Speaking at the Zululand District Land and Agrarian Indaba held in Vryheid over the weekend, Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana said: “We are going to face our challenge by increasing black entrepreneurs in agribusiness.
“We will also increase agricultural production by 10 to 15%. Finally we are going to increase the agricultural trade by 10 to 15%.”
According to the studies conducted by the department, an estimated 200,000 people are already active in the agricultural sector and 50,000 of these are in the agribusiness industry.
Based on the three million hectares already redistributed, it is estimated that approximately 6,750 targeted beneficiaries have already been introduced to the agribusiness industry, she said.
All these targeted beneficiaries will come from new primary producers, farm dwellers, communal farmers and from the new and existing black agribusiness entrepreneurs from the rural, urban, and peri-urban areas.
However, the department is committed to fast track the land delivery towards attaining the presidential priorities through the Project Management Unit (PMU).
Minister Xingwana said the broad objectives of the PMU are to accelerate sustainable land redistribution, productive use of agricultural land and alignment of settlement support services to land reform projects and facilitating public private partnership.
PMU has committed to redistribute five million hectares of white-owned agricultural land to 10,000 new agricultural producers and increase black entrepreneurs in the agribusiness industry by 10%, by March 2009.
Article published courtesy of BuaNews
