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Carte Blanche

Empty harvest

Video
26 July
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ ๐—๐˜‚๐—น๐˜† ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ. Abrie van Zyl loved his trees. He had spent three years planning his farm and, in September last year, he finally broke ground. He had invested all his personal savings into the venture and for ten months, his massive investment was growing. But that was before the rains came. In June this year, Citrusdal - a farming town in the Western Capeโ€™s Olifants River Valley - was cut off from the world as heavy rains battered the community and devastating floods washed away its main access road. Abrieโ€™s orchard was destroyed, leaving him millions of rands in the red. But heโ€™s not alone. In the middle of the harvest season, many farmers in this area are on the edge of ruin. Producer: Catherine Rice | Presenter: Erin Bates Your favourite episodes are now available on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv