Programme Director:
MMCs present
Councilors present
Representatives of business
Representatives of farm unions
Farmers and farm workers
Officials from all spheres of government
Invited guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Molweni, sanibonani, dumelang, goeie more, good morning to you all and may I convey greetings from our Gauteng Provincial Government, led by the honorable Premier Nomvula Mokonyane. In her 2012 State of the province address the premier said, “We are commissioning the West Rand Agricultural Training College during the next financial year. In partnership with the national government and Mogale City, we have earmarked R36 million to make this a reality.” We are here today to mark the first step towards the creation of an agriculture training college in Gauteng.
The Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has engaged the Mogale City municipality in the West Rand to forge a partnership in the provision of training and capacity building of farmers in the West Rand and the province in general.
The 2009 ANC manifesto states: “Develop programmes to promote the important role of mining and agriculture in employment, meeting basic needs and community development, and commit to continued transformation of these sectors to achieve national goals”. The establishment of the college will not only demonstrate the Gauteng Government's commitment to improving Agriculture in the province but also the lives of the members of the farming communities in Gauteng. The Agriculture College will also provide the following benefits to the farming community in the Province:
- Agricultural training and capacity building to small and emerging farmers in the province.
- A forum for interaction between farmers and service provide
- Commodity focused groups for farmers
- Support to settled farmers and help to facilitate economically viable, environmentally friendly and sustainable production units.
- Transfer of skills and expertise of service providers, agricultural and academic institutions to farmers and youth development.
- An efficient flow of agricultural information
- Youth developed in agricultural learning areas.
It is expected that the skills acquired during training will improve the profitability of farmers and cooperatives in the province. The West Rand Agricultural College will also assist the farming business to improve their produce and enter bigger markets due to the skills they will have acquired in the college. The training college will equip farmers to segment their market and focus on improving products and services according to the needs of different markets. Likewise, it will improve the capacity of farmers as well as their competitiveness. Finally, it will improve business planning skills essential to initiating viable agriculture projects.
The training will allow farmers to acquire skills, share information and change the way they operate their farms to ensure that farms are productive and sustainable and contribute to growing the economy and promoting agriculture in the province.
Among the things the department is commited to is the promotion of cooperatives. The training that is going to take place in the West Rand Agricultural Training College will enable farmers to identify and attain skills from other farmers and form cooperatives that will enable them to increase their market share and create more opportunities for their produce in the market. Forming cooperatives will create a platform where farmers can learn new ways of production, hear about new technology and interact with other farmers and service providers to improve their production.
The training needs of the farmers are assessed on an ongoing and annual basis and is agricultural commodity specific. The envisaged training will therefore focus on all the primary commodities in the province, such as:
- Animal Production which will include amongst others, beef, poultry, piggery, dairy, sheep, goats, bee-keeping and rabbits
- Field crops production which will include grains and oil seeds
- Aquaculture, namely fish and crocodiles
- Vegetables production in potatoes, tomatoes, onions and spinach
- Horticulture which deals with ornamentals and cut flowers as well as indigenous medicinal plants
- Agro-processing training which will deal with abattoirs, essential oils and canning.
There will be a continuous process of interaction and coordination amongst stakeholders working in partnership with GDARD for the purpose of strengthening the proposed institution.
Our constitution under section 27 enshrines the right to food by stating: “Everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water”. Globally, we are exposed to increasing food prices, fuel price upheavals, unstable economic conditions and climate change – all of which affect the availability of and access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.
Gauteng in particular is adversely affected by these global influences. Increasing food prices exacerbate an already heavy reliance on imported and processed foods and contribute to the loss of local harvesting, production and cultural knowledge. These factors create uncertainty around our food supply.
For these reasons such a college is needed to enable our farmers to understand and develop the skills to deal with these global influences.
In order to provide meaningful and quality training to the farming community, the department will have to forge strong partnerships with different stakeholders. This is because stakeholders will play a key role in ensuring that the college becomes a reality and a success in Gauteng. The stakeholders include among others the Gauteng Department of Education, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Agricultural Research Council (ARC), Land Bank, commercial financing institutions (banks), Tshwane University of Technology, University of Pretoria, Technikon SA, Mogale City Municipality, Bekker Agricultural High School, commercial farmers, emerging farmers, co-operatives, private companies and agricultural production input suppliers.
Remember: working together we can do more!
Thank you.
