Having spent a week in the Karoo among farmers, attending meetings and interacting with market agents, it would be fair to say this region is one of the most in need of agritourism promotion. The region has so much to offer — great cuisine, landscapes and history.
Agritourism would be a lifeline for some regions that previously relied on railway activities. There is now reduced economic activity. Unemployment is rife, leaving some towns exposed to potential instability.
Farmers do their part and create employment in their regions. Therefore, proper marketing of the unique and premium Karoo Lamb that most produce would bring in much-needed revenue, which would be reinvested in the farms and ultimately result in increased economic activity in the regions, and job creation.
The marketing of Karoo Lamb requires societal support as it is viewed as SA heritage food. This means as we shop at various retailers across SA we must ask store managers about Karoo Lamb, great SA wines, fruits and our other high-quality regional foods.
Restaurants should also do their part and stop marketing any lamb as Karoo Lamb when they have not bought it from a certified abattoir or supplier.
Municipalities, particularly in the Northern Cape side of the Karoo region, must do their part in beautifying towns, keeping them clean and fixing municipal refuse dumps.
Investing in proper recycling efforts will assist in creating valuable income for the poor and job opportunities for locals. Importantly, when people drive across the country and notice the cleanliness, beauty and care given to these towns they will be more inclined to stop, spend money and even consider investing in such towns.
The provincial government also has a vital role to play in improving the road networks and ensuring municipalities are functioning effectively. This is vital in ensuring the success of tourism in the province.
The issue of crime also needs a constant eye to ensure the safety of these towns. When towns are carefully maintained and clean, roads are constantly fixed and crime is low, economic activity will recover over time.
But we can all agree that the small towns of the Karoo are microcosms of the bigger problems in municipalities across SA. Perhaps the neglect of infrastructure in other towns is even more stark. Here I think of my home province, the Eastern Cape, where we read regularly about corruption.
At the same time, we know that for those living in some villages in the province, life has not improved much, at least in terms of connectivity, roads, water infrastructure and safety.
So, agritourism and tourism as a whole will not improve much and yield economic benefits for the Eastern Cape if such neglect continues. I mention the Eastern Cape issue here because as I drove through some small towns in the Karoo and saw a sense of hopelessness and despair in the streets among the unemployed, I could recognise those difficulties from the province.
The issue of failing and weak municipalities is a nationwide challenge in the North West, Free State and Gauteng. Proper functioning municipalities and roads are vital for the farming sector — these are the linkages to markets and routes used to bring various inputs to farms and across agribusinesses.
The inadequacies lead to increased transaction costs and weigh on multiple businesses and, ultimately, job creation. I know of dairy farms in the Eastern Cape that bleed cost-wise because of the poor roads and water infrastructure and failure of the local government to improve conditions, even after several attempts to engage them.
To meaningfully support the broader Karoo region and its people the first step is to buy their high-quality products. The second lies with the regulators ensuring they keep an eye on food fraud in restaurants and other outlets that inappropriately market their products as Karoo, misleading consumers.
More importantly, provincial and local governments should consistently improve the road and water infrastructure, keep the towns clean and deal with crime. This same approach must apply across all small towns of SA.
There is so much opportunity in SA — let's embrace it and build our communities together.
• Sihlobo is chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of SA and an extraordinary senior lecturer in Stellenbosch University’s department of agricultural economics.
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