During the year under review, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, together with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, implemented an accelerated integrated agricultural production programme in seven provinces. This initiative, while being far from perfect, mobilised additional resources from different departments across all spheres of government to such a degree that we were able to place more than 35 000 additional hectares of agricultural land under production. While the fruits of this initiative will be evident in the forthcoming harvesting season, it has already impacted positively on job creation.