and nutrient application using sensors and data analysis to increase accuracy and efficiency.
Furi recommends several practical steps to improve fertigation operations: understanding fertilizer solubility before use; following the correct order of mixing fertilizers and avoiding incompatible products; irrigating before fertigation to adequately moisten the root zone; continuing to irrigate after application to flush nutrients into the root zone and clean the irrigation lines; regularly flushing irrigation systems to prevent clogging; and developing a robust irrigation strategy before integrating fertigation.
In conclusion, Furi states: 'Effective fertigation starts with effective irrigation. Once water is delivered accurately and evenly, nutrients can be delivered with the same level of precision, maximizing both crop productivity and cost efficiency.'
In rural areas of South Africa, there are significant challenges with water supply systems. These difficulties stem not only from a lack of infrastructure but also from limited understanding of water resources and the systems that support them. Despite substantial investments in the sector, only 64% of households in South Africa have access to reliable water supply (Department of Water and Sanitation, 2019).
Many communities rely on natural springs and boreholes as backup sources when municipal supply is unreliable. However, these sources are often developed without a comprehensive assessment of the social, ecological, and technical systems in which they are situated. This results in unstable, unsafe, and ultimately unsustainable water supply systems.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) conducts various studies to better understand how local groundwater resources can support communities by designing viable, safe, and sustainable rural water supply systems. This work integrates hydrological, hydrogeological, engineering, and social scientific research to address the interconnected technical, social, and governance factors affecting the functioning of water supply systems in practice.
A key element of this approach is the merging of multidisciplinary technical expertise with local knowledge. CSIR's technical data is not applied in isolation; instead, local knowledge, cultural practices, and site-specific risks are incorporated into system design through structured stakeholder engagement and development facilitation processes. This integration allows for the creation of contextually appropriate solutions, such as combining springs and boreholes when necessary, adapting infrastructure to ecological constraints, and identifying social risks that could affect long-term sustainability. The result is implementable approaches that are both technically sound and grounded in local realities.
A crucial finding of this work is that water sources cannot be considered inherently reliable. Their suitability depends on a range of contextual factors, including hydrogeological and ecological conditions, institutional dynamics, and technical feasibility, which often require engineering solutions. For instance, spring flow can fluctuate and sometimes be insufficient to meet community needs throughout the year. Furthermore, water quality analysis shows that while chemical quality may be acceptable, microbial contamination—often linked to factors like free-roaming livestock and wildlife—is prevalent and poses a human health risk without treatment. This issue is not unique to rural communities; national Blue Drop assessments continue to reveal significant drinking water quality risks in many South African water supply systems (Department of Water and Sanitation, 2022).
Boreholes, while providing a more consistent yield, introduce additional considerations regarding long-term sustainability. These include maintenance requirements, operational costs (such as fuel or electricity), and the institutional and interpersonal dynamics between governing bodies responsible for their management. These findings shift the paradigm for rural water needs. The research demonstrates the value of integrated, multidisciplinary approaches that combine social, ecological, and technical aspects into systemic solutions, rather than relying on isolated water sources. Water sources must be understood, managed, and combined as part of a broader system, not viewed as standalone interventions.
When these systems operate inefficiently, the consequences are felt unevenly. Rural studies indicate that water insecurity disproportionately affects women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Globally, women and girls remain the primary collectors of domestic water in seven out of ten households dependent on water sources located far from home (WHO & UNICEF, 2023). In areas where a large proportion of households are headed by women, limited water access leads to increased time spent collecting water, higher financial burdens related to transportation or purchasing water, and increased health risks due to poor water quality.
For many households, obtaining water requires long walks to springs or purchasing water from private borehole owners or informal water vendors, especially when municipal systems are unreliable. These realities dictate how water is used, prioritized, and managed at the household level, often reinforcing existing inequalities.
While technical design is critical, the long-term success of these systems depends on governance and institutional alignment. In many rural areas, local water committees, traditional authorities, and public forums play a central role in managing shared water resources. However, where governance structures are weak, fragmented, or exclusionary, water supply systems are more likely to face issues such as poor maintenance, conflict, or vandalism.
A key lesson emerging from this work is the importance of strengthening the links between grassroots and top-down governance structures. This involves improving coordination between communities, municipalities, and service providers, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and establishing mechanisms for communication, accountability, and long-term management. Ensuring the participation of women and other underrepresented groups in decision-making structures is not only a matter of equity but also a prerequisite for system functionality. Inclusive governance helps ensure that water supply systems meet real needs, foster community ownership, and are sustained over time.
The findings of this work point to the need for a broader shift in the approach to rural water supply in South Africa. Water problems are often framed as issues of access or infrastructure delivery. In reality, they are equally related to how water resources are understood, how systems are designed, and how they are managed over time. When these systems fail, the consequences are not neutral—they are felt most acutely by those who are already vulnerable. Solving this problem requires moving beyond purely technical fixes toward approaches that integrate scientific understanding with social realities. Where this integration occurs, water supply systems are more likely to be reliable, sustainable, and equitable. And in such conditions, where water is delivered more stably and safely, the conditions for greater equality can begin to form.
