Malelane: The Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson has met with the Chairpersons of the Portfolio Committee and the Select Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the MECs for Agriculture today, 18 August 2009. The objective of the meeting was to review all legislation since 1994 with the aim of transforming the land and agrarian reform in the country. It was agreed to speed up delivery in terms of the five priority areas: the creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods; education; health; rural development, food security and land reform and the fight against crime and corruption.
The MinMec meeting agreed that there was a need to have a one-stop shop on the financing systems in the department. The approach will help farmers to access funding in one place.
At this meeting the Land Bank presented its turn-around strategy which has seen ‘the bank moving out of the red’. The bank said it was in the process of revising the credit model which will see the bank moving towards becoming a real developmental bank it was always meant to be. It was emphasized that the departments of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and that of Rural Development and Land Reform had agreed with the Bank to take over the production and the mortgage loans. The meeting took a resolution that Agriculture Minister needed to engage with her counterpart in Finance to restore the Bank to its original home – agriculture. It was agreed that an alternative funding model needed to be found for the Bank. Also the meeting suggested that there should be an investigation into reviving the now dismantled Agriculture Credit Board as an option to support the ailing farming sector.
The main aim of the meeting was to streamline the working relations between the national department and the provinces, as well as to develop a coherent approach to the implementation of the developmental government mandate of the department.
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Issued by: Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
18 August 2009
