SA govt set aside R28m for struggling land reform farms

According to the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), the national government has put aside more than R28 million to restructure and fund 13 unproductive land reform farms in the North West province.

Tshepo Diale, spokesman for the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform said that Minister Gugile Nkwinti's initiative aims to "recapitalise poor and previously disadvantaged and under-producing farms, which were secured for emerging farmers through the Land and Redistribution for Agricultural Development Strategy. Hopefully, he noted, the initiative will "increase agricultural production, guarantee food security, job creation and graduate small scale farmers to commercial farmers".

"The department has committed itself to recapitalise more than 1 000 deserted and unproductive farms nationally," Diale said. "The model is designed in such a way that a farm will be funded under close supervision of the department in order to ensure sustainability going forward." According to the GCIS, strategic partners had been selected within the commercial farming community to ensure the success of the programme. "These strategic partners," added Diale "come with their own resources and guarantee uptake along the value chain or buying of products from the farmers."

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