Chairperson,
Honourable Premier and colleagues of the Executive Council,
Honourable Members,
Amakhosi present,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.
It is indeed an honour and privilege for me to be delivering my first budget policy speech as the MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development in KwaZulu-Natal. I stand in front of you, humbled, excited and ready to take steps towards radical agrarian transformation.
Radical Agrarian Transformation
The Agricultural Sector, as the primary economic activity, is one of the few sectors in the economy with high labour absorption ability in rural areas. We are guided by Outcomes 4 (Decent Employment through inclusive growth) and 7 (Comprehensive rural development and food security) of the Medium Term Strategic Framework as well as the National Development Plan and the Provincial Growth and Development Plan. The main metric of these mandates is to contribute to the creation of one million jobs in the agricultural sector by 2030.
This means profound change. For this reason, alignment and coordination between the DARD, other departments (national and provincial), local government and local leadership, the private sector, organised agriculture and our farmers and farming communities is foremost in our minds. The need to develop policies that introduce new business opportunities in agriculture to make it attractive for investors is beyond debate.
Integrated planning with agricultural commodity associations, strategic partnerships and the crowding in of investments are all key to achieving our departmental outcomes. We will promote agricultural development based on successful land reform and post-settlement support. We intend to enhance the development of smallholder producers in the Province and give focused attention to the expansion of irrigated agriculture and dry-land production.
We aim to create rural jobs through taking steps to grow and develop sustainable rural enterprises in areas with greater economic potential and we will continue to address the food insecurity of the province.
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