The Food For Mzansi Young Farmers Indaba was a great success, having hosted more than 1 000 farmers at the iconic FNB Stadium in Soweto in July this year. One of the opening panel discussions tackled the topic of inclusivity in South Africa’s agri sector, making partnerships and collaboration vital to success.
Avoport CEO Shandini Naidoo believes development is important for farmers, but there needs to be knowledge generation before it all.
“If farmers generate knowledge in different categories, they will be able to get insight, skills development, business skills, financial skills, which are all inhibitors to the farmer growing and developing and bridging the gap from developmental to commercial,” she said.
Adding to Naidoo, North-West MEC of agriculture and rural development, Desbo Mohono said South Africa is a food insecure country, adding that a shortfall policymakers experience is holding them at ransom. Her biggest wish is to find a way to policies that suit us as Africans so that we can produce as much as possible.
“Countries are already on 6IR (sixth industrial revolution) and we are on 4IR (fourth industrial revolution). We, as farmers, need to take advantage of technology to assist us to do our [farming] better because whether we like it or not, climate change is with us and you cannot run away from it. We cannot do things the old way we used to,” she said.
Government help
Meanwhile, Mpho Hlape, director of farmer settlement development in the Gauteng department of agriculture and rural development, highlighted that farmer development is at the center of his department and they do this by providing support programs.
“As the government, we are focusing on various commodities, and we have categorised them. Our main focus is to provide necessary interventions.
“We need to ensure that there is comprehensiveness in supporting farmers and farming communities across different enterprises. This support needs to consider that a farmer at subsistence level can contribute towards Gross Domestic Product (GDP) equally with commercial farmers,” Hlape highlighted.
Supporting subsistence farmers with production, input support, infrastructure, and mechanisation helps them participate in the entire agri value chain, he added.
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The issue of land
Strategic programmes manager at South African Breweries (SAB) Masa Kgadima believes access to land is a way of promoting inclusivity and this can be done by making land available to upcoming farmers.
“We know that we have land at our disposal, so we need to distribute that land to entry-level farmers who need it. But also we need to be able to make sure that they have enough education on how to make use of it.
“We need to make sure that they grow their crops by focusing more on volume, productivity, and value,” Kgadima said.
Building beneficial relationships
Meanwhile, former CEO of SA Wine, Wendy Petersen, said small and upcoming farmers must surround themselves with experts and people who know finances, businesses, and technical practices. These people can provide good advice on how to operate successfully, she added.
“As a farmer, you cannot operate alone so if you have the right company, you will be able to benefit from them. Get that expertise and find resources that you can utilise. So I would like to see each farmer is aligned with good connections that they can use,” she said.
Echoing the same sentiments as Petersen was the CEO of the Agricultural Development Agency, Leona Archery, who emphasised the importance of collaboration and trust between established commercial farmers and new entrants in the sector.
Partnership and collaboration
“This is one of those things that has continued the dual approach in the agri sector. Partnership and collaboration are key so if we want to build a more inclusive sector, we need to do it together,” she said.
“We cannot do it together if each party does not trust the other. If we can trust each other then we can build on a consolidated agriculture plan.”
She believes that a consolidated agricultural plan will allow growth for the entire sector. She will continue building up opportunities for new farmers while it continues opening opportunities for existing commercial farmers.
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