Land Affairs,
Ms Lulama Xingwana (MP) Youth Summit on Agrarian and Land Reform, Saint
George Hotel, in Irene, Pretoria
4 August 2007
Programme Director
Directors-General in the Ministry
Deputy Directors-General in the Ministry
Senior Management staff
Middle Management staff
Officials' from the Youth Desk in the Presidency
Umsombovu Representatives
Ladies and gentlemen
It gives me pleasure to preside over the opening of the 2007 Youth Summit on
Agrarian and Land Reform and to welcome you most cordially to the Saint George
Hotel in Irene, Pretoria. I would firstly like to thank the valuable work done
by officials of the Departments of Agriculture, Land Affairs, the Youth Desk in
the Presidency and all those who were involved in ensuring that this summit
takes off the ground.
All this support and in particular, the enthusiastic response of the youth
from all the provinces of our country has made it possible for the 250
delegates to come together on the first day of the three day summit. To the
youth, I would like to say that the Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs
is opening this dialogue with you in an endeavour to increase your
participation in agriculture and therefore address the issues of reducing
hunger, fighting poverty and unemployment.
In fact the participation of youth in agriculture and rural development was
initiated at the World Congress of Rural Women (WCRW) held in Durban in April
2007, when young people formed a steering committee with the aim to launch a
national structure of the sector.
Subsequently, Youth in Agriculture and Rural Development (YARD) was formed
in the Eastern Cape. Tomorrow after my keynote address I will launch YARD
Entrepreneurship Networking Forum whose objectives, among others, are:
* to promote and develop excellence in Agriculture amongst youth and to
create awareness of the need to improve agricultural activities in order to
ensure food security and economic stability in the country
* to promote economic equity for youth and increase awareness about the
negative impacts of globalisation on youth, their families and their
communities and the environment.
During my Budget Vote speech in Parliament early this year I reiterated on
the need to further support the role of youth in the communities within you
which you live. I announced that a youth summit in the agricultural sector will
take place before the end of the year and indeed this evening marks the
beginning of that dream. It is also remarkable for me to note that most of our
provincial departments have already held their respective provincial summits;
this then means that this three-day summit will therefore consolidate
discussions emanating from the provinces.
I am fully convinced that the work that will be developed over the next
three days will contribute to improving the youth participation in agriculture
and rural development and that this summit will be a success. It will be a
success because I see already on the proposed programme the very high
participation from the Director-Generals of the Departments of Agriculture and
Land Affairs and other relevant structures like Umsombovu Youth Fund, National
African Farmers Union of South Africa (NAFU) and National Emergent Red Meat
Producers Organisation (NERPO).
In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that our participation in this
summit will allow us to make further headway in achieving youth involvement in
agriculture and rural development.
I thank you
Issued by: Department of Agriculture
4 August 2007
