Pretoria – Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson says government is looking at ways of assisting farmers to ensure growth in the sector.
Speaking at the end of a meeting with the agri-business sector and farmers’ unions representatives on Thursday, the minister said farmers’ interests were high on government’s agenda.
She said agriculture played an important role in the economy. “We are doing everything in our power to address farmers’ concerns.”
The meeting was held to discuss, among other things, problems farmers and farm workers are faced with in the sector. Talks also focused on the current state of the sector, the role of the agri-business sector and organised agriculture.
The African Farmers' Association of South Africa (Afasa) President, Mike Mlengana, said he had hoped the meeting would have addressed farmers’ concerns about land issues.
“We cannot grow and invest until we have title deeds,” he said.
Mlengana emphasised the importance of training farmers. “Government must focus on developing small farmers and open trade to all farmers.”
Also attending the meeting was Eastern Cape MEC for Agriculture, Zoleka Capa, who said they were currently trying to encourage farmers to engage with the provincial government to discuss their concerns and needs.
She said the province had plenty of water and that there were about three million hectares of land that must be used. “The Eastern Cape has the potential for growth and therefore, more farmers are needed,” she said.
According to Joemat-Petterson, parties expressed satisfaction with the discussions at the meeting. – SAnews.gov.za
