Agricultural interventions in the Province in support of economic development of women

1. Agricultural interventions in the Province in support of economic development of women Presented at SABCOHA’S Business Sector Conference By C.J Mathebula 28-29 September 2011 Meropa Conference Centre

2. Mission of Department To promote economic growth and food security within the province, through sustainable agricultural and entrepreneurship development

3. Vehicles Used • Comprehensive Agricultural Support Program (CASP) • Production Input Support Program • Various Departmental Programmes: • Crop and animal production • Agricultural engineering • Land and agrarian reform • Animal health • Agribusiness development and support , and • Structured agricultural training

4. Problem Statement Agriculture, dominated by animal and crop production, is experiencing a serious decline in productivity, a situation which leads to the diminishing contribution of the sector to the provincial Gross Geographic Product (GGP) The contribution of the sector to the provincial GGP is currently just under 3%, and this situation is attributed to a number of factors which include but not limited access to production inputs. This challenge has a huge effect on reducing farm yields and therefore food security as most farmlands in communal areas and properties under ownership of emerging farmers are not optimally utilised

5. Intervention Strategies • Production Input Support Program • Facilitates access to production inputs • Promotes the use of appropriate types of production inputs at correct levels • Prioritizes support to needy land reform projects and those that received infrastructure investment in order to promote integration • Facilitates mitigation and recovery of farmers who lose production through declared natural disasters

6. Desired Outcomes • The overall outcomes are as follows: • Increased agricultural production and income • Appropriate types of production inputs used by farmers and at correct levels • Emerging and smallholder farmers graduating into commercial producers • Agricultural production losses due to declared natural disasters mitigated and farmers assisted to recover

7. Inputs Covered • Seeds, seedlings, and other plant propagation materials, fertilizers, lime, pesticides (herbicides, insecticides), fungicides, land preparation and energy for production in the case of crop production • Breeding and production stock, livestock feeds, medicines and vaccines for animal production

8. Guiding Principles for Support Demand-driven: Support for inputs is given according to demand Equity: Previously disadvantaged applicants are prioritized for support Sustainability: Input access support is a commercialization intervention aimed at making farming enterprises economically viable and self sustainable Integration and complementarity: Priority is given to projects where support will be complementing previous or existing state investments Value for money: Support for input access is considered for farming enterprises where there shall be value for money invested

9. Selection Criteria • Applicant Personal Attributes • Citizenship: Applicants should be South Africans with farming enterprises within Limpopo Province • Agri-business skills: Applicants with relevant agri-business skills will be prioritized while those without should be trainable in order to be considered • Applicant profile in farming: Applicants who already established good farming profiles will be preferred for support

10. Selection Criteria Cont… • Farm Institutional Attributes • Land tenure: Applicants should have legal ownership to land or land user rights in order to be considered • Water supply: Applicants, especially those for irrigated cropping, must have irrigation water and where possible, water rights to be considered • Energy supply: Applicants in enterprises demanding energy to operate, must have supply to be considered, except for cases where energy is part of the inputs applied for • Economic viability: Assistance on input access will be considered where the farming enterprise is economically viable

11. Two Production Input Support Schemes • Support to farmers for access to inputs is done under two schemes, namely: • Input access assistance scheme, and • Production start up grant

12. Input Access Assistance Scheme • This scheme is intended to address the inaccessibility of inputs to emerging and commercial farmers and is implemented as follows: • The department provides part (50%) or full quantity of inputs to individual and group farming enterprises with full quantity prioritized for enterprises where the state has already invested in land or infrastructure. The assistance is non-refundable and is up to a maximum of: • R200 000.00 per farmer for individual farmers • R500 000.00 per project for a group of farmers operating together under a legal entity, and • R1 million for a group of farmers operating together under a legal entity with state investment in land or infrastructure

13. Production Start-Up Grant • This grant is intended to address the inaccessibility of inputs to food security and micro enterprise projects, and is implemented as follows: • The department provides a grant of 100% to deserving applicants for the purchase of inputs. The grant is up to a maximum of: • R100 000.00 per farmer for individual farmers, and • R250 000.00 per project for a group of farmers operating together under a legal entity.

14. Terms and Conditions Support is provided to approved applicants only when funds are available Production inputs are used for the intended purpose according to the project/enterprise plan The project to keep records of all transactions and the department has unhindered access to the financial records The recipients of production inputs to provide information to the department on the performance of the enterprise and the effect of the inputs provided Failure to stick to the terms and conditions may lead to withdrawal of the input support

15. Comprehensive Agricultural Support Program • Mainly targets infrastructure development to previously disadvantaged communities. Examples include but not limited to repair work on the following: • Fencing • Dipping tanks • Canals, waterways and dams • Farm roads

16. Agri-Business Development and Support Mandate To provide Agri-Business support through entrepreneurial development, marketing services, value adding production and resource economics To provide macroeconomic and statistical information on the performance of the agricultural sector in order to inform planning and decision making

17. Agri-Business Development and Support Mandate Cont… • Access to Markets • Agri-Businesses (projects, cooperatives, farm businesses, etc) are linked to markets through development of functional marketing institutions and infrastructure • Agricultural Economic Advice • Agricultural economic advice includes but not limited to financial support and market information • Conduct Agricultural Economic Studies • Economic studies refer to impact assessments, viability studies, and business plans

18. Macroeconomics and Statistics Macroeconomic and statistical data is readily available from our database Reports, based on macroeconomic and statistical data, that includes pamphlets, articles, presentations, scheduled publications, etc. are developed New enterprise budgets are developed as well as update existing ones as a result of changes in technologies and production practices

19. Mechanisation Access Support Scheme LDA has developed the Mechanisation Access Support Scheme to assist commercially orientated farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs to own mechanisation units through subsidization of the unit costs

20. Structured Agricultural Training Provides training programmes in appropriate fields to prospective and practicing farmers, as well as extension officials and advisors Two Agricultural Training Centres (ATC) are used for this purpose The major program for the ATCs is skills training to farmers, particularly at flagship projects Identified youth, women and people with disabilities are supported by training and aftercare

21. Conclusion All programs offered are not discriminatory. Anyone who needs assistance, is sure to receive some form of help from the various progammes THANK YOU