HOPEWELL RADEBE

Land and Agriculture Editor

THE government planned to invest aggressively in agricultural infrastructure and support small and medium enterprises, to stem the number of failing beneficiaries of the land distribution programme, Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson says.

She told the World Economic Forum in Dar es Salaam last week that SA’s initial land reform programme had focused on the number of hectares reclaimed and “less on ensuring that farms remain as going concerns after restitution”.

This had led to production that was not based on the needs of consumers such as manufacturers, processors and value-added businesses, and it had not benefited smallholder farmers because market prices vary sharply from season to season.

Like the rest of the Southern African Development Community, SA had to increase spending on agriculture to improve local production.

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries would respond by intensifying research and development while funding value-chain technical support programmes.

Joemat-Pettersson’s admission that SA had missed opportunities breaks with the ruling party’s tradition of defending any planning failure by previous ministers.

She said investment in agricultural capital infrastructure and productive assets had to be boosted, particularly for dams, irrigation schemes, agro technology and pipelines to keep up with population growth and demand.

The new government’s plan includes the revitalisation of irrigation schemes, consolidating 1ha plots under a single irrigation method, and establishing a common production and marketing company for groups, to be co-owned by landowners.

The state owns the project until the break-even point, when it is handed over to the targeted commodity organisational structure for further business development.

“The government will pay more attention to a commodity value-chain approach for smallholder development, trying to respond to the gap left after the demise of the marketing control boards,” the minister said.

She said the assumption that the developed commercial sector would be the pull factor for SA’s smallholder farming had not been borne out, as a result of the inherent interests of existing players.

Research and development was also receiving urgent attention. Joemat-Pettersson conceded that the level of investment in research and development in agriculture had declined over the years.

“The level of innovation becomes affected when the quality and number of local scientists decline and dependence on outside scientists and research increases.”

The search for new products, biotechnology and genetically modified organisms continued to divide nations and trading block members, she said.

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Source: Business Day