Surviving drought in South Africa.
Quick facts At least 17 countries in Africa are struggling to cope with two consecutive years of drought.
A senior UN official in March 2017 said that the world is facing "the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations" in 1945.
Since the 1990s, the country has lost a third of its farms due to water scarcity.
Professor Farrant believes they may hold the answer to crops surviving long periods without water.
But should there be a drought, the plant won’t die," Professor Farrant says.
"When the next rain comes, [the crop] will continue growing and the farmer can at least get a harvest.
And you can get another chance of life."
The family has employed a cutting-edge technology called Fruitlook to help run their orchard effectively.
As a result, farmers are able to target irrigation to areas that really need it, thus saving water.