Cape
13 December 2006
The Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs cordially invites members of
the media to the launch of the Western Cape provincial association of Women in
Agriculture and Rural Development (WARD) tomorrow. The Minister of Agriculture,
Mr Cobus Dowry, will give a keynote address at this groundbreaking event.
The launch of WARD will coincide with the unveiling of the Micro
Agricultural Finance Institutions of South Africa (MAFISA). The essence of
MAFISA is to provide financial services to facilitate the development of micro
and small agri-business and to enable entrepreneurs to develop into larger
businesses.
The national structure of WARD was officially launched by the Minister for
Agriculture and Land Affairs, Ms Luluma Xingwana, in August 2006 in Durban,
KwaZulu-Natal, as a broad-based mass movement for women aimed at serving all
rural women, in their diversity, to address and actively participate in land
and agrarian reforms within a context of their socio-economic development.
The launch of the Western Cape WARD tomorrow comes at a time South Africa is
preparing to host the 4th World Congress on Rural Women scheduled for 23 to 26
April 2007, at the Durban Convention Centre. Delegates from around the world
will come together for the largest rural women's conference ever held on the
African continent.
The details of the conference are as follows:
Date: 14 December 2006
Time: 09h30
Venue: Department of Agriculture Centre, Elsenburg, Western Cape
Enquiries:
Lethabo Mashile
Tel: (021) 426 2949
Cell: 082 8276251
Solly Phetla
Tel: (012) 312 8112
Cell: 076 036 4358
Issued by: The Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs, Western Cape
Provincial Government
13 December 2006
