“Water resources management can ultimately only be successful if a when the public is fully on board. It is important that great emphasis be placed on creating awareness on water resources’ issues and especially to assist in the development particularly of water-wise youth and women.”

This was the message from Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Rejoice Mabudafhasi on 30 May 2013 on the occasion of the Breede Overberg Catchment Management Agency (BOCMA) emerging farmers/resource poor farmers’ water transformation dialogue at Merwida Country Manor, Rawsonville in Worcester. The aim of the dialogue is to promote active stakeholder participation in the management of water resources, as well as acknowledging the important role resource poor farmers play in the economy and food security.

The BOCMA is a water management institution that was established in terms of section 78 of the National Water Act 36 of 1998 and is operational in the Breede Water Management Area (WMA) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The BOCMA has a stakeholder based Governing Board which includes an emerging farmers representative. Public participation is therefore an integral part of BOCMA and a capacity building programme was designed to prepare a group of champions.

According to the Deputy Minister, whilst the efforts of the BOCMA are appreciated, we must ensure that we do not lose sight of the bigger goal of ensuring that we combine together all our resources and provide hands on support to resource poor farmers, a positive correlation between access to water, rural development, poverty eradication and food security.

“The paucity of water on the other hand, the key ingredient for food production, is one of the major causes of famine, especially in rural areas of South Africa where people depend heavily on primary food production for their livelihoods,” said Mabudafhasi, adding that the inextricable link between food and water security had also been emphasised during the Budget Vote earlier this month.

A long term goal within the BOCMA process, according to Mabudafhasi, is to develop the technical competence of emerging farmers’ capacity to fulfil water resources management functions and to ensure the sustainability of emerging farmers. “The eventual impact will be a more sustainable approach to the management, allocation and development of the water resources in the catchment. The BOCMA’s planned capacity building campaign aims to be inclusive, interactive and dynamic, based on contextual problem solving.”