19 September 2006
The third biennial National LandCare conference is currently underway in
Mpumalanga, Nelspruit at the Emnotweni Arena. The conference which continues
until Thursday, started yesterday with a meeting between South Africa and the
international delegates from fellow African countries and the Philippines. The
meeting looked into how best can countries work together and help capacitate
one another.
In his keynote address earlier today, the North West MEC for Agriculture and
Environment, Mandlekosi Mayisela, speaking on behalf of National
Intergovernmental Forum of Agriculture and Land (NIFAL) an equivalent of
MinMEC, expressed the importance of partnership between all stakeholders.
"Government and its partners have taken joint responsibility of working towards
actions that will tackle the sector's present and future challenges. We have a
common vision for agriculture in South Africa, which envisions the sector using
and managing available natural resources for sustainable production.
Today will also see presentations on three different themes, under which
further discussions will be based.
Themes:
* the improvement of livelihoods through increased productivity and natural
resource management
* empowering communities through ownership and improvement in capacity
building
* an enabling environment for LandCare with effective partnerships and
institutions.
Later this evening, winning LandCare projects, one from each province, will
be recognised during the awards gala dinner. Tomorrow's programme includes
visits to local LandCare Projects around Mpumalanga.
Enquiries:
Steve Galane
Tel: (012) 319 6622
Cell: 083 635 7346
Freddy Ngobe
Tel: (013) 766 6086
Cell: 082 821 4148
Issued by: Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs
19 September 2006
