By Lusanda Dyan

When the harvest season ends, the struggle for many seasonal farmworkers begins. While vineyards and farms may quieten, the need for food, electricity, rent, and other essentials remains. For workers whose livelihoods depend on temporary farm work, the end of the season can mark the start of months of financial uncertainty and food insecurity.

Across farming communities in the Western Cape, seasonal farm work is an important source of income for many households. Workers spend long hours on physically demanding tasks, including grape-picking and other agricultural duties. However, when demand for labour falls, many workers are left searching for alternative ways to support themselves and their families.

For some workers, the harvest season is the only time they can earn a regular wage. During these months, they must try to cover household expenses and, if possible, save enough to survive until the next season. But with the rising cost of food, electricity, transport and other essentials, saving money is not always possible.

The end of the harvest can therefore create uncertainty for households that rely on a single income. While workers may plan carefully and try to stretch their earnings, unexpected expenses can quickly erode their savings. By the time the next season arrives, some families may already be struggling to meet their most basic needs.

Charmaine Lynx, a seasonal farmworker from Ceres, said she relies on social grants during the off-season. Lynx said that a backyard garden often helps, but a lack of access to water limits her ability to produce her own food.

Retired farmworker Magrieta Prins from De Doorns echoed Lynx’s words about how people rely on social grants.

“The social grants play a crucial role during the off season. I must look after my daughter and family during the off season, as I share my AllPay grant with them. Some must resort to recycling to put food on the table for their families,” said Prins.

For foreign migrant farmworkers, the situation may be particularly challenging if they also have family members in their countries of origin who depend on financial support. Supporting a household in South Africa while trying to send money home can place additional pressure on workers whose employment is already uncertain.

According to a study by Stephen Devereux and Lauren Tavener-Smith, farmworkers suffer severe hunger, with rates rising from less than 50% in summer to over 85% in winter, the off-season.