Let me first, on behalf of the South African Government, begin by extending a warm word of welcome to each and every one of you visiting Cape Town and our beautiful and special country, South Africa this week. I trust that you have so far been well received and that you have enjoyed our hospitality, good food and good wine!
I am told that you began this Forum on a very important day in the history of our country: Youth Day. In 1976 in June 16, scores of young people were killed for standing up for themselves. They died to free the many youth of the opportunities that today’s youth enjoys.
It is indeed a privilege and an honour for me and Deputy Minister Bheki Cele to be part of the IFAMA Symposium and Global Forum this week, and especially at your gala dinner tonight. The South African Government, also represented here by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as well as the National Agricultural Marketing Council, has furthermore been participating in your esteemed and globally recognized annual event this week.
I am aware that this is the first time in the 25 year existence of IFAMA that the Symposium and Global Forum is held on the African continent. We therefore thank you sincerely, given our food security challenges and development needs, both in South Africa and also on the African continent, that you have brought this event to Africa. But as you are aware Africa and South Africa also provide vast opportunities, given its resource richness of people, land and water.
It is thus especially your theme of ‘The Talent Factor – People feed the World’ that resonates with me. Your focus on the development of a broad range of skills necessary to produce food competitively and productively, as well as focus on the skills required to add effective value to primary produce in order to meet the nutritional, food safety and social food needs of the consumer, is sincerely appreciated.
Last night, President Jacob Zuma delivered an address at the opening of our fifth democratic parliament. In the speech, the President touched on a few important points:
On the economy: “The low level of investments is a key constraint to economic growth. We are determined to work with the private sector to remove obstacles to investment. We would like to see the private sector showing as much confidence in the economy as the public sector”.
On Agriculture: “We have identified agriculture as a key job driver. Our target is for the agricultural sector to create a million jobs by 2030. Government will provide comprehensive support to smallholder farmers by speeding up land reform and providing technical, infrastructural and financial support”.
The focus on the economy and the agriculture sector by government has been clearly indicated and it is the intention of government to work closer with private sector to create an enabling investment environment for entrepreneurs and the private sector. I also wish to add that it is also my goal, and the goal of this Ministry, to work closesly with all stakeholders, however big or small.
I want to emphasise that our government is committed to creating employment in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors. We are also committing ourselves to finding innovative ways to attract youth and young people to the agriculture sector. Agriculture used to be considered an old man’s job. Today we see more and more young, prominent people taking up this important calling.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has an annual Female Entrepreneur of the Year competition that unearths talent from across the country. The competition finds females of all ages who are participating in the entire value chain of the agriculture sector. The previous winner was a 27 year old lady who is an accountant but who is now a farmer. Nomzamo Khoza makes oils from moringa trees that she sells to several countries in Africa and Central America. We are extremely proud of her and many other youngsters like the ones here, who are making our work easier.
Ladies and gentlemen, effective public–private dialogue and partnerships will be the key in driving the agricultural sector forward. While the private sector needs government support to address market failures, as well as a host of important public goods such as infrastructure, Governments need information about the obstacles and opportunities that the private sector faces in order to design policy Interventions to address these constraints.
As government we acknowledge that the acceleration of growth will depend on enabling the public and private sectors to build, explore and renew industrial capacities and to take advantage of complementarities between sectors, emerging value chains, and the upgrading of products, processes and functions.
Government and the private sector, through Agbiz, will be participating in the Africa Agribusiness Forum at the Africa Union’s Heads of State Summit this weekend in Equatorial Guinea. Africa’s Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme, also known as CAADP, provides a good framework for private sector participation and investment in this sector. Many of the messages developed at the IFAMA Global Forum will be conveyed into this important meeting.
To conclude, my sincere thanks and appreciation go to everyone and all institutions that have made this event possible, including the host organizations from South Africa, namely Agbiz and the Agribusiness Leadership School of the University of Stellenbosch, as well as the IFAMA Secretariat.
I trust that your deliberations and debates will lead to more competitive and efficient value chains in the agro-food system, and essentially to greater food security in South Africa and on the African continent.
Thank you, and I wish you well.
