Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, poverty, food insecurity and environmental degradation are part of the reality that developing countries are confronted with on a daily basis, and have been recognised as critical development challenges that need the highest priority in the developmental agenda.
The Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN defines food security as a "situation that exists when all people at all times have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life".
The consequences of food insecurity are clearly visible, and appear in the form of deteriorating health situations and breakdown of communities and family structures, as families are forced to migrate in search of livelihoods.
Poverty, inequality and joblessness in South Africa are the consequences of centuries of underdevelopment and exploitation consciously perpetrated on the majority of the population, which had the most destructive and enduring impacts on rural communities. Consequently, the structural faults that characterised the apartheid rural economy remain with us today.
The 52nd National Conference of the ANC, therefore, resolved to pursue a programme of economic transformation based on, amongst others, a comprehensive and clear rural development strategy, which builds the potential for rural sustainable livelihoods, particularly for African women, as part of an overarching vision of rural development with strong interventions in the private land market, combined with better use of state land for social and economic objectives. It also transforms patterns of landownership and agrarian production, thereby restructuring and deracialising the agricultural sector to be sustainable, inclusive, equitable and produce decent jobs.
Unemployment is disproportionately high in rural areas where the majority of those with jobs earn poverty wages. Limited opportunities of sustainable livelihoods in rural areas, insecurity of tenure and widespread evictions contribute directly to the growth of informal settlements in cities and towns. The challenges of urban poverty and migration to cities are therefore inseparably bound with the struggle to defeat poverty, create work and build a better life for South Africans living in rural areas.
Many rural areas still lack basic infrastructure such as roads, water and electricity supply. This lack of infrastructure entrenches the problems of chronic poverty and limits the potential of communities to sustain economic growth, rural livelihoods and social development. Efforts to extend free basic services to all our people are slowest to reach rural areas and farm dwellers. Moreover, access to government services, such as education and health care, are the weakest in rural areas.
Social grants are making a huge contribution to pushing back the frontiers of poverty, fighting hunger and improving potential for economic growth in rural areas. However, in the struggle to build a better life for all, grants are no substitute for a broader strategy of rural development and employment creation.
Millions of our people who farm on small agricultural plots do make a substantial contribution to poverty reduction and the creation of sustainable livelihoods in the most adverse conditions. Part-time and full- time agriculture in these areas, therefore, remains a critical opportunity in our people's efforts to combat poverty, provide social security for themselves and build sustainable livelihoods.
The prevailing structure of commercial agriculture is the outcome of centuries of dispossession, labour coercion and state subsidy for the chosen few. Since 1994, commercial agriculture has continued to develop in a manner that is characterised by growing concentration of ownership and farm size, underutilisation of vast tracts of land, capital intensity, job shedding and the casualisation of labour.
While deregulation, liberalisation and the resulting competitive pressures on the sector have eliminated many of the privileges of the large-scale farm sector, various aspects of policy and legislation still reinforce the legacy of the past, making it difficult to redistribute land to a modern and competitive smallholder sector. At the same time, commercial agriculture has also reacted to legislation intended to protect the rights of workers and farm dwellers by sharply reducing their number, resulting in significant job losses and painful evictions of people living on farms.
Rural development is a central pillar of our struggle against unemployment, poverty and inequality. High levels of rural poverty and inequality inhibit the growth of our economy and undermine our efforts to ensure that growth is more equitably shared amongst our people.
Programmes of rural development, land reform and agrarian change are being integrated into a clear strategy that seeks to empower the poor, particularly those who already derive all or part of their livelihoods from the exploitation of productive land. In line with the Freedom Charter's call that "the land shall be shared among those who work it", the critical beneficiaries of change are rural women, farm dwellers, household producers, small businesses and rural entrepreneurs and residents that wish to engage in agricultural livelihoods.
Since the majority of the poor in the country are in rural areas, it makes sense that rural development emerged as a key strategy of the ANC-led government to fight poverty. The aim of rural development is to enable the rural poor to take charge of their destiny by creating sustainable rural livelihoods through optimal use and management of natural resources.
The Letsema programme was implemented in 2008-09 as part of the land and agrarian reform project and managed by provincial departments. The main focus was increasing household food production on fallow land, and it targeted disadvantaged rural communities. It became popular through the provision of agricultural starter packs in response to increased food prices associated with the economic recession.
A once-off allocation of R96 million was made in that year with additional allocations of R1 billion being made over the medium term to further strengthen the programme. The additional allocation is commendable and it is hoped that the increase will produce the desired outcomes in terms of sustainable household self-sufficiency in rural areas and increased agricultural production that will subsequently create decent jobs.
I call upon members to look at The Cape Times on Tuesday this week, on 24 August 2010, where one of these projects is working here in the Western Cape and it is quoted as being a very good example.
The participation of the poor in the design, implementation and monitoring of rural development programmes is a key objective of the developmental state. And it must be supported by appropriate structures to give voice to affected communities and structure their engagement with government programmes. Again, I call upon the members to look at the Muyexe pilot project where the community members participate in the design of their future.
The developmental state has a central role to play in leading and sustaining rural development. This includes leading the process of land reform, promoting sustainable change in social and economic relations and supporting the goals of growth and development in the rural economy.
Rural development therefore is taken beyond implementation of projects to a more integrated programme, requiring the financial commitments by various Ministries and co-ordinated centrally. Food production and food security in these economically depressed areas go beyond the narrow definition of rural development to the creation of economic nodes that can contribute to the economic recovery in a visible way.
The department of Rural Development and Land Reform was established by President Jacob Zuma on 11 May 2009, when he announced his Cabinet, with a mandate to develop and implement a comprehensive rural development programme throughout the country. And the key focus is to ensure sustainable land and agrarian reform that contributes to rural development, food security and improved quality of life in rural areas, in line with the ANC-led government's key objective to combat unemployment and poverty.
The department, however, cannot do all this work alone. Rural development is a transversal function and for the government to achieve its key objective of vibrant and sustainable rural communities and long-term outcome of social cohesion and development, rural communities have to be both objects and subjects of all processes affecting them. [Time expired.]