Hon Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, hon Minister, hon members as well as the officials from the departments, I want to start my speech this afternoon with a startling statistic, taken from the 2009 General Household Survey, which estimates that 20% of households in South Africa have inadequate or severely inadequate access to food. Inadequate access to food is most critical in the Free State, followed by KwaZulu- Natal, the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. Minister, the question this House has for you is: How will your department address this scourge, given the combined effects of climate change, decreasing natural resources and increasing food prices?
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has a huge burden to bear. As I present the views of the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs on the Budget Vote for the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, I want to illustrate to the House the mammoth task this department has in carrying out its mandate.
Agriculture is close to all our hearts - from tilling the soil and maintaining fish stocks to ensuring food security for all. This is their primary role for all our people in both the rural and urban areas. The department has great potential to assist our government in the fight against poverty, as the sectors involved - agriculture, forestry and fisheries - play a central and critical role in providing employment, producing food for the country and generating income, and in the subsistence of the rural poor. The role that agriculture and fisheries play in food security and forestry in providing goods and services to the poor makes them a very important sector in a developing country like South Africa.
These three sectors have the potential to revive the rural economy of South Africa. With the appropriate policies and financial support, they can make a significant contribution in addressing our country's current socioeconomic challenges. As a result, these sectors have been highlighted by our government as priority areas for development, since they can create much-needed jobs.
President Zuma's 2011 state of the nation address emphasises the creation of decent jobs. This area is also one of the main focal points of the country's New Growth Path, NGP, in which the agricultural value chain is identified as one of the key job drivers. Therefore, the New Growth Path's aim for agriculture is to create 500 000 jobs in agriculture and agro- processing by 2020; to place 300 000 households in smallholder schemes by 2015; and to upgrade employment in commercial farms.
It is envisaged that key integrated policies will be developed to link smallholding schemes to land reform and provide integrated support to both economical and social programmes, to address high input costs, support farm workers' organisations and to support growth in the commercial sector by addressing price fluctuations in maize and wheat, which are staple foods for many households in our country.
The Industrial Policy Action Plan, Ipap, has identified agro-processing as an area of development. Therefore the department's aim, to develop the agro- processing strategy by June 2011 and create the capacity to implement the strategy through provincial and local role-players, is encouraged. The "one product, one district" approach to ensure competitiveness and economies of scale is fully supported by the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs.
Our government's commitment to ensure food security and increase agricultural production that is accessible to all South Africans is clear in the R4,1719 billion allocation to the department for the 2011-12 financial year.
The department currently administers three conditional agricultural grants to provinces, namely the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme, Casp, Ilima/Letsema and LandCare Programme grants. In this financial year, the Casp grant is allocated R1 billion. This grant, which aims to provide support to newly established and emerging farmers, also includes the extension recovery plan, which focuses on improving extension services through training and provision of equipment for extension officers. This is most needed for the sector. The departmental outputs for Casp are mainly based on infrastructure provision, namely fencing, livestock and poultry structures, water systems and tractors. This is a serious concern, as support that is required for emerging farmers goes beyond just infrastructure provision. Furthermore, our experience when conducting oversight is that much of these assets are either stolen or sold off and the funds are wasted. Our caution to you, Minister, is to ensure that monitoring and evaluation tools are in place when releasing public funds.
Given the provided infrastructure, the department still has the challenge to improve and increase agricultural production, provide post-settlement support, build capacity and improve farmers' skills, including through agribusiness training, improve information systems for planning and decision-making, as well as improve farm income through job creation and food security.
These are all desired outcomes of Casp but they can never be met by providing infrastructure alone. The department measures performance by the number of projects and/or the number of beneficiaries involved in those projects, but there are other benefits that have accrued to communities that are also not fully documented.
Secondly, the LandCare programme, which aims to optimise productivity and the sustainable use of natural resources, is allocated a grant of R57 million for 2011-12. In order to ensure the optimal use of financial resources and to avoid duplication, there is a need for the integration of the LandCare programme with other government programmes with similar objectives in order for it to be effective, so that our communities can be sustainable and vibrant.
The R400 million that is allocated to Ilima/Letsema is welcomed, but the details of what type of projects this money will be spent on are not clear. The selection criteria for the projects need to be aligned to the communities' needs.
In addressing the priority that government attaches to rural development, the department has a target of increasing the number of smallholder farmers by 2014 through an initial assessment programme, pre-settlement practical training and post-settlement support through extension service. This is to be applauded but the committee is more concerned with the progress made in this regard from last year.
For the fisheries sector, the planned small-scale fisheries policy, which is currently under way, is a great initiative to address transformation. The marginalised fishing communities have been left out for far too long and the department's attempt to let all South Africans share in our natural resources is greatly appreciated. The lesson you have learnt during the successful implementation of the Forest Charter will be helpful in addressing the Fisheries Sector Charter.
We seek some clarity on the issue of the decrease in budget allocation to the forestry programme. If you take inflation into account, although your regulatory function has increased in this area, the amounts allocated for forestry oversight and the duration have decreased.
In conclusion, I would like to assert that the department has a large task ahead but it is in capable hands with the leadership of the hon Minister Joemat-Pettersson who, we know, will be able to deliver. Therefore, on behalf of the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs, I would like to support Budget Vote 26 on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Thank you. [Applause.]