Farmer of the Year Awards ceremony, Johannesburg
24 August 2006
MEC for Agriculture, Conservation and the Environment, Khabisi
Mosunkutu
Gauteng MECs
Mayor of Ekurhuleni, Duma Nkosi
MPLs and councillors representatives of agriculture and farmers'
organisations
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
It is indeed appropriate that we have come together in Women's Month to
celebrate the achievements of women farmers in Gauteng. This year Women's Month
is of particular significance in that we are celebrating the 50th anniversary
of the heroic women's anti-pass march to the Union Buildings on 9 August
1956.
We continue to draw inspiration from their unity and courage as we mark this
event, which was a turning point in our struggle for freedom and democracy and
in the struggle for women's emancipation.
What made the women of 1956 so remarkable is that they were prepared to
break away from their traditional stereotypical roles to risk police harassment
and imprisonment to confront the apartheid regime. They did this to protect
their families, their communities and their future and to resist the growing
suffering and humiliation caused by apartheid oppression at the time.
The women's resistance campaign helped lift the struggle against apartheid
to new heights and placed women's emancipation at the centre of the struggle
for freedom.
The women of 1956 would have been filled with pride at the achievements of
the women farmers who are with us here this evening. You too, no doubt in the
face of adversity and many challenges, have taken bold and courageous steps to
venture into farming, whether it be on a small or large scale, and to be here
today. You too, are pioneers and trailblazers, making an impact in a field that
is still male-dominated and opening the way for other women to follow in your
footsteps.
You have grasped the opportunities which our new democracy and women
themselves have opened up for women. However, when we come here next year I
would like to see more women farmers having achieved success. We need to see
move women farmers moved beyond the stage of being small farmers to become
successful big farmers.
The province must create an enabling environment for women to operate and
grow their businesses.
Next year, I would like to hear how the department has supported female
farmers to become winners. While appreciating the achievements of women farmers
in the face of the challenges they come across, we should also focus on giving
them the necessary support and celebrate our active role in enabling their
success.
While women have made important advances in the area of political
empowerment, strong challenges remain in ensuring the economic empowerment of
women, particularly black women. The participation of women in the agricultural
sector is an important mechanism in this regard.
When most people think of Gauteng, they think of a highly urbanised and
industrialised province with advanced infrastructure. Many are not aware of
Gauteng's prospects for agriculture. But, as you would know, agriculture is a
small but important economic sector in our province. It not only contributes to
food security but has important potential for growth and job creation. In
particular, it provides opportunities for those who have historically been
excluded from participation in the economy - black people, women and people
with disabilities.
It is for this reason that the Gauteng Growth and Development Strategy
identify agriculture as a key sector for targeted investment and support. To
further elaborate on our commitments in this regard, we launched the Gauteng
Agriculture Development Strategy in February this year to take advantage of the
sector's potential for growth, job creation and economic empowerment. Our
interventions will extend support for emerging farmers to boost value added
production, particularly bio-technology and agro-processing, as well as make
Gauteng a centre of excellence for small scale farming with a focus on high
value and niche market crops.
We have adopted a broad based black economic empowerment strategy as an
integrated, coherent socio-economic process that directly contributes to the
economic transformation of South Africa and brings about significant increases
in the number of black people that manage, own and control the country's
economy as well as significant decreases in income inequalities.
In line with this approach, a key aim is to bring previously disadvantaged
sections of the population into the entire value chain of agriculture, with a
special focus on black women, youth and the unemployed.
Twelve years into our democracy, it is imperative that we continue to
transform the unequal racial and gender ownership and management patterns of
the past to reflect the people of our province and our country. We would not be
fulfilling our electoral mandate if we sit back and accept the fact that a
minority continue to reap the economic benefits of our democracy while the
majority of the people are condemned to poorly paying jobs, unemployment and
poverty.
The Agricultural Development Strategy in particular provides opportunities
in this regard, particularly for the further empowerment of women.
These include:
* women as a key target audience in the development of agro-processing,
agricultural biotechnology and niche market agricultural products
* bridging the gap between farmers in the first and second economy with an
emphasis on improving the socio-economic conditions of women in the
agricultural sector
* hydroponics, poultry, piggery, processing of agro-industrial by-products as
alternative feed for animals and medicinal plant projects, which were initiated
together with the Agricultural Research Council (ARC)
* increasing women's ownership of agricultural assets
* ensuring that women benefit from agricultural development programmes
including the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) and
Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP).
The opportunities for advancement provided within the agricultural sector
form a part of a broader vision that we are unfolding in Gauteng. Next week in
the Gauteng legislature I will, together with all the mayors in Gauteng, be
launching a strategy to build Gauteng as a globally competitive city
region.
We have over the past few months interacted with a range of stakeholders to
discuss the initiative and to give stakeholders an opportunity to identify the
priorities as we chart our longer-term development path for the province.
Gauteng is already a global city region and the economic powerhouse of the
country, responsible for over a third of the country's Gross Domestic Product
(GDP). However, if we are to meet our development challenges and contribute to
the national goal of halving poverty and unemployment by 2014, we need to
position ourselves more effectively and in an integrated manner to respond to
the challenges of urbanisation and globalisation.
The essence of the global city region lies not in changing the
constitutional structures but in co-operating internally as a province to
better compete in the global environment. The various spheres of government
need to work together in a more integrated manner to accelerate shared growth,
to promote investment, tourism and economic growth; to develop an integrated
safety and transport system; integrated infrastructure provision and a
sustainable environment.
Our decision to adopt a development approach which aims to build Gauteng as
an integrated globally competitive city region is informed by our observation
that worldwide, global city regions play a significant role in national
economies and that modern "knowledge economies" favour cities and their
functional boundaries rather than traditional geographic or administrative
boundaries. The Global City Region (GCR) approach aims to address the
development challenges and seize the opportunities we have to build a winning
province which is both prosperous and equitable; which taps the potential of
its entire people and which is both socially and economically inclusive.
This is the broader context within which we are celebrating the achievements
of women farmers tonight. To all of you who are here tonight, the future of
Gauteng is in your hands. We look forward to working with you as we build the
Gauteng city region.
Finally, to those of you who will win the Gauteng Female Farmers Awards
tonight, well done and we wish you all the best of luck for the national
awards. May you also share your success with your fellow female farmers and
help to lift the overall performance of our women in the agriculture
sector.
I thank you
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government
24 August 2006
