Budget cuts agriculture cannot afford

On 21 April, Minister Senzeni Zokwana delivered the budget speech for agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. It needs to be kept in mind that a number of entities such as the Agricultural Research Council, the National Marketing Council, and the Veterinary Council all fall under the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and have to share the same budget.

 

Dan Kriek, deputy president of Agri SA attended the budget speech in Parliament. Kriek pointed out that the budget allocation of DAFF for the 2016/17 financial year is R6.3 billion, which represents a decline of R65.8 million from 2015/16. The portfolio committee stated in its report on the budget that the budgets of priority programmes such as agricultural production, Health and Food Safety and Food Security and Agrarian Reform are declining over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period in real terms.

 

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