Address by the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Mr Senzeni Zokwana at the 2015 World Food Day Commemoration in the Eastern Cape Province - Theme: “Social Protection and Agriculture: Breaking the cycle of rural poverty”
Programme Director MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyana,
Minister Bathabile Dlamini, Deputy Minister Bheki Cele, Members of Parliament present, King Zanozuko Sigcawu,
King Madzikane 11,
Deputy Executive Mayor Sxolile Mehlomakulu,
Executive Mayor of O. R. Tambo Clr Makhosazana Meth, Mayor of Mbizana Clr Twabu,
Hon Nomawethu Gqiba - portfolio chairperson,
Provincial Secretary of the ANC, Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyana,
Speaker of Mbizana Municipality Clr Daniswa Mafumbatha, Councillors (Speakers, Chief whip, ward Cllrs), Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and gentlemen
I stand here before you today with great humility on this important occasion to talk about the scourge of triple challenges of hunger, poverty, and unemployment as well as food insecurity. It is that time of the year again where we pause and reflect on progress that government is making to ensure better life for all and food security for the people that we serve.
We are commemorating yet another World Food Day in Mbongweni, Mbizana, to heighten public awareness on the global and national state of food insecurity. This happens in the background of the Malabo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security by African States which focuses Africa’s attention to food production and food security.
Food is a fundamental and critical component of human existence and a significant indicator of the level of development in the country. It is a socio-economic issue placed at the pinnacle of the government agenda, a Constitutional imperative which must be met. A food secure nation remains peaceful against all odds.
Ladies and gentlemen, almost 795 million people around the globe, whose lives are affected by poverty and hunger, are reported to be food insecure. The figure declined from 868 million people in 2012, representing a global population of 73 million to date. This is a global landmark achievement. We commend and celebrate these gains.
However, scores of these vulnerable people are found in Africa, a continent blessed with ample agricultural potential. Mahatma Gandhi once said “There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread”. Millions of people are still susceptible to hunger and malnutrition and therefore do not have enough food to eat. Behind these statistics, children, men and women are threatened by chronic malnutrition and/or devastating loss of income.
Bringing the statistics home, about 14.1 million South Africans individuals experience inadequate or severely inadequate access to food (STATS-SA, GHS 2014). The aspect of access to food is an indication of what modifications do households have to make in their diets or eating due to limited sources available where they can obtain food.
Increasing levels of absolute poverty have been recorded in the Eastern Cape. About 74% of the people in the Eastern Cape live below the poverty line of R800 or less per month. In Alfred Nzo, approximately 40% of the population lives below the bread line while about 44.7% of people remain unemployed. These figures are really worrisome and they have implications in the higher dependency on social assistance in the form of grants.
These statistics tell an uncomfortable story, that while some of us waste food on the table, a large number of our people have not a single chunk of food on their plate. Ladies and gentlemen, I find myself asking—why this is? Is it that we need more money or do we need to find more effective ways of spending the money we have? Or do we need a completely new approach to prevent hunger?
The question that should keep us awake at night is - what can we do to unlock poverty traps and push back the frontiers of hunger? We cannot afford to sit back while hunger deprivations and malnutrition still define people’s daily lives. The government in partnership with the private sector and civil society must continue to step up efforts and provide all means possible to rollback conditions caused by poverty and hunger.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have come and gone. South Africa made significant strides regarding Goal number one (1) of halving the number of hungry people through food security programmes and initiatives such as Extended Public Works Programme (jobs), Social Security System (social grants as safety nets), the National School Nutrition Programme (feeding schemes in schools), food production (CASP and Fetsa Tlala) and others. More still needs to be done to build resilience on coping capacities of households.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework endorsed by world leaders at the United Nations lays a table of opportunities going forward, to track progress on targets for each Member State. DAFF aligns itself in particular to Sustainable Development Goal 2 of aiming to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. Policy reorientation in alignment with the post-2015 Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals can make rural transformation and food security keystones in addressing hunger and poverty.
In his State of the Nation Address last year, President Jacob Zuma announced 22 district municipalities as Presidential Nodal Poverty Points. I am pleased that today we decided to commemorate this day in one of these impoverished municipalities, here in Mbizana Local Municipality.
Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to announce our three-legged priorities for the sector, namely, “food security, job creation and economic growth (GDP)”. These priorities have already set the tone for the journey ahead and will serve as cornerstones in our undertaking as a department to grow the sector. Of the three priorities, food security remains our anchor pillar on which the sector rests.
Today’s theme is titled: “Social Protection and Agriculture: Breaking the Cycle of Rural Poverty”. How do we feed the world, especially in the face of increasing world population? The aim of this year’s World Food Day is to raise awareness by focusing the role that households can play in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security for all and improving livelihoods.
The goal this year repositions households at the centre of agricultural development and provide opportunities to promote a shift towards self-reliance for own home food production. Food production should happen in harmony with the protection of natural resources. If we feed and conserve the environment, the environment will in turn feed and sustain us. We uphold the natural resources management principle as stewards and ambassadors of our land.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have just hosted the 2015 World Forest Congress where regional and international guests graced us with their presence and shared their best practices. The Congress profiled the importance of forests in the ecological balance. The conference was indeed a roaring success.
The Alliance Against Hunger March that took place earlier and the Food Mountain that we unveiled, are symbolic of our dedication as government to embrace as we pledge for more support from all South Africans to join hands with us in the war against hunger.
In our quest to encourage food production, we therefore launch a national campaign today to promote the Food Mountain concept throughout the country. In this respect, we would like to make a national call for business people and civil society to generously donate foodstuffs to build Food Mountains in their respective local municipalities as a gesture of good will. I hope that this call will instil the culture of giving and sharing.
Our tireless campaign to defeat hunger and raise awareness should focus eyes on the most urgent challenges of our time, not just once a year on World Food Day - but consistently and relentlessly through our targeted programmes. We are here today because we are committed to ending this tragedy, and to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty throughout the country.
Ladies and gentlemen as you may know, food production alone cannot be the remedy to reduce hunger and malnutrition. We have forged healthy relations with other players beyond the domain of agriculture that are hard at work in this regard. We are convinced that turning the tide against hunger will involve the collaboration and dedication of many different players, working together. I attended the 5th BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture and Agrarian Development last week and the main issue for all the five countries is attaining food security.
The department declared October as a Food Security Month, which coincided with the launch of the planting season on 7 October 2015. The Food Security Month was celebrated to mark the beginning of the planting season. There will be hives of activities in all provinces in preparing ourselves for going back to the fields.
Ladies and gentlemen, agriculture has been identified in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) as a job driver. The President, His Excellency Jacob Zuma, through the National Development Plan (NDP) has set a one million-jobs target for the sector by 2030. We remain resolute and fully committed to achieve this target. We are already hard at work in this regard and it is business unusual in the department. We will use APAP and Operation Phakisa as vehicles to unlock these jobs through agriculture value chains, particularly agro-processing.
The 2013/14 financial year ushered in our premier food security programme - Fetsa Tlala, which holds the key to maximise food production. We have set ourselves a target to plant one million hectares of fallow land in communal and land reform areas by 2018/19, with a strong focus of linking farmers to formal markets through Fetsa Tlala.
We are more determined than ever before to contribute immensely to the GDP of the country by working smart and doing business differently. We need to strengthen our export market’s competitiveness by maintaining our disease-free status to stimulate confidence in most of our export destinations.
The department has taken a conscious decision in adopting Operation Phakisa to fast-track and unlock the ocean economy. The Aquaculture Lab was identified as a low-hanging fruit ready to contribute to this. Mass fish production holds the promise to supplement diets as a protein source and omega-3. The Eastern Cape is one of our strong hold when it comes to the promotion of the fisheries and forestry sectors.
Key to the success of this event was the donations made by our partners and donors which included the Citrus Industry, Shoprite, OBP, Oceana, ZZ2, PPECB, SAPPI, Grain SA and my colleagues the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Agriculture and Mbizana Local Municipality. As partners we can defeat the scourge of hunger.
In conclusion ladies and gentlemen, beating the scourge of hunger is the most basic necessity for developmental success because inclusive growth, social equity and sustainable development will not happen on empty stomachs. We will spare no effort as government in introducing and supporting smallholders, particularly the youth, into mainstream agriculture to advance the future of the sector. Wealth is in our soils let us get back to the lands.
Andiwafuni amavila. Masisebenzeni sibambisane noRhulumente. DAFF official must also work hard. President Zuma has spoken, we dare not fail him, we dare not fail our people.
Phez’komkhono! Mas’phangele!
Ndiyabulela
I thank you!
