Pretoria - South Africa will on Friday transport its first consignment of maize to Lesotho, which is currently experiencing a food crisis.
Earlier this year, South Africa struck a deal with the United Nations World Food Programme to buy maize from the country's smallholder farmers as part of a R180-million South African humanitarian donation to Lesotho.
Spokesperson for the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Palesa Mokomele, said maize from the Zivuseni agricultural co-operative and the Ziyibane farming project has been milled at the Pride Milling plant in Nigel, Ekurhuleni in Gauteng, and then packaged into bags of maize meal.
A total of 4 920 bags of maize meal, each weighing 25 kilograms, will be transported from Nigel to Lesotho. Mokomele said the producers of the maize meal are beneficiaries of the Fetsa Tlala Integrated Food Production Initiative.
“Friday's consignment is the first of many that are planned for Lesotho. Several more trips will be made in January next year with maize from smallholder farmers from the Eastern Cape, the North West and Limpopo.
“In July this year, Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson made an announcement that South Africa would open markets for smallholder farmers through selling agricultural produce including maize, pulses, salt, oil and fish to Lesotho through the World Food Programme,” she said.
Mokomele said Friday’s initiative was a joint venture with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the World Food Programme (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organisation and the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Social Development.
Fetsa Tlala
Fetsa Tlala is a government programme which aims to use 1 million hectares of fallow agricultural land in rural areas across the country. Last year, 146 133.5 hectares were planted countrywide through this initiative.
“The WFP, which is an internationally recognised agency of the United Nations, will channel and distribute the maize meal to the School Meals programme, health and nutrition activities in Lesotho.
“This generous contribution by our country has made it possible for children in hard to reach areas to continue to receive daily hot meals at school,” said Mokomele.
Shortly after securing the deal with WFP, Minister Joemat-Pettersson said: “One of the conditions of this agreement from the South African government's side was that at least 40 percent of the white, non-GMO [genetically modified] maize must be purchased from smallholder farmers in South Africa.
“Our country's aid would help provide up to 22 months of food security for 227 000 children and pregnant and breastfeeding women in Lesotho.”
Lesotho emergency food crisis
In July 2012, the Prime Minister of Lesotho, Thomas Thabane, declared an emergency food crisis and formally requested support from development partners and the international community.
Following a meeting with President Jacob Zuma in October 2012, the South African government, through the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, responded to the appeal with a donation of R180 million in order to alleviate the impact of the developing food crisis in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
As per government's requirement, all food commodities, including maize, pulses, salt, oil and fish, will be purchased by WFP in South Africa through local suppliers, while 40% of the cereals are to be purchased from smallholder producers. - SAnews.gov.za
