Programme director
Amakhosi Present
Ladies and gentlemen
All protocol observed
Good Morning
Agriculture is one the main sectors that drive our economy in this country. It has many job opportunities for the unemployed and is well placed to respond to President Jacob Zuma’s call of “Jobs Creation”.
With Agriculture, we are able to kill two birds with one stone, alleviate poverty while we create employment for the people. I am proud to tell you that as the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development, we not just saying this as sheer rhetoric but we are doing it for our communities all over the province.
Through our Mechanisation Programme which we launched at Sisonke District last year, we have created more than 200 job opportunities for local tractor operators and administrations in our district offices. Yesterday I was with the community of Nkunzane in Nongoma where we distributed about six tractors.
The same opportunities I have just alluded to, will now be translated to that community Nkuzane.
We then alleviate poverty through our Food distribution programme. As highlighted in this year’s budget speech the programme has thus far benefited more that 800 000 households. These households have been assisted with seeds, hand hoes and other implements. Today we are here to do the same for the people of Phaphasi and Mpanzakazi communities.
By giving you these agricultural implements, we want to make sure that you have the necessary tools to till the soil. And also by providing this entire infrastructure from big resources like tractors to small ones like hand hoes, we want to ease the burden of hard labour on land preparation. Above that, we want to encourage you to work even harder in producing food for your own consumption.
Through the One Home One Garden campaign we want to fight poverty at a household level hence the emphasis on household gardens. We can defeat the monster of poverty that has gripped many of our people only if we work together. I strongly urge, women to take the lead on this course. There is a common adage that says “You educate a woman, you educate a nation”. I have a lot of confidence in women because I know that they are strong, determined and zealous about building our nation.
We know that poverty is often associated with a face of a woman. When there is no food at home, everybody looks at the woman of the house. She is also the first person to panic because she understands what is expected of her. Now if we can have these household gardens as women, we can forget about having moments of worrying about not having anything for lunch or supper. Instead we can grow healthy families who indulge on fresh produce.
These implements are therefore a demonstration of government’s support towards building a thriving agricultural sector and sustainable communities. Apart from producing for household consumption, you can sell the excess to local markets for economic benefit.
We want to help our local farmers to develop an entrepreneurial mindset to get into agribusiness. There is a plethora of opportunities to be seized in the agribusiness sector and we want you to grab them. We also have the Dube Trade Port as a gateway to international trade right in our province.
We have requested Amakhosi to avail at least 100 hectares of land in each village for agricultural purposes. Our extension service is always on standby to advise, mentor and give a support base for our farmers. We also help with soil testing and liming because we want to get the best products out of our soil. I have seen some of your projects this morning and I must say that I’m impressed and please keep up the good work.
Lastly, there is a lot of electioneering going on, as we see political parties moving in around our communities talking to you about the importance of taking part in the local government elections on 18 May. As a leader in government, I also would like to add my voice to those who are calling on you to exercise your democratic rights to express yourselves through the ballot paper. Your Vote will do good for you and your community because it will give power to those whom you prefer to have in power. Happy Elections Day.
I thank you.
