Sicilian lemon producer Rosario Cognata is furious: his fruits are burning and rotting due to droughts, while only a few kilometres from his field lies a dam of rainwater that is frequently discharged into the sea instead of being made available to help his crops. This dam, called 'Trinita', was built in 1959 and still has no certification to guarantee that it is in good working order. While Sicilians have always known drought, global warming is accentuating its frequency and intensity.
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00:00See, I'm burnt by the sun, as soon as I get out of the car, it's all black, and you can see that it's all yellow.
00:31We can see that the water level has dropped over the years, the rains are absent, they no longer evaporate as in the past years.
00:40But sometimes, when those rare rains arrive, the water is re-poured into the sea, because this work, very important for the entire surrounding agricultural sector, has never been tested.
01:00In the past few years, we have seen a decrease in the amount of rain in the region.
01:15So, we talk about drought because it doesn't rain, but we also talk about an incorrect management of what we have at our disposal.
01:22Because it doesn't rain, it's true, but we don't know how to manage the water we have.
01:27And I'm talking about us, but it's not the farmers' responsibility, it's not ours.
01:33It's the responsibility of those who should ensure that this little water is well distributed, it's not like that.
01:39Today, the farmer no longer needs promises, dates that never come, possible works.
01:47Today, the farmer needs facts, not holes-hole funds.
01:51Rather, these figures that should arrive to the agricultural companies, which are invested to make agricultural works useful for the community.
01:59Each of us has a territory, so I know that tomorrow, for example, I will be in the situation that is verified in Città del Capo, between 2017 and 2017.
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