A massive skills drive will be required to empower poorly educated rural farmers and those involved in cooperatives. To drive this, government has set aside billions of rands over the medium term to speed up the process, writes Chris Bathembu.
Launched in 2009 in at least six provinces, the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme aims to provide education and skills, small farmer development and promote cooperatives among others. According to the Rural Development and Land Reform Department's strategic plan, transformation initiatives will focus on expanding and supporting individual households to improve food security as well as focusing on development of smallholder family farming initiatives. To drive this, government has put aside more than R2.6 billion over the medium term to speed up the process. A pilot project was launched in Muyexe, Limpopo, with the purpose of ensuring that rural areas and small scale farmers have access to improved social and economic infrastructure such as schools, houses and clinics.
But with the number of emerging farmers estimated at 650 000, the state will need to move with speed with the much needed training. At stake is also the target of having 30 percent of the country's agricultural land in the hands of blacks by 2014.
Agricultural Sector Education Training Authority (AgriSETA) has, over and above its normal allocation to rural people's development, dedicated R20 million to be used jointly with the funding from the National Skills Fund (NSF) to embark on agricultural restitution projects.
At least 1 517 farmers and farm workers are enrolled in learnerships under AgriSETA while about 3 314 are engaged in skills programmes. For this reason, AgriSETA and the Commissioner for the Restitution of Land Rights have entered into a memorandum of understanding and have jointly prepared an application to the NSF. While many of these emerging farmers may have some level of working knowledge, of particular challenge is the low level of education amongst them as some could not even do basic maths.
AgriSETA Skills Training Manager Johann Engelbrecht said the training demand was huge. AgriSETA application for a training programme to the NSF this year was for R88 million and after adding up the training authority's contribution, the project will end up costing around R108 million.
"This is foreseen as a first phase and once this project has gained momentum, it is planned within 18 months to approach the NSF for a further R150 million which, if approved, will bring the total project value to R258 million," said Engelbrecht.
He said in order to implement this project in a professional and efficient manner, the AgriSETA has already appointed a full-time project manager and administrator. Once final approval of the application is received from the NSF the project human resource capacity will be expanded drastically in accordance to the business plan.
AgriSETA, being the largest body that provides training in the agricultural sector, apportions approximately 50 percent annually of its discretionary funds of R72 million to rural development in various forms. But Engelbrecht said judging by the demand and the massive task of having to train more than 4 800 under-resourced farmers and farm workers annually, it was quite clear that funding was not nearly sufficient to address all the development needs of rural farmers.
Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tina Joemat-Peterson recently promised to prioritise up to R10 million in the current financial year towards training programmes. A senior official in the department has confirmed that several courses appropriately designed to accommodate the varying educational levels of farmers have now been introduced through the department's12 Colleges of Agriculture. The courses range between NQF level 1 and 4.
"These Colleges play a sustainably important role in the general human resources development of farmers and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector. It is for this reason that the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is turning them into national Agricultural Training Institutes," says the department's Chief Director of Information Noncedo Vutula.
However, the department relies heavily on SETAs which in turn battle with the number of people that require training every year. Vutula says to address the demand challenge, the department has, over the years been implementing a "master mentorship programme" in partnership with several agricultural commodity organisations. This flagship programme provides a training environment where practical skills on a variety of subjects in agricultural development and management are transferred to black subsistence, small holder and emerging farmers under the supervision of a master mentor provided by a commodity organisation.
"The Master Mentor is an expert in a number of aspects who has been trained by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to become an accredited Mentor," said Vutula. She said to date, more than 10 000 black farmers had gone through the project and some were able to stand on their own feet. The figure may look like a drop in the ocean compared to the reported 650 000 emerging black farmers in desperate for training, but Vutula said the department's programmes have equipped farmers with appropriate production skills, financial management, organizational skills, and entrepreneurship, skills that can be transferred to other farmers.
As a result of the success of this programme, the national Agri-Summit held in 2008 in Limpopo resolved that the programme be rolled out in all nine provinces at the beginning this year.
The department also plans to develop what it calls a viable and sustainable cooperative business for subsistence and small-scale farmers. The intention is to enable farmers to participate both in the domestic market as well as lucrative niche markets.
"This is one of the ways in which we can link small players to the established market of commercial agriculture," said Vutula.
The focus would be to support local fresh produce markets, processing facilities and additional market access for the surplus produce of subsistence and small-holder producers. Engelbrecht said the AgriSETA has over the past three financial years constantly increased its investment in cooperatives. To date the organisation is directly engaged with 383 cooperatives. These are largely small scale farming communities.
Coupled to the matter of rural development is that of land reform - specifically agricultural land reform. Rural Development Minister Gugile Nkwinti is aware that his newly created department will have to move with vigor in terms of staff recruitment to ensure the speedy roll out of the land reform plans outlined by Zuma in his state of the nation address earlier this year. Writing in his department's three-year strategic plan, Nkwinti speaks of the "fundamental review" of the country's current land turner system.
He said this will be done with thorough rigorous engagement with all South Africans "so that we should emerge with a tenure system which will satisfy all South Africans".
Nkwinti said his reforms will satisfy the aspirations of all South Africans, irrespective of race, gender or class.
"It is therefore fitting and appropriate that the strategy of the department of rural development and land reform be agrarian transformation interpreted to denote a rapid and fundamental change in the relations (systems and patterns of ownership and control)," he said.
Nkwinti also promised during his department's recent Budget Vote that he was in the process of recruiting the required capacity of staff and said this would be achieved through partnerships with tertiary and research institutions.
"An overview of the department's overall performance has been completed and has guided the development of certain short and medium term strategic operations," he said
