There is no turning back on development of rural village agro-industrial hubs that will assist farming enterprises in the North West province to access markets, funding, training, technology and logistics support, Premier Thandi Modise assured the Serbian delegation that visited Mahikeng on Monday.
Premier Modise said that from the mission to Serbia that was undertaken by the province and lessons learnt, optimal land use is critical for revitalisation of rural towns, communities and their livelihoods through village industrialisation and manufacturing.
“The Serbian experience has shown us that it is cost effective to recapitalise small holdings with moto-cultivators and small farm equipment rather than big tractors and big farm machinery used for large commercial farming for enterprises to make a profit of R2 million on a 3 hectares,” highlighted Modise.
She added that the provincial government is studying the profiles of other municipalities visited by the provincial government delegation to identify matters of interest and propose possible twinning agreements with other municipalities in the province.
Several job creation and empowerment projects have been identified for implementation around Mahikeng in a pilot project to be rolled out in the next few months through the partnership between the North West Provincial Government, The Serbian Government, North West Development Partners Trust (NWDPT) and the BIPOM Balkan-Black Sea Machinery Cluster Manufacturer’s Association for improving competitiveness.
The establishment of Mini-Diary agro-processing, Mini Agro-processing, Mini-chicken abattoir, Mini-fodder processing, Mini-grain milling, Abattoirs& Meat Processing, Fish Agro-Processing and assembly, manufacturing and servicing of farm machinery plants are among some of the targeted projects to be rolled out.
Leader of the four member Serbian delegation and Co-President of BIPOM, Milivoj Stojanovic said that the North West Province is a strategic partner as the province is a gateway to the SADAC market.
The Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Kgora Farmers Institute, The Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism (DEDECT), Mahikeng Local Municipality, Taletso Further Education and Training College Mahikeng and Lehurutshe Campuses and the North West University are key stakeholders that will be involved in the pilot project.
The potential of the project to attract investments and create much needed jobs through the proposed free special economic zone (SEZ) and the proposed twinning agreement with Serbia’s Shabatz municipality were unanimously given thumbs up by the Mahikeng Local Municipality Council in its project briefing meeting with the delegation led by Stojanovic.
“The agro-industrial incubators will benefit the breed laying enterprise we have established and empower us with the technology and skills for us to be viable and sustainable and create more jobs“, said Councillor Thapelo Motshegoa who is a partnership project that is producing 300 eggs a day.
The municipality’s Executive Mayor, Councillor Lena Miga was part of the 29 June to 6 July 2013 provincial mission delegation to Serbia that was led by MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Desbo Mohono.
A development collaboration framework agreement that will guide the roll out of the development programme of the partners in the North West Province is to be finalised through a Memorandum of Agreement on Technology transfer, Scientific and technical interchange in the field of Agriculture and Rural Development that is in line with South Africa’s bilateral agreement with Serbia.
The partnership follows the NWDPT’s July 2010 visit to Serbia to benchmark issues of development and August 2011 BIPOM visit to the province.
Enquiries:
Lesiba Moses Kgwele (Spokesperson)
Tel: 018 388 3705
Cell: 083 629 1987
Fax: 018 388 3157
E-mail: LKgwele@gmail.com
