Government in plan to provide R2bn to farmers

The government is pumping R2-billion into 44 district municipalities in a bid to develop emerging farmers and boost the agriculture sector. 

Despite past failed projects like the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa) and the Accelerated Growth Initiative of South Africa (Agisa), Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti is confident the plan to have agri-parks in municipalities will succeed. 

Nkwinti was talking in Addo yesterday at a consultative meeting with farmers from the Sarah Baartman District Municipality. He said the government had learnt a lot from mistakes they had made with Agisa and Jipsa and would now correct what was not done right. “We’re learning from the past all the time,” he said.

“When we started Agisa, one of the things we did not take into account was that if you accelerate production, where are your markets?

“We did not think about that, so in a sense we learnt from the inadequacies of past initiatives.” 

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