Minister Joemat-Pettersson will be at the Pride Milling plant in Nigel, Ekurhuleni in the Gauteng province on Friday morning to see off the first consignment of South African agricultural produce that is destined for Lesotho for humanitarian aid relief. Maize from the Zivuseni agricultural co-operative and the Ziyibane Farming project will be milled in Nigel and then packaged into bags as maize meal. The producers are beneficiaries of the Fetsa Tlala Integrated Food Production Initiative.
The World Food Programme (WFP), which is an internationally recognised agency of the United Nations, will channel and distribute the maize meal to the school meals programme, health and nutrition activities in Lesotho. This generous contribution by our country has made it possible for children in hard-to-reach areas to continue to receive daily hot meals at school.
In July this year, Minister Joemat-Pettersson made an announcement that South Africa would open markets for smallholder farmers through selling agricultural produce comprising of maize, pulses, salt, oil and fish to Lesotho through the World Food Programme. Friday will be the realisation of this undertaking, through a joint venture in partnership with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization and the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Social Development.
Fetsa Tlala is a government initiative whose goal is to plant 1 million hectares of fallow agricultural land in rural areas across the country. Last year, 146 133.5 hectares were planted countrywide through this initiative.
4 920 bags of 25 kilograms of maize meal will depart from South Africa, from Nigel in Johannesburg. Friday's consignment is the first of many that are planned for Lesotho. Several more trips will be made in January next year with maize from smallholder farmers from the Eastern Cape, the North West and Limpopo.
History of the World Food Programme Partnership:
In July 2012, the Prime Minister of Lesotho declared an Emergency Food Crisis and formally requested support from development partners and the international community. Following a meeting with His Excellency President Jacob Zuma on 18 October 2012, the Government of South Africa, through the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), responded to the appeal with a donation of R180 million to the Government of Lesotho in order to alleviate the impact of the developing food crisis in the Kingdom of Lesotho. The World Food Programme (WFP), as an internationally recognized agency of the United Nations, was best suited to channel and distribute the food and is partnering with DIRCO in providing the needed food assistance to the most vulnerable groups.
As per government's requirement, all food commodities, including, maize, pulses, salt, oil and fish, will be purchased by WFP in the Republic of South Africa through local suppliers, while 40% of the cereals are to be purchased from smallholder producers.
Time: 09h00
Friday: 22 November 2013
Place: Pride Milling plant in Nigel, Johannesburg
* Transport will be made available for media requiring to be transported from Pretoria/Johannesburg CBD. Media can RSVP to PiweM@daff.gov.za/ 072 927 2337
Enquiries:
Palesa Mokomele
Spokesperson for the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Tel: 012 319 7876 (Pretoria) / 021 467 4502 (Cape Town)
Fax: 012 319 6681 (Pretoria) / 021 465 6550 (Cape Town)
Cell: 082 904 1908
E-mail: PalesaM@daff.gov.za
