Improving The Participation Of Small Scale Farmers In The Food Production Value Chain - Pivot
Improving The Participation Of Small Scale Farmers In The Food Production Value Chain - Pivot



more share options...

RSS

‹ Back

Improving The Participation Of Small Scale Farmers In The Food Production Value Chain - Pivot

2017-06-12

The key objective behind the formation of the Radical Agrarian Socio-Economic Transformation (RASET) programme is to improve greater participation of small scale farmers from historically underprivileged communities in the lucrative food production value chain. The initiative endeavours to promote co-operation amongst various government departments in order to prioritise black participants in the agribusiness space in respect of access to land and markets.

RASET is a reflection of the government’s commitment towards the eradication of the challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. The National Development Plan estimates that agriculture has the potential to create more than one million jobs by 2030, contributing to food security and efforts to reduce poverty levels. RASET is also a critical instrument for the empowerment of designated social groups such as women, youth, people living with disabilities, and military veterans who have to be drawn into the food supply value chain.

SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Government, with its considerable market through its different social service departments, offers viable business opportunities for farmers, especially in rural and peri-urban areas. Many government departments, such as schools, hospitals, places of safety and correctional services, have large populations of dependents for food provision. Consequently, through their consumption of agricultural products, the following government departments’ portfolios could contribute significantly to the empowerment of people:
  • Department of Social Development’s Food Distribution Model that is worth R 263 million based on fresh and dry food produced in this province annually
  • Department of Education’s National School Nutrition Programme, which has an annual budget of R 220 million on fresh produce alone, while R790 million is spent on dry food and cooking for 5273 schools
  • Department of Health’s Food Service Model, which spends R 220 million in respect of the outsourced units and R 51 million for in-house units for public hospitals
This government sector is a huge market that community based social enterprises such as co-operatives and SMMEs could infiltrate as opposed to the current situation where the suppliers are big traders that undermine empowerment efforts.

Mr Sihle Zikalala said, “It is our belief that the activation of RASET shouldn’t be delayed by bureaucratic processes since, in some districts, the requisite infrastructure that is crucial to get the emerging community farmers off the ground is already in place. Each municipal district is expected to be activated towards the production of food materials targeted.”

Some districts, such as King Cetshwayo District and eThekwini Municipality have active institutional arrangements in the form of trade agencies in place. These initiatives have a high social impact on strengthening local communities. “Of significance is that not only do people get fed, but local transport companies obtain work and farmers get paid almost immediately. These arrangements should be replicated in other parts of the province to ensure this programme is accessible to all our communities,” he added.

ACCESS TO ARABLE LAND

In order for RASET to perform optimally, the access to arable land by the target beneficiaries of the programme
needs to be addressed. Historically, both colonial and apartheid governments ensured that the black majority was confined to a mere 13% of the country’s land, while almost 87% of productive and fertile tracks of land was the preserve of white people. This disparity has ensured huge inequalities since the former could not actively participate in wealth generation through agricultural activities, mining and many industrial pursuits.

Mr Zikalala said, “It is pleasing that President Zuma recently made an assurance that the legacy of the Land Act of 1913, which resulted in the displacement of many black families, would this time around receive special attention from government. The Freedom Charter succinctly spells out the importance of land for development and nation building as it states that, `Land shall be shared amongst those who work it’. It has become imperative that we live up to this visionary statement; we have to rationalise the allocation of land amongst our citizens in an equitable fashion. The stubborn levels of inequality that are skewed in favour of the minority white community are, in the main, attributed to lack of access to land, which is a prime resource for any wealth generation and general human well-being.”

The massive amount of money charged by commercial farmers on land sold to government for distribution among black communities has been a source of frustration and an impediment to socio-economic transformation. From 1994 to January 2015 only 9.6 million hectares of land had been acquired in an effort to facilitate the redistribution and restitution programme. This amount of land fails to meet the target of 24.6 million hectares that government had envisaged to ensure equitable access to productive land by the country’s citizens. The Province of KwaZulu-Natal is determined to work with national government in fast-tracking land reform on a considerable scale compared to what has happened over the past twenty two years.

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

Empowering our people with necessary skills to cultivate their land and tender livestock for the market as opposed to subsistence farming is also required. This training should be coupled with the provision of both technical and business skills for farmers to be able to achieve sustainable yields for the market.

CONCLUSION

“Food security and vibrant agricultural markets, where the historically marginalised communities actively participate, are essential pillars for the realisation of RASET’s founding objectives. However, the reigning sentiments embodied in the cry for radical economic transformation have to be converted into tangible outcomes where our people are afforded the opportunity to access this primary source of economic development. As part of nation building, we have to balance the varying expectations through the creation of opportunities for all our people. Land ownership is vital as one of the instruments to achieve genuine freedom. Government’s efforts need the support of business and civil society formations to ensure that the path we are embarking on is without tensions that could retard our journey to visible economic transformation,” concluded Mr Zikalala.




Improving The Participation Of Small Scale Farmers In The Food Production Value Chain - Pivot

Copyright © 2024 KwaZulu-Natal Top Business
x

Get the Flash Player to see this player.