Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister and hon members, South Africa has a dual agricultural economy. One part concentrates on commercial farming and exports and another part on subsistence farming for citizens and families in rural areas.
South Africa is also one of the few countries capable of exporting food on a regular basis. This is largely due to our summer season coinciding with winter in a number of wealthy countries in the developed world. For us to be competitive and take advantage of these seasonal boons, we need a department that ensures that our foodstuffs, produce and animal products are of a globally acceptable standard.
The department has a duty to ensure that our land and animals remain disease-free. On 14 April this year we had to suspend the export of ostrich meat to the European Union after a strain of avian flu had been detected in the Western Cape.
All our cloven-hoof exports are still suspended. This last outbreak of foot- and-mouth disease has had a crippling effect on meat exports and has thus been a hurdle to our economic recovery, with countries such as China suspending all meat imports from South Africa.
The situation could have been avoided if simple heed had been given by the department to the call for the re-establishment of the red-line fence, which would have adequately controlled the movement of livestock within areas regarded as high-risk areas. In 2008 the sum of R25 million was allocated for the repair of the red-line fence, and one can only wonder what happened to those funds as no repairs were effected.
The localised effects of this outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on the local livestock farming community in northern KwaZulu-Natal have been devastating. Subsistence farmers who usually slaughter and sell meat and livestock at pension pay points, auctions and areas along the road have all been prevented from exercising their trade and only means of generating income for their families. This is unacceptable and could easily have been prevented.
Chairperson, the Ministry provided an allocation for the purchase of tractors and other farming tools and hardware to subsistence farmers, in order to promote successful farming practices within the areas in order to promote food security. These initiatives were highly welcomed by the communities and should have assisted greatly with the success of communal land use.
One of the challenges, however, was that the tractor operators were employees who worked from 08:00 to 16:00. These employees needed first to be transported to the areas where they were working, the result being that the tractors were only running a couple of hours per day and hence very little ploughing was actually taking place.
We have one of the largest man-made forestry resources on the planet. Thirteen percent of our surface area can be used for crop farming and production. We are the world's 10th largest sunflower seed and sugar producer. Our wine industry is world-class. We have an abundance of arable land and there is no reason for us to experience shortages of any kind of foodstuffs.
Our rural farmers require assistance with regard to knowledge of farming methods, easy access to finance and farming implements, etc, and both sectors require a disease-free environment in which to farm. The IFP hopes to see the department taking a far more proactive approach in this regard. The IFP supports the Budget Vote.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, the question that confronts us all on a global scale is: How do we increase agricultural production without vastly increasing the problems of air pollution, ecological disturbances, soil erosion, the pollution of streams and waterways, and destroying what is left of the world's natural habitat?
I believe that increasing food production sustainably is the central overriding and defining issue of agriculture today. I would like to repeat it: Increasing food production sustainably is the central overriding and defining issue of agriculture today.
But we are forced by nature to learn some harsh lessons about the terrain upon which we must produce food and fibre for improved food security and sustainable livelihoods. The greatest challenge the world over is climate change.
According to a report by the International Food Policy Research Institute it is predicted that 25 million more children will be malnourished in 2050 due to the effects of climate change.
Irrigation water supply reliability - the ratio of water consumption to requirements - is expected to worsen in sub-Saharan Africa due to climate change. Without climate change, calorie availability is expected to increase in sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2050. With climate change, however, it is predicted that food availability in the region will average 500 calories less per person in 2050 - that is a 20% decline.
Untimely droughts, floods and severe cold have already had a huge socioeconomic impact on South Africa, and especially on agriculturalists and the rural community.
We are also aware of the fact that due to the increase in the global population and climate change the prevalence of certain pestilence and diseases has increased. Climate change also impacts the distribution patterns of certain pests, such as the Mediterranean fruit fly, which can impact the fruit production industry tremendously.
The floods that ravaged the southern hemisphere at the beginning of the year and the apparent upward trend of natural disasters remind us that when it comes to matters of nature we are not in charge. Of essence, we must accept the changes that are taking place, and adjust and respond as rapidly as possible. Only in this way do we stand any chance of succeeding in nature-dependent activities such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Conditions and new weather patterns have an impact on our production systems.
Furthermore, the outbreaks of animal diseases and pests require of us to strengthen our early-warning systems and to develop new adaptation and mitigation strategies. Taking advantage of the benefits of technology which will enable us to plan well ahead, we can thus plan around these new weather phenomena.
The integrated growth and development strategy of the department takes a sober look at our past performance. It considers the implications of bringing these three sectors, namely fisheries, forestry and agriculture, under one roof; it examines the changing context in which we find ourselves; and formulates our overarching response to existing and emerging challenges, not least the urgent priority of job creation.
One of the vehicles identified in the process of developing the integrated growth and development strategy is the specification of key commodity strategies that will help identify what we hope to achieve and the roles of different stakeholders, both up and down the value chain. In this regard the department has decided that by 2014 four key commodity strategies will be designed and implemented.
As part of this process the department will focus on investment in production infrastructure, skills development and targeted research, in part focusing on staple grains such as wheat and maize that feed our country, but also on high-value products that feed our trade balance, including fish and certain livestock products, as well as forestry products such as timber and pulp. Through these programmes we aim to create opportunities for sustainable rural incomes and employment, as well as contribute to the sustained growth of our sectors and the nation's economy.
The department has three strategic objectives that are directly linked to the Medium-Term Strategic Framework priority of rural development and food security, namely to promote efficient production, handling and processing of food, fibre and timber; to co-ordinate government food security initiatives; and to deliver comprehensive support towards rural development.
The role of the department with regard to land reform is to ensure that agricultural and forestry land transferred is utilised productively and sustainably. This is the area in which government has failed in the past. It is of the utmost importance that all stakeholders now come to the realisation that land does not automatically bring about wealth. Agriculture is a complicated discipline and without the necessary technology and knowledge any farmer will fail.
Voorsitter, ek het verlede jaar in hierdie debat verwys na die fout om vereenvoudigde persepsies oor landbou in plaas van koue feite te gebruik om belangrike besluite te neem. Dit is altyd verkeerd om besluite so te neem.
Van hierdie verkeerde stellings, wat maklik in die media en deur almal as feite gemaak word, is, onder andere, die volgende: eerstens, dat alle swart opkomende boere misluk. Dit is net nie waar nie. Daar is baie boere wat misluk; daar is ook suksesvolle boere, party vandag hier.
'n Tweede stelling wat gemaak word, is dat alle kommersile boere ryk is. Dit is ook nie waar nie. Ek weet nie of die armes ook hier is nie. Ek dink nie hulle kan die vliegtuigkaartjie bekostig nie.
Derdens, die stelling word gemaak dat Suid-Afrikaanse boere, en veral graanboere, nie beskerming teen onregverdige buitelandse mededinging en subsidies nodig het nie.
Laastens is daar 'n valse gerustheid wat ek by sommige mense raakloop dat goedkoop graaninvoere vanaf die buiteland kos se pryse in Suid-Afrika by kiesers sal laag hou, sonder om te besef wat die langtermyngevare daarvan vir Suid-Afrika, en dan ook vir alle kiesers in Suid-Afrika, kan wees.
Waarna eintlik in Suid-Afrika gestrewe moet word, is voedselsekerheid, verkieslik uit eie bronne. Hoekom? Omdat die afhanklikheid van buitelandse invoere, veral van stapelvoedsel, noodlottige risiko's op die lang termyn vir ons kan inhou. Wat gebeur, byvoorbeeld, as die buitelandse pryse skielik buitensporig styg en daar intussen, vanwe die invoere van graan, nie meer Suid-Afrikaanse graanboere oor is om binnelands relatief goedkoop te produseer nie?
Daarom moet ons eenvoudig sorg dat kommersile landbou mededingend bly en wins kan maak. Hoekom is dit belangrik? Omdat ons daardeur ook vir die nuwe opkomende boere die voorbeeld gee van wat moontlik is as mens kommersieel sou begin boer. Maar, as kommersile landbou nie meer winsgewend is nie, watter kans of moontlikheid is daar dan dat opkomende kleinboere suksesvol tot kommersile boere sal kan ontwikkel? Ek glo die toekoms l daarin om meer sulke swart kommersile boere te ontwikkel.
Teen hierdie agtergrond wil ek iets oor bio-brandstof s. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, in this debate last year, I referred to the mistake of using simplified perceptions instead of cold facts when major decisions are taken with regard to agriculture. It is always a mistake to make decisions in this way.
Among these inaccurate assertions, which are easily proffered as facts in the media and by everybody, are, among others, the following: firstly, that all black emerging farmers are unsuccessful. This is simply not true. There are many farmers who are unsuccessful; there are also successful farmers, some of whom are here today.
A second assertion that is made is that all commercial farmers are wealthy. This is also not true. I don't know whether the poor ones are here as well. I don't think they can afford the aeroplane ticket.
Thirdly, the assertion is made that South African farmers, and in particular grain farmers, don't need protection against unfair foreign competition and don't need subsidies.
Finally, I encounter a false sense of security among certain people that cheap grain imports from abroad will keep food prices low in South Africa for the voters, without realising what the long-term risks of this could be for South Africa, and, as a consequence, for all voters in South Africa as well.
What we should aspire to in South Africa is food security, preferably from our own sources. Why? Because our dependence on foreign imports, especially for staple food, could, in the long term, have detrimental consequences for us. What would happen, for example, if the foreign prices suddenly increased exorbitantly and, in the meanwhile, because of the importation of grain, there weren't any grain farmers left in South Africa to produce it locally relatively cheaply?
That's why we simply have to ensure that commercial farming remains competitive and is able to make a profit. Why is this important? Because, by doing this, we also offer an example to new emerging farmers as to what is possible should one opt to farm commercially. But, if commercial farming isn't profitable anymore, what chance or possibility would there be that emerging smallholders would successfully develop into commercial farmers? I believe that the future lies in developing more such black commercial farmers.
Against this background, I would like to say something about biofuels.]
The South African countryside has the potential to increase the supply of renewable energy through the recycling of waste materials, harvesting solar energy, as well as producing biofuels.
The latter case will be considered against the backdrop that South Africa has been able to produce surpluses of maize over the past three years and that the sugar industry annually produces exportable surpluses of sugar. This is of course an emotional subject, with some observers expressing the concern that biofuel production will come at the expense of the poor going hungry. While in some countries there may indeed be such a trade-off, I believe that would not be the case for South Africa.
The fact is that even while maize meal prices were increasing in 2008, South Africa was exporting maize. These are the realities of living in a global village - it is such a struggle for farmers to make a living from growing grain crops that they would have been foolish not to have taken advantage of rising world prices.
Generally speaking, the better our farmers are - large and small - at growing maize and other crops, the larger our surpluses, the lower the prices and the harder it is for farmers to survive.
Chair, we are an oil importing country. That is putting it mildly: We are oil-dependent! Crude oil is our single greatest import item, and by a wide margin. At the moment the price of crude oil is increasing daily. Transport costs are hurting our poor just as much as food prices and do influence food prices directly.
Let us start growing some of our own fuel, thus affording our grain farmers a bit of breathing space, thereby creating job opportunities and at the same time creating a significant new market for our smallholders. Recent research by the National Agricultural Marketing Council shows that although the net income of the wine grape producers has increased, enormous cost increases have caused the net farming income to decrease by 70% between 2004 and 2010. Let me give you just one example: The wine grape producers' total production cost increased from 2009 to 2010 by 7,5%, exceeding inflation for the same period of time.
Elke jaar tydens die Minister van Finansies se begrotingsrede, word daar gelag en gekgeskeer as die Minister sy jaarlikse verhoging van die sogenaamde sondebelasting op, onder andere, wyn aankondig. Ek was ook al deel daarvan. As daar egter na die verhogings die afgelope tyd in die produksiekoste van die wynbedryf gekyk word, is dit nie meer snaaks nie. Ons is besig om op 'n krisis af te stuur.
Ek het al informele gesprekke met die Minister van Finansies hieroor gevoer, maar ek glo dit is tyd dat die erns van die saak deur die departement, asook deur die produsente, onder die aandag van die Minister van Finansies gebring word.
Die belangrikheid van navorsing word deur die departement besef. Dit is egter nie genoeg nie. Ons moet navorsing as 'n belangriker prioriteit beskou en moet daarom die effektiwiteit van ons navorsingsinstellings verhoog. Deur genoegsame navorsing kan ons die verspreiding van siektes en peste wat die landbousektor laml, verhoed en bestry. Dit sluit ook die siektes en peste in wat gevolge van aardverwarming kan wees. Ons moet vinniger en meer effektief optree om hierdie uitbrake te verhoed.
Dit is van kardinale belang dat ons nou leer uit die onlangse gebeure: dat die Departement van Landbou, Bosbou en Visserye en ander betrokke departemente leer uit die onlangse vloedskade - ek het die Noord-Kaap gaan besoek en gekyk hoe dit daar lyk - en nou reeds planne formuleer om dit in die toekoms te voorkom; en dat ons leer uit die bek-en-klouseeruitbraak en ook leer uit die uitbraak van die H5N2-virusstam onder die volstruise by Oudtshoorn. Alleenlik so kan ons die betrokke stelsels verbeter en in die toekoms beter hanteer.
Daar is baie uitdagings in die landbou-, bosbou- en visseryesektore, maar ons kan uiters suksesvol wees indien ons produktief saam met die georganiseerde landbou en die privaatsektor werk. Daarom is dit ook belangrik dat alle besluite wat geneem word in the beste belang van Suid- Afrika as 'n geheel is.
Ons het vir baie lank deur middel van navorsing en tegnologie van Suid- Afrika 'n uiters suksesvolle landbouproduserende land gemaak. Soos ek reeds aangetoon het, word die landbouprobleme steeds groter op pad na 2050. Ons durf nie toelaat dat Suid-Afrika vanwe ons kortsigtigheid of vanwe 'n gebrek aan fondse vir navorsing en tegnologie-ontwikkeling agterraak nie. Ek glo ons het steeds die nodige kundigheid. Ons moet dit net reg aanwend.
Ek het 'n minuut oor. Die agb voorsitter van die portefeuljekomitee het na Jan van Riebeeck verwys. Ek is nie van Jan van Riebeeck se mense nie. Jan van Riebeeck was 'n kolonialis wat gekom het en gegaan het. Hy het sy tred gegaan. Hy is dood in 'n ander land.
Ek is wel van die vryburgers wat in 1657 ges het, "Ons bly in Afrika agter." Dit is hoekom ek hier staan en s dat as dit met Suid-Afrika goed gaan, as dit met die landbou goed gaan, dan gaan dit met ons almal goed. En as die skip sink, sink ons almal saam aan die einde. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Every year, during the Minister of Finance's Budget Speech, there is laughter and banter when the Minister announces his annual increase in the so-called sin taxes on, among other things, wine. I have also been a part of that. However, if one looks at the recent increases in the production costs of the wine industry, then it isn't funny anymore. We are heading for a crisis.
I have had informal discussions with the Minister of Finance about this, but I believe that the time has come that the gravity of the situation be brought to the attention of the Minister by the department as well as by the producers.
The importance of research is realised by the department. However, this is not enough. We should regard research as a more important priority and, consequently, have to improve the effectiveness of our research institutions. Through sufficient research we can prevent and combat the spread of diseases and plagues, that are paralysing the agricultural sector. This includes the diseases and plagues that might be caused by global warming. We have to act more swiftly and more effectively to prevent these outbreaks.
It is of the utmost importance that we start learning from recent events: that the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and other involved departments learn from the recent floods - I visited the Northern Cape and saw what it looks like - and start formulating plans already to prevent this from happening in the future; and that we learn from the foot- and-mouth disease outbreak and also learn from the outbreak of a strain of the H5N2 virus among ostriches in Oudtshoorn. It is only in this way that we can improve the relevant systems and manage them better in the future.
There are many challenges in the agricultural, forestry and fisheries sectors, but we can be very successful if we productively collaborate with organised agricultural and the private sector. For this reason it is also important that all decisions are taken in the best interests of South Africa as a whole.
For a very long time we were able, through research and technology, to develop South Africa into a very successful agriculturally productive country. As I have already indicated, the agricultural problems are becoming more extensive as we move towards 2050. We dare not allow South Africa to fall behind because of our short-sightedness or because of a lack of funds for research and technological development. I believe that we still have the necessary expertise. We just have to apply it correctly.
I have a minute left. The hon chairperson of the portfolio committee referred to Jan van Riebeeck. I am not a descendant of Jan van Riebeeck's. Jan van Riebeeck was a colonialist who came and left. He went his own way. He died in another country.
I am, however, a descendant of the free burghers who, in 1657, said, "We will stay behind here in Africa." This is why I am standing here and I can say that if all is well with South Africa, if all is well with agriculture, then everything is well with us all. And if the ship goes down, we will all go down in the end.]
Chairperson, the Minister spoke at length about job creation in the sector, outlined the zero hunger campaign, and touched on opportunities for future growth as well as safety and security in the sector. If you summarise all of these, clearly Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has a mammoth task ahead.
It also shows that when the world is facing socioeconomic challenges such as food security, this department has a crucial role to play. The 2011-12 budget allocation will be prioritised accordingly, to respond to issues of food security, job creation, as well as creating opportunities for sustainable livelihoods.
Mr Chairman, from my side I thank the hon Minister, I thank the department, organised agriculture and the industry for their co-operation. Surely on your own you cannot do this job. We do not have an option but to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries succeed in the best interests of South Africa. I thank you. [Applause.]