Today we unveiled a budget of R4.7 billion of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF).
The budget allocated R890 million to Agricultural Production, Health and Food Safety, R1.2 billion to Food Security and Agrarian Reform, R190 million to Trade Promotion and Market Access, as well as R770 million to our Forestry Branch, and R324 million to Fisheries Management.
I am pleased to record that only 16.5% of our budget goes towards administration. The department intends amending the Veterinary and Para-Veterinary Professions Act, 1982 (Act No.19 of 1982) which would compel the veterinarians to undergo Compulsory Community Service (CCS). Rural development and health for all South Africans are a priority for government, but the current distribution of veterinarians in the country is skewed towards urban areas.
The amendment will, amongst other things, address the shortage of veterinarians, particularly in rural communities and other significant areas where veterinarians are needed, such as food safety and laboratories.
The CCS will provide a minimum of 100 jobs annually to newly qualified veterinarians who will be stationed strategically to ensure that all communities in the country have sufficient access to basic services of a veterinary nature.
Status of Foot-and-Mouth Disease:
On 28 February this year, DAFF announced the occurrence of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) positive cases in the free area of the country in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
It was through the intensive surveillance conducted by the department’s veterinarians and technicians and their provincial counterparts in KwaZulu-Natal that they were able to detect the outbreak of FMD in that area.
Before the outbreak, the department based its surveillance on the presence of clinical disease and occasional serological surveillance. The current outbreak is so atypical that ordinary clinical surveillance would not have been able to detect the disease. A series of roadblocks were set-up by the department and the provincial law enforcement agencies in KwaZulu-Natal to control the movement of animals with a view to curbing the spread of the virus.
As a result of the intensive investigations and surveillance conducted in the area, the department has decided to relax the restrictions imposed on the movement of meat and meat products as they pose minimal risk. However, the ban on the movement of live animals stands. To date, 64 597 cattle have been vaccinated.
We need to once more reiterate that we are in control of the situation and thus there is no need to panic. Our strategy for control includes inter alia, reducing as much as possible the area affected by the outbreak.
The ideal would be to have only the cattle situated on the northern side of the N2 vaccinated. Animals on the eastern/southern side of the N2 are being re-tested, and if positive, may have to be replaced with clean ones. In terms of opening up exports for affected animals and animal products, negotiations are already taking place on a commodity and country basis.
A number of countries have already welcomed this idea, and we are hoping that more countries will open up their borders for these products.
Status of Avian Flu:
There has also been a recent outbreak of Avian Influenza (AI), commonly known as Avian Flu, on five farms in the Oudtshoorn area, in the Western Cape.
The affected farms are already under quarantine and follow-up investigations are underway as per international protocol requirements. Movement control within a 10 km radius has been imposed and intensive surveillance is continuing to determine the extent of the outbreak. Regrettably, it is envisaged that all exports of poultry meat (including ostrich meat) will be suspended, but Avian Flu free compartments will be set up as soon as possible to once again enable the exports of poultry meat. Exports of ostrich meat will have to be traced back and recalled to the beginning of February 2011.
Transformation:
We need a comprehensive partnership with commercial agriculture sector to promote and create greater food security, create jobs and contribute positively to the country’s economy.
However, if we wish to farm harmoniously with smallholder farmers, the ability of these smallholder farmers to farm commercially must be facilitated by the State. A typical example is Mr Pitso Sekhoto, a black commercial farmer from Senekal, Free State, who does stock, milk, crop and fruit production. We visited Ntate Sekhoto in January this year during his harvest. He quit a thriving business enterprise in Pretoria and opted to become a boer.
We need many more commercial black farmers like Ntate Pitso Sekhoto. We must demystify the notion that blacks are not interested in commercial farming. The more black boere we have, the better for the agriculture sector.
Enquiries:
Selby Bokaba
Cell: 082 778 0245
