Despite facing numerous difficulties, not least of them a number of years of drought, various animal health and food safety crises, and continued economic and political uncertainty, the agriculture sector has for years been punching far above its weight with the contribution it is making to the economy, and the country’s trade balance in particular.
But the sector’s contribution to improving South Africa’s otherwise lacklustre outlook goes beyond the economy. Farmers in every province are standing up and taking responsibility for the job that government has failed to do. Transformation in the sector, which has for the past two decades progressed painfully slowly, is gradually picking up pace as individual farmers and farmers’ commodity organisations invest their time and resources into creating opportunities for and mentoring new farmers, and uplifting farmworkers and rural communities.
THE MAGIC OF MENTORSHIP
The Grain SA Farmer Development Programme has been one of the most successful commodity organisation-driven transformation initiatives in the agriculture sector. Since its launch in 1999, thousands of farmers have benefitted from learning modern farming techniques that enabled them to farm profitably.
The 22 November issue of Farmer’s Weekly featured three of the recent participants in the programme in Mpumalanga: Sizwe Ngwenya, Enoch Khumalo and Samson Shuwisa. All three farmers spoke of how participating in the programme had enabled them to greatly improve their yields and, subsequently, their incomes.
The additional money they earned was invested in growing their farms and buying farm equipment.
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