The government has always advocated Public, Private Partnership (PPP) as a strategy to kick start and support development in social and economic service delivery programmes in line with the ideal of delivering a better life for all. The (PPP) is a government initiated strategy which seeks the support of the private sector in service delivery and creation of sustainable projects which brings about change in the lives of the people. Progress Milling, a major miller in Limpopo Province has made this ideal come true through its partnership with the Limpopo Department of Agriculture (LDA) and Dikgolo Project outside Polokwane in improving maize production.
Dikgolo Project is a Settlement Land Acquisition Grant (SLAG) project. Dikgolo like other SLAG projects is owned by many beneficiaries who each made a contribution of R16 000.00 for the purchase of the farm through SLAG, a land reform programme under the Department of Land Affairs. This approach to land reform was beleaguered with challenges ranging from institutional arrangements to lack of understanding of the model itself and was discontinued. The Dikgolo Project was not different from the other SLAG projects and beneficiaries confirmed that they struggled to produce ever since they acquired the land.
The fortunes of the Dikgolo project improved when the Department of Land Affairs called on beneficiaries who were not interested in farming to deregister as owners of the farm. At the end, the project was left with a reduced number of committed beneficiaries who had interest in agriculture. Through dedication, they demarcated plots for individual beneficiaries on the 93 hectares set aside for maize production.
Currently, 43 farmers are producing maize on two hectares each. According to Mr Masenya Masenya, the Director for Corporate Communication at Progress Milling, the relationship with the project started in 2008 when the project started selling maize to Progress Milling. Progress Milling realised that there was a potential to improve the quality and quantity which the project produced.
The milling company also saw need for capacity building on maize production, thus initiated a capacity building programme with the LDA and the farmers. In a quest to capacitate farmers and improve the quality of the crop, Progress Milling partnered with farmers and the LDA agreed to set aside two plots to establish demonstration plots in maize production (trials) for hands on demonstration to the farmers. The demonstration plots are demarcated into two equal areas; one area is fertilised and the maize is treated with herbicides, while on the other side the maize is not fertilized and no herbicides are applied.
All farmers contributed their labour on the demonstration plot under the guidance of an extension officer. Progress Milling sponsored the drought resistant seeds, fertilisers and herbicides used in the demonstration plot and the LDA provided the necessary technical knowledge for running the demonstration plots. “The demonstration plots are a primary school from which the farmers learn about maize production and apply the knowledge gained in their individual plots to improve production,” said Mr Masenya Masenya confidently while admiring the bumper maize crop around him.
Dr Elliot Zwane of the LDA’s Molemole Municipality said Dikgolo farmers were a model of success because they work as a team. He attributed the success of the project to the commitment of the farmers and their willingness to learn which was demonstrated by their collective effort to work on the demonstration plots.
When Temo News visited the project on 17 March 2010, Dikgolo farmers were hosting an information day for about 30 farmers from Molemole Municipality who were there to learn from fellow farmers about the latest on maize production. The information day was unique in the sense that it was the farmers who were sharing information with fellow farmers with extension officers only providing additional information here and there.
Mme Sara Malatji, the Chairperson of the project demonstrated a deep understanding of maize production as she took the farmers through the maize field for a practical session. She spoke at length under the scorching sun about drought resistant seeds, fertilisation programme, the demonstration plot, weed control and many other aspects of maize production. She encouraged farmers to commit to their crop like a mother would to a newborn baby.
She praised both the LDA and Progress Milling for the intervention in the project which has turned the project around and promised that bigger things are yet to come. She went on to say that despite poor rains this year, they expected a bumper crop due to better knowledge of the maize production such as the use of drought resistant seeds, correct use of fertilisers, pesticides and the commitment of the farmers. She applauded Progress Milling for proving guaranteed market to the farmers which enabled them to feed their families. Actually, Progress Milling supplies these farmers with maize meal equal to the bags of maize that farmers supplied the company. Farmers also receive an income if they supply more than what they needed for household consumption.
Issued by: Department of Agriculture, Limpopo Provincial Government
25 March 2010
Source: Department of Agriculture, Limpopo Provincial Government (http://www.lda.gov.za/)
