South Africa's Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp says the government must move faster if the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan is to deliver real results for farmers, FarmingPortal reports from Agri NewsNet.

Aucamp said progress had been made but without enough momentum. The National Agricultural Marketing Council coordinates implementation, and the government is working with organised agriculture, Business Unity South Africa and Agbiz on infrastructure, farmer support, market access and slow regulation. He said the plan should remain a living document whose main aim is to expand inclusive agriculture.

Extension services are a major gap. The government wants eventually to have about 10,000 properly trained extension officers and is initially seeking funding for 4,000; Aucamp also wants the private sector to play a bigger role.

On land, a pilot is being discussed with the African Farmers Association under which 100 farmers per province would rent state-owned land, with the longer-term aim of transferring ownership, on the reasoning that farmers with secure tenure invest, borrow and develop their farms. Aucamp also wants to clear registration backlogs under Act 36, which covers fertilisers, animal feeds and agricultural remedies, and the government is looking at using artificial intelligence to digitise applications and speed up straightforward approvals.

On markets, South Africa has opened cherry exports to China, expects progress on blueberries, and is pursuing meat exports to Egypt and citrus to India. The government's blended-finance programmes have approved about R98 billion since they began, roughly R35 billion in grants that drew R63 billion in private investment. Aucamp said it all comes back to farmers being able to make a profit, which he called essential for food security.

Photo: Lotus Head / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Source: FarmingPortal