Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, ladies and gentlemen. Eastern Cape congratulates the Minister on her appointment to the department and welcomes you back to the sector.
The Minister's budget speech provided an overarching policy and programmatic initiatives, I quote: "making the land productive again". As the province of the Eastern Cape we have taken a decision to build the Eastern Cape we want; the green Eastern Cape.
In 2018-19 financial year, the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, DRDAR, held a Provincial Land Dialogue, which advocated for an inclusive approach to all issues with respect to
land, and supported the proposed expropriation of land without compensation.
In this context the land dialogue proposed that the land debate and its outcomes must not be seen as the exclusive and sole responsibility of government; rather it must be the collective responsibility of government, business and social partners.
Whilst delivering the budget vote speech, the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development vindicated us as the province when she said:
commercialisation of Black farmers remains an important objective if we are to transform the country's agricultural sector.
Whilst delivering the budget speech to the provincial legislature, as the department we had committed on a decision to drive commercialisation of agriculture through commodity partnerships to improve productivity and competitiveness of our smallholder farmers.
Hon Deputy Chair, similar to the country as a whole, the province of the Eastern Cape has too, been governed by racial segregation and
white supremacy as central aspects of South African policy of Apartheid. This racial segregation created western part of the province with irrigation schemes, thereby 'green', and the Eastern part of the province that remains 'brown'.
To this end, the Department has a focus of the revitalisation of the irrigation schemes. Through partnerships the Ncora, Keiskammahoek, and Shiloh schemes have commercially operational dairy units. In addition, the high potential vegetable production areas along the Umzimvubu River at Port St Johns have been provided with irrigation infrastructure to support farmer to produce vegetable at a commercial level.
Notwithstanding the progress, we are determined to turn the situation for the better for the people situated in the eastern part of the province. We shall establish irrigation support at Ingquza Hill, Port St Johns and Mbizana for the production of high value sub-tropical crops.
The feasibility assessments will be completed in 2019-20 and implementation to commence in 2020-21 financial year.
We have seen the open letter to President by the 2016 Free State Farmer of the Year and Mentor of the Year, Mr Nick Serfontein, asking the President to include commercial farmers in the plans for effective land reform. As the province, we have already issued an invitation to all commercial farmers and private sector to support the initiatives that are aimed at developing emerging farmers to be commercially viable enterprises.
The high value crops are the main drivers of agricultural exports, foreign earning and employment opportunities in the province. The citrus partnership with Citrus Growers Association provided an opportunity to increase production and enable black farmers to optimally operate their state of the art Ripplemead Packshed in Ngqushwa.
Hon Deputy Chair, on grain, the partnerships improved the average yield increased from 2 to 3 tons per hectare to 4 to 6 tons per hectare. This has led to 14 black farmers from Alfred Nzo District for the first time export their yellow maize to Vietnam through the support of Grain Farmer Development Association, GFADA.
In areas where black farmers experienced disasters, all those that formed partnership with GFADA received payment from their crop insurance.
The successes of the grain partnership have led to a huge demand and consequently, required additional funding. It is in this context that the department has initiated a partnership agreement with Rural Agro Finance Initiative, RAFI, with Argentina to promote conservation agriculture through co-funding in the prioritised districts, which are Joe Gqabi, O.R Tambo, Chris Hani and Alfred Nzo and Amathole. The partnership is expected to be concluded in the 2019-20 financial year.
On the commercialisation of livestock, the partnership with University of Fort Hare led to the initiation of Vet School in the Eastern Cape. The department has allocated funding for the establishment of the project office at University of Fort Hare to mobilise support and funding for the Vet School.
Furthermore, the partnership with the University of Fort Hare Nguni Trust provided black farmers with breeding stock and animal traceability to enhance their commercial viability and access to markets.
The National Agricultural Marketing Council supported the establishment of new feedlots and maintenance of 14 custom feedlots across the province to increase the commercial beef trade in the red meat value chain.
The commodity partnership approach, hon Deputy Chairperson, has also enabled the department to support Karoo Catch, an aquaculture incubation programme in Beyers Naude. A total of 3 catfish production tunnels with the capacity of 20 tons fish per month were completed.
These tunnels will afford an opportunity to 45 people per year to participate in the incubation programme. The provincial government in partnership with Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, then, received a total of R59 million from the National Treasury and European Union, EU, funding for the implementation Marine Tilapia industry incubation programme at Amathole, Qholorha, over the next three years.
Hon Deputy Chair, the infrastructure development programme is designed to support prioritised commodities for increasing production, marketing and value chain information. In the period
under review, 167 on-farm livestock infrastructure projects were completed including fencing, stock-water systems, and dip tanks.
This resulted in 1 837 smallholder producers benefiting from the support and 863 jobs created. This includes the erection of 246km of fencing in various districts of our province, and 256km worth of fencing materials to be constructed by local labourers using Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, methods; further 60km for wool and mohair, 25 stock water systems, 16 dam scooping, 25 multi- purpose sheds; five on-farm small scale irrigation systems, one custom feedlot, two grow-out fish tunnel and three piggery structures.
The province has two agricultural colleges to contribute to produce the next generation of farmers with a focus on animal production, cropping, forestry and agri-business. In addition the province is also training farmers to improve their productivity and competitiveness.
The partnership with Technology Innovation Agency of the Department of Science and Technology has led to the Eastern Cape receiving 30 FibreLux wool fibre testing machine for wool producers. The FibreLux
wool fibre testing will enable farmers to increase classing, effectiveness and sale price of wool from black farmers.
The Eastern Cape Province in partnership with Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry received a total of R54m from the National Treasury European Union Funding for the implementation commercialisation of sheep production in Alfred Nzo District over the next three years.
The department will be working with the Agricultural Research Council to improve water efficient maize varieties and assist farmers in water scarce areas of the province.
Hon Deputy Chair, furthermore, the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform and Land Bank partnership attracted more than R100 million investment in the Amajingqi for Macadamia nut production, the investment for planting of 100 hectare of the 300 hectare and created more than 148 jobs for young people who are participating in the programme over three years.
During the 2018-19 financial year, the provincial department initiated agricultural economic sector business plans to leverage
funding from the provincial economic stimulus, which is expected to be implemented in 2019-20 financial year.
The Agriculture economic sector business plans mainly focusing on catalytic projects have the greatest potential to contribute to economic growth and employment. The catalytic initiatives are Rural Agro-Industry and Finance Initiative, Red Meat Value Chain through feedlots and sales pens, animal fibre through wool processing plant, crop production through establishment of innovative mechanisation centres on all districts and establishment of the fertiliser manufacturing stock blending plant.
The province has secured R54 million from General Budget Support of the EU through National Treasury to support the sheep value chain development in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality.
Funding for a marine aquaculture incubator programme to be initiated in the Qholora Aquaculture Development Zone, as I said earlier on, is from an allocation of R59 million through the European Union.
These projects will be implemented over the next three coming years, and it is the reason why we stand here to say that we support the
department because we have seen that working together, we can do more.
Hon Deputy Chair, the intensification of production, agro- processing, partnership and marketing in grain continued at the Rural Enterprise Development, RED, Hubs in Mqanduli, Ncora, Emalahleni and Mbizana to ensure food secured communities, increased household income and to create job opportunities.
The marketing outlets such as retail stores stimulated intensive processing, maize meal and animal feed processing. The Farmer Production Support Units in support of the Hubs, further support the commercialisation initiatives though logistical support in primary production, extension services and mechanization.
This enables delivery of farming inputs and transportation of harvest to local markets and to the hubs for agro-processing. We stand here as the Eastern Cape and say, the ANC has done the right thing to choose who is to be the leader of the sector and we are saying 'forward with women and forward with the leadership that has clarity'.
We support the budget that was presented by the Minister. Thank you very much.