19 February 2024
By: Lloyd Phillips
Theft of crops affects small-scale and commercial farmers all over South Africa.
As edible crops become ready for harvest at this time of year, theft increases. It’s an issue that is unlikely to ever disappear. Proactive planning and efforts are the only way to minimise it – or deter thieves altogether.
That’s the advice from farmers who grow maize and potatoes –crops that seem to be favourites among thieves.
“It’s a problem that won’t just disappear, and unfortunately it’s difficult to get convictions against these thieves,” says Mike Green, who owns the Mighty Mzambane potato brand in the Kamberg Valley in KwaZulu-Natal. He is also a member of Potato SA’s board of directors.
“Unless the potatoes are in a sealed and branded bag, or unless the thieves are caught red-handed in the fields, it’s almost impossible to prove ownership in court.”
Green believes prevention of theft is the most effective solution. Approaches include donations of potatoes to farm workers and local communities to foster goodwill, hiring guards to patrol farms, and security measures such as fence alarms and cameras in remote areas.
“Crop theft should be considered in production planning. Try, for example, to avoid planting near public roads or communities. With poverty unfortunately being common, people’s need for food is the cause of some theft. However, there is also organised theft where a whole team steals to sell,” says Green.
<caption> Potatoes allegedly stolen and recovered. Successful prosecution of crop thieves often depends on whether ownership of the stolen property can be proven. Photos: Nsele Emergency Services
Corné Louw, head of applied economics and membership services at Grain SA, says feedback from members indicates that theft of standing maize is abundant and widespread. Groundnuts that are ready for harvest are also regularly stolen.
Louw acknowledges that such thefts are committed due to poverty or famine, or by organised criminals.
First signs during harvest time
Crop thieves often steal from the middle of fields so farmers and farm workers don’t immediately notice. Landbou.com has heard from maize farmers that they first realised their fields had been raided when the harvester’s yield monitor suddenly showed no grain coming into the implement.
“In some areas, it gets so bad that farmers hire security guards to watch over their maize day and night. So, it’s not just theft that causes losses for the farmer but also an increasing threat to the farmers’ personal safety and lives,” says Louw.
Luan van der Walt, a farmer in Ottosdal, North West, and formerly an agricultural economist at Grain SA, experiences theft of his maize. He says it’s difficult to quantify how this theft affects overall yields and profitability.
“What I’ve experienced sometimes during harvest time is that relatively small parts of a much larger field have been completely stripped by thieves. Where it was expected that the section would yield 7-8 tons per hectare, the yield monitor shows that it has yielded close to zero,” says Van der Walt.
According to Green, subsistence or small-scale farmers can lose most of their harvest or their entire harvest, which is already small, due to theft. Often, these farmers lack financial resilience, so such theft causes them great harm.
Areas that are most successful in preventing or significantly reducing crop theft are where farmers are well-organised, work together, remain vigilant and have a visible presence as a deterrent, says Louw.
