Jacob Zuma |
Address by
President JG Zuma on the launch of Operation Phakisa on Agriculture,
Land Reform and Rural Development, Roodeplaat, Pretoria
Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Vice- Minister of
the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine of the People's Republic of China, Mr Mr LI Yuanping and your
delegation,
Representatives of the agriculture and land sectors, business, labour and academia,
Members of the diplomatic corps,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is my great
pleasure to welcome you to the official Launch of Operation Phakisa for
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.
The central theme,
"Transforming the Agricultural Sector towards an Inclusive Rural
Economy", captures critical elements of our socio-economic blueprint the
National Development Plan and our 2017-2019 road map which is radical
economic transformation.
The 2017 State of the Nation Address focused on the critical importance of radical economic transformation.
Land reform is a
central pillar of the radical economic transformation programme. Let me
reiterate what I said in the SONA: true reconciliation will be
impossible to achieve if the land question is not addressed.
If we do not
radically change the patterns of land ownership, control and management
in South Africa we will be creating problems for ourselves in future.
We need to take bold steps that will transform our economy, including land ownership, very fast.
It is partly
because of the urgency of transforming our society that in July 2011, we
introduced Operation Phakisa, the Big Fast Results Methodology which
was adapted from a similar programme from Malaysia. Phakisa is a seSotho
word which means hurry up.
Through the
Operation Phakisa programme we wish to hurry up the delivery of services
to the people and the transformation of our society as a whole.
We have launched
Operation Phakisa in areas such as the Oceans Economy, in health
focusing on the ideal clinic, in education focusing on information
communication technology, and now in agriculture, rural development and
land reform. We will soon launch Operation Phakisa in the mining sector.
Programme Director,
despite many challenges the agricultural sector has faced over the past
few years, recent trends suggest that we are beginning to turn the
corner.
Over the past six
years, employment in the agricultural has sector has risen by almost
three hundred thousand, even while farmworker wages were increasing.
Over the past 15
years, the share of households experiencing hunger has declined by more
than half. And there are signs of economic vibrancy in the former
homeland areas, including impressive declines in unemployment rates
since 2001.
We seek to build on
these achievements, and to strengthen the role of Agriculture, and its
intrinsic relationship with Land Reform and Rural Development, in
further defining an inclusive rural economy for South Africa.
The challenges we
face that we seek to correct with this programme include the fact that
rural areas are still characterized by poverty and inequality. Farm workers still earn the lowest wages among those formally employed in the country.
In addition,
despite increased spending on overall support programmes for smallholder
farmers and Land Reform, the overall performance and productivity of
the sector remains low. The opportunities for producers to participate
in the broader agro-food system are limited.
Through the
Operation Phakisa programme, government has created a platform of
engagement for all stakeholders in the agriculture sector to discuss the
challenges and find solutions during the five-week Laboratory process
through which Operation Phakisa is executed.
I am happy to
report back today on the preparatory work that has been done in the
various labs and to officially launch the programme.
One hundred and
sixty one participants worked tirelessly in understanding the obstacles
and solutions to greater inclusivity for our rural economies, and growth
in the Agricultural sector.
The deliberations
of the Lab participants were organised according to seven work streams.
The seven work streams were Land Reform; Producer Support; Livestock;
Grains; Horticulture; Labour, and Rural Development.
Collectively, the seven work stream teams identified and detailed twenty seven initiatives.The Land Reform
Work Stream, for instance, has identified the establishment of District
Land Reform Delivery Centres; fast tracking of the settlement of
outstanding restitution claims; promoting and protecting the rights of
persons living under insecure tenure; and accelerating land development
and redistribution as key priorities.
The three
commodity-based work streams, namely Grains, Livestock and Horticulture,
focused their initiatives on expanding the potential for trade in both
domestic and export markets, developing and strengthening our value
chains, sharpening our research and innovation systems, and making the
most of our limited water resources.
The Horticulture
work stream, for example, developed three initiatives, one of which is
called Trade Promotion, Retention and Optimisation. This initiative aims
to increase South Africa's Horticultural trade potential from an
estimated fifty four billion rand in 2015 to ninety billion rand by
2030.
The Livestock work
stream, on the other hand, looked at the need for a national livestock
census, and an animal identification and traceability system. They are
looking at the need to strengthen meat exports, improve disease control
mechanisms and ultimately ensure adherence to international trade
protocols.
The Grain work
stream developed a programme called Unlocking Finance for Grains through
Private Public Partnerships. This initiative attempts to address the
limited impact that grant based financial models are having on growth in
the Grain industry. It seeks to use grant funding as collateral to
unlock much needed financial support from development finance
institutions and commercial banks.
This initiative
will link farmers to buyers and processors of grain using contractual
innovations which mitigate the risks for both parties. The estimated
impact is an added five hundred and seven thousand hectares under
production, in turn creating about fifty-three thousand new jobs.
Initiatives to
improve support to producers generally include the Harmonization of the
Legislative Framework Affecting the Agri Value Chain. This initiative is
designed to address the cumbersome nature of existing legislation
housed within different departments. It aims to eliminate hurdles at all
levels, speeding up decision-making processes and facilitating
opportunities, particularly for new entrants across the value chain.
The impact of this
initiative is expected to be an improved turn-around time of 50% for
approval of certain kinds of applications, such as water and
environmental authorisations, land change applications and export
standard applications.
The greatest challenge raised by farmers at the Lab was the fragmented nature of support services.
As a solution, the
Ndimo Desk initiative is a centralised, virtual platform linking
producers to services offered by participating public and private sector
institutions.
Another initiative
by the Producer Support work stream is the Re-engineering Agricultural
Development Finance. This initiative will develop blended financial
products from public and private funds to lessen the current reliance on
grant funds.
The financial
products will be designed to cover both long and medium term loans for
buying farms, equipment and machinery, as well as short term loans for
production inputs. The new blended financial products will consist of a
grant component from government, and a loan component from commercial
banks, Development Finance Institutions and other financiers.
Land Reform and
various kinds of agricultural development must contribute to a more
inclusive and vibrant rural economy. However there are other measures
that must also be taken into account in order to promote rural
development.
Accordingly, the
Rural Development work stream identified Strategic Leadership and
Coordination for Structural Transformation; Augmentation of Existing
Essential Basic Service Roll-out Programmes; and Rural Enterprise
Development as key initiatives.
The slow delivery
of rural transformation due to ineffective coordination, planning,
execution and implementation has kept rural households trapped within
the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment.
The initiative
Strategic Leadership and Coordination for Structural Transformation
seeks to address the fragmentation of budgets and programmes aimed at
rural development.
The ruling party at
its 52nd National Conference in 2007 resolved that government should
establish an appropriate institution with the resources and authority to
drive and coordinate an integrated programme for rural development.
This could be initiated by establishing an inclusive Rural Development
Agency. This Operation Phakisa initiative has endorsed this idea.
The proposal is
that the agency will be established at national level to "mobilise,
co-ordinate and manage resources; finance rural development projects;
and, coach and train participating co-operatives in business and
managerial skills".
It will further
function as a monitoring and evaluation oversight structure for all
rural development programmes, hence ensuring proper reporting and thus
accountability.
The Augmentation of
Existing Essential Basic Service Roll-out Programme proposal, aims to
fast track off-grid solutions to deliver universal access to essential
basic services at a faster pace and at lower cost than would have been
realised were conventional grid solutions applied.
The Labour work
stream came up with various initiatives, including the National Decent
Work Programme, which aims to develop and implement a Decent Work
Programme for the Agricultural Sector.
There is also the
Farm Worker House and Land Ownership Programme, which is an initiative
based on the innovative SMART village concept that seeks to secure title
deeds and basic public infrastructure and services.
This will be supplemented by the provision of support for the farming of the land, through skills and access to the market.
Compatriots, what
has been achieved by the Labs over the past five weeks underscores the
importance of a strong partnership between business, labour, and civil
society. We congratulate the participants on their hard work.
The next step is to
seek public private partnerships with business, organised labour and
civil society in the implementation of the initiatives identified by
this Operation Phakisa. In July 2017 the main stakeholders in the sector
will sign agreements committing themselves to the implementation of
these initiatives.
However, before signature bear in mind this is the year of radical economic transformation. We must see it in this Phakisa.
I want to see a
segment looking at the acceleration of the entry of more black farmers
into the sector and their effective support.
The African Farmers
Association of South Africa marched to the Union Buildings last year
and gave us a memorandum last year detailing what will constitute the
transformation of the sector.
They called for the
declaration of 2017 as the year of the commercialisation of the black
smallholder farming sector. They should not march to my office again.
This Phakisa
provides AFASA and all other organisations seeking the transformation of
agriculture a platform to raise their issues so that they can be
discussed and find expression in government policy and programmes.
The participation of young people in farming is also a critical imperative. It is the future of agriculture in South Africa.
How do we promote
agriculture in our schools? How do we support young black farmers and
encourage young women as well to take up farming. The Department of
agriculture, forestry and fisheries runs a successful annual competition
recognising women farmers. Phakisa is an opportunity to take the
empowerment further.
The expansion of
programmes promoting food production by households and subsistence
farmers is also critically important. We need to see how we are going to
further support the Fetsa Tlala/Xoshindlala food production production
programmes by women in rural areas to promote food security.
Organization such as the Rural Women's Movement may offer good perspectives as well in this regard.
As we finalise the
Phakisa work plan, let us also ensure that the land reform segment talks
to the current policy imperatives on land reform.
The State of the
Nation Address and the makgotla of government and the governing party,
the ANC made it clear that this is year of land reform and of taking
land back to the people. We need to see this gaining expression in the
Phakisa which is our implementation programme.
How are we going to
achieve all the goals mentioned in the State of the Nation Address and
all the laws and policies that we are busy amending to enable faster
land reform, including land expropriation without compensation as
provided for in the Constitution.
I sent the Land
Expropriation Act back to parliament for further consideration, in
particular to enable more public participation.
The stakeholders in
this Phakisa should ensure participation in those discussions and the
outcome must feature in the work of the Phakisa segment. There are other
Bills and policies being processed by the Department of Rural
Development and Land Reform whose implementation must find expression in
the Phakisa.
I have also
directed the Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Council headed by the
President and located in the Department of Trade and Industry to ensure
synergy between its work and that of this Phakisa.
Importantly, there must be synergy between policy and implementation. We will then move forward successfully.
We are all
determined to change the face of agriculture and land reform. We must
move beyond business as usual and seek new ways of doing things which
will change the economic landscape in our country and ensure that the
black majority shares in the wealth. Only then can we have true
reconciliation and an expanded economic cake.
Working together, it will happen.
It is important
that we have already begun working together as various sectors, seeking
solutions in a constructive and comprehensive manner. We are almost
there. By July we should have a programme ready for implementation, a
programme that will be inclusive and bring everyone on board in the
transformation of agriculture and land reform.
Ladies and gentlemen
International trade
is a powerful tool of economic diplomacy and we welcome the
opportunities provided by our strategic partners in opening up their
markets to our products.
In this regard, we
are very pleased that at this launch the Minister of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries and the Vice- Minister of the General
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ)
Mr LI Yuanping of the People's Republic of China, will sign a Protocol
agreement on the Export of South African Beef to China and a Memorandum
of Understanding on the entry and exit animal and inspection quarantine.
The agreement will
give effect to the exports of South African beef to China and unlocks
opportunities for our black smallholder farmers to access the Chinese
market. This agreement further enhances the strategic partnership and
warm relations between South Africa and China. We thank President Xi
Jinping for prioritising relations with South Africa in this manner.
We look forward to further deepening of cooperation in other areas between the two countries.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Through the
Operation Phakisa initiative, we have set in motion a new growth path
for Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.
We congratulate the
teams that have worked hard over a period getting this Phakisa off the
ground. I am convinced that we will make progress together in
implementing these initiatives.
I thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
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