Kobus Pienaar, Woolworths Foods technical manager and Farming for the Future (FFF) expert, speaks to Farmer’s Weekly about how a holistic ‘systems thinking’ approach can help farmers build resilience from the soil up.
Q: Woolworths South Africa’s flagship sustainability initiative, FFF, often mentions ‘systems thinking’ regarding irrigation. How does this differ from traditional water management?
A: A core principle of Farming for the Future is systems thinking. Irrigation is not treated as a stand-alone technical activity, but one that interacts with soil health, biodiversity, energy use, climate risk, and qualifiable farm economics.
Rather than prescribing uniform water‑saving technologies, Woolworths and its partners assess each farm as a unique system, identifying leverage points where water efficiency can be improved without compromising yields or quality.
It’s a shift from the old ‘more water = better production’ thinking, towards an understanding of how soil structure, organic matter, plant health and irrigation scheduling work together to determine water demand.
Q: You’ve noted that improving soil health can reduce the need for irrigation. How does that work?
A: One of the most important system‑level interventions is building soil organic matter. By promoting the use of biological agricultural inputs, composting, cover crops and reduced chemical inputs, farmers can improve soil structure and biological activity. Water infiltrates and is retained by healthier soils more effectively, meaning crops need less frequent and less intensive irrigation.
Our FFF suppliers report that as soil carbon and microbial life increase, irrigation efficiency improves naturally because:
- water penetrates more deeply rather than running off;
- moisture is retained longer between irrigation cycles; and
- crops experience less stress during hot or dry periods.
Q: What irrigation techniques are utilised by successful FFF suppliers?
A: We encourage our suppliers to apply precision decision‑making according to the unique conditions of individual fields and orchards, rather than making uniform irrigation decisions. They are increasingly using a range of tools, such as:
- soil‑moisture monitoring, for example through soil moisture data loggers;
- plant stress indicators, by traditional scouting or crop walking techniques;
- drone imagery, to identify water‑stressed areas; and
- water quality management, through lab analysis. Poor-quality water must be treated to avoid soil degradation over time.
By watering only where and when it is needed, farmers avoid over‑irrigation, reduce pumping costs, and protect soil health.
(These findings were independently verified by PhD student Catherine Mazhandu from Coventry University in her thesis, published in March 2026.)
In this way, precision decision-making breaks the cycle where over‑irrigation damages soil biology, which then increases demand for water in future.
Q: How does FFF address the impact of farming activities on the catchment and ecosystem health?
A: Farms are part of broader water systems, including rivers, wetlands and catchments – and suppliers are guided to manage irrigation responsibly, not only for their own benefit, but for the resilience of the entire agricultural system.
In partnership with WWF-SA, we work with suppliers in water‑stressed regions to improve wastewater quality and reduce pollution from fertiliser run-off.
Suppliers recycle packhouse water through constructed wetlands and scientific end use, for example beneficial irrigation or river disposal, and they participate in water stewardship programmes with WWF. By protecting downstream water availability and quality, farmers are reinforcing their own long‑term irrigation security.
Q: Change in agriculture is often slow. How does FFF encourage suppliers to stay the course?
A: We have a system of continuous assessment and learning loops. Instead of once‑off audits, FFF uses annual assessments and long‑term supplier relationships. Farmers receive feedback on irrigation efficiency, soil moisture management and water risks over time, allowing incremental improvements to be made rather than disruptive changes.
The Coventry University study independently confirms that long‑term participation leads to the strongest gains in irrigation efficiency, demonstrating how systems thinking relies on learning loops and adaptation, not quick fixes.
Q: What are the key mindset shifts that farmers should make to improve irrigation?
A: Rather than telling farmers to ‘use less water’, we encourage them to redesign how water functions within their whole farming system, leading to durable, scalable irrigation improvements in a water‑scarce country. This includes:
- treating water use as part of an interconnected farm ecosystem;
- reducing irrigation demand through soil health improvements;
- promoting precision irrigation based on real plant and soil feedback;
- protecting catchments and water quality beyond the farm gate; and
- embedding continuous learning and long‑term partnerships.
Q: How do irrigation improvements impact a FFF supplier’s bottom line?
A: The water index module of the FFF programme ensures that irrigation improvements are financially viable. Woolworths co‑invests in knowledge, technology and transition support, so water efficiency improvements translate into lower input costs, improved yields per hectare, and greater resilience during droughts and power disruptions.
The Coventry University study found measurable improvements in irrigation and water‑use efficiency across long‑term FFF suppliers, helping farms cope with South Africa’s increasing water scarcity without shifting costs to consumers.
