Agriculture, land reform & rural development minister Thoko Didiza delivered her budget vote speech to parliament on May 13, touching on land reform, agricultural land leases, agricultural expansion, finance and the sectoral master plans.
On land reform, she emphasised the beneficiary selection criteria emanating from the 2019 report of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform & Agriculture, which prioritises women, youth and people with disabilities for land redistribution. This cohort comprises more than two-thirds of the beneficiaries of the 700,000ha of land the government has thus far announced for release. It has allocated 436,563ha of the 700,000ha. Notably, the minister acknowledged that some of this land was already occupied and her department only had to formalise the leases to such land parcels.
On agricultural land leases, Didiza recognised the frustrations farmers have experienced over the past few months. Some black farmers were even threatened with removal from productive farms, such as in the David Rakgase, Ivan Cloete and Vuyani Zigana cases.
Didiza committed to accelerating the resolution of old order claims and announced that her department has settled 240 claims in the past financial year, covering urban and rural claims. Disappointingly, there was no update on land tenure developments, which is important in strengthening land rights and a prerequisite for investment in agriculture.
For agricultural expansion, the minister’s speech built on the positive momentum in the sector, supported by favourable weather conditions and increased plantings. There is a prospect of another year of solid growth in agricultural gross value added, which the Agricultural Business Chamber of SA forecasts at about 5% year on year, compared with 13.1% in 2020.
A challenge facing the sector, which the minister noted, is animal and plant health. SA has been experiencing frequent outbreaks of avian influenza, foot & mouth disease and African swine fever. These diseases tend to hinder agricultural trade and cause substantial financial losses for farmers.
Extension officer
Didiza did not provide detail of the long-term plan to tackle these critical challenges, but instead noted the near-term interventions being made by state scientists and various programmes of the Agricultural Research Council and Onderstepoort Biological Product. It is unclear if these institutions can address the increasing incidence of animal and plant health diseases, or if there should be increased reliance on the private sector.
The more pointed intervention on agricultural expansion is the commitment to ensure land given to farmers and communities as part of land reform processes is cultivated. The strengthening of the extension officer system remains a priority, and the government intends to hire 10,000 more officers over the next three years. If they are well trained they could help new entrants succeed in the sector.
On agricultural finance, Didiza expressed the government’s commitment to stabilising the Land Bank, which has been experiencing liquidity challenges for months. In line with the growth theme was the agricultural and agro-processing master plan, which is in its final stages, with sector role players — including community representatives, the government and the private sector — set to meet for consultation in June.
The national cannabis master plan should be completed soon as the government aims to begin issuing and monitoring permits for the production of hemp.
Overall, the speech is positive as it centred on the theme of public-private partnerships for development and expansion in the sector and emphasised various programmes that the social partners are already working on in collaboration with the government. I share the minister’s broad view that harnessing the power of public and private sector collaboration is critical to unlocking opportunities for inclusive growth in the sector.
• Sihlobo (@WandileSihlobo) is chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of SA and author of ‘Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity and Agriculture’. He is also a visiting research fellow at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand.
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