Thoko Didiza, at the launch of mechanisation and agritourism projects in OR
Tambo, Bizana, Eastern Cape
11 January 2006
Honourable MEC for Agriculture
Honourable Mayor
Councillors
Traditional leaders present
Members of faith organisations
Departmental staff
Ladies and gentlemen
The year 2005 has seen a lot of activity to stream-line government service
delivery for the second decade of freedom. Today we are here in the Eastern
Cape to further expound on service delivery towards a âBetter life for allâ. We
are experiencing good rains throughout the country. Since this is a planting
season this province is faced with the greatest challenge of them all: the
eradication of poverty and food insecurity.
The Eastern Cape in particular has its own provincial dynamics. The
honourable MEC has come up with a Green Revolution Strategy. This strategy
purports the combination of redressing the past as well as giving a shot at the
already successful commercial agriculture. All of you are aware that this
province is the poorest in terms of resources, particularly the
poverty-stricken municipalities such as the OR Tambo, Chris Hani, Alfred Nzo
and Ukhahlamba districts.
The other dynamic about this province is its size of 17 million hectares, 14
million of which is suitable for grazing. One million ha is arable and 185 000
ha is irrigable land, of which currently only 10 000 ha is under irrigation.
This in its self cannot meet the demands of the 4,2 million people who reside
mostly in the rural areas. Food security remains a challenge.
Perhaps one should also mention that the greatest of challenges that
small-scale farmers are faced with, is the endemic animal diseases such as
classical swine fever that is sweeping piggeries throughout the province,
thwarting the little effort that some of the farmers are barely making.
Although the disease is controlled, a lot still needs to be done to control it.
But I must say government has come up with various ways and means to address
the subject of poverty affecting this province.
Today we will witness the launching of a new product to South African
agriculture and because this region was for many years resource-poor, that will
change as we will witness today. The mechanisation support programme for the
resource-poor comes as response to the concerns raised during presidential and
ministerial Izimbizo.
Furthermore, as part of Project Consolidate where the three tiers of
government synergise their service delivery initiatives to achieve sustainable
and qualitative service delivery. Again, ladies and gentlemen, the
mechanisation support is part supplementing the provincial programme. The
tractors that you see here before you are targeted to be used as enablers
towards economic viability.
This to a large extent requires collective responsibility on your part as
end-users of these power hoes. The sanctioning of the use of these machines
should be co-ordinated in such a way that everyone in a demarcated ward benefit
maximally. However, collectively as you will be benefiting, collectively you
will be responsible for the general maintenance of these machines.
This endeavour seeks to establish entrepreneurs and support household
subsistence agriculture in the form of the Siyazondla Programme. Hopefully the
programme will help stimulate and develop the agricultural food production in
those areas that have the potential but lack resources.
There are two forms of support for the ideal of sustainability and
establishment of entrepreneurs: (i) Conditional grants, that promote the
efficient use of mechanisation equipment, and progressively come up with the
practice of conservation and using arable land more profitably, and (ii)
conditional loan schemes, whereby participants can purchase or upgrade
mechanisation equipment through loans from institutions such as UVIMBA Finance
and MAFISA.
Through-out the country the concept of introducing the tourism aspect to
agricultural production is met with enthusiasm. This initiative which may
improve the lives of hundreds of small-scale farmers in South Africaâs bedrock
is long time coming. Timing for the AgriTourism drive dawns at the period where
our country is experiencing a large scale change in development.
For the developing countries agriculture is the driving force for prosperity
and food security. It is agriculture that produces food essential for human
life and livelihoods. As it turns out, a larger number of people affected by
poverty happens to be in agriculture.
Tourism will re-energise small and large-scale agriculture for development.
As a cross-sectoral programme, it will focus development to addressing the
daunting handicaps that small scale farmerâs face on a day to day basis: patchy
communications and bad transport networks that render our agricultural products
into unreliable commodities.
The advent of AgriTourism puts into perspective the development challenges
that are eroding the prospects for improved rural livelihoods and the drive
towards the attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). AgriTourism
signals a policy shift and refocusing of resources. It aims at changing South
African landscapes which up to now are still dominated by small farms.
A key prospect is that the AgriTourism formula will come close to achieving
the MDGs of halving the number of people who go to bed without food by 2015. By
and large this will in a way start saying small-scale farms need to be
developed speedily so that focus should be on commercial farms, higher-value
agriculture and rural income diversification.
AgriTourism will function as an enabler because the trend is that farmers in
well-resourced regions are more prosperous than those in under-resourced
regions. Furthermore farmers will be integrated into modern market chains and
in the long term backward regions will be promoted.
New forms of Public Private Partnerships will be innovated to fill the main
marketing gaps, provide farmers with access to essential inputs like
fertilisers, seeds and credit (Mafisa) and provide effective instruments for
managing risk. In the end this campaign is sign of a government responsive to
the small scale farmer, more of a creative in enhancing rural livelihood.
The festive season as season of plenty should remind us of the challenges of
poverty at our doorstep. Let us therefore plant now for a food secure 2006. I
would like to wish you a happy festive and prosperous year. I thank you
Issued by: Department of Agriculture
11 January 2006
Source: Department of Agriculture (http://www.nda.agric.za)
