Western Cape Provincial Minister of Agriculture Ivan Meyer, on Monday, released a research report by an independent research company, Phuhlisani Solutions.
The report found that 83% of the land-reform farmers who received post-settlement support (PSS) from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDoA) consider themselves successful agri-businesses.
This stands in sharp contrast to the national government’s 90% failure rate.
“We are proud of the outcome of the latest round of evaluation of agricultural businesses and projects supported by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s post-settlement support programme”, said Meyer.
“The success of land reform in the Western Cape is underpinned by the quality of extension services, training and financial support and mentoring received from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture and its industry partners.”
Western Cape Head of Agriculture Dr Mogale Sebopetsa highlighted a key component of his department’s intervention to achieve these outcomes – the “commodity approach” – which “creates an ecosystem of support for successful land reform.
“The Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s land-reform success is underpinned by the partnership and collaboration it has with industry partners to strengthen support to our land-reform farmers through the provision of commodity-specific extension support.”
The latest evaluation confirms the efficacy of our partnerships and collaborations.
“The evaluation confirms the Western Cape Government’s approach to land reform is delivering the desired results for the beneficiaries and economy of the Western Cape.
One such beneficiary is Pieter Mentoor, who said: “The Western Cape Department of Agriculture has been supporting me on my journey to grow my business. This year I will harvest a hectare of produce for the first time, and I have already planted another hectare. My business is growing and I consider myself blessed.”
The report also makes several recommendations for the WCDoA:. To reconsider its role in coordinating PSS and assume a pivotal role at provincial and district levels. . To strongly assert the need to be involved in “pre-settlement” planning, given the highly negative impacts stemming from its exclusion. .To engage all players in finding a solution to the delayed allocation of CASP funds. . To draw in AgriWC and its members to play a stronger role in PSS.. To play a more proactive role in addressing market access.. To undertake a broader review of the WCDoA PSS programme – extending the focus beyond those producers that have received funding through CASP and Ilima Letsema.
Mariette Kotze, Group Operations Manager at fruit industry body Hortgro, a key commodity partner to the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, said: “The report confirms real progress in developing farmers from smallholder farmers to becoming commercial farmers. Regarding elements such as production, access to markets and finance, investing and growing the business and creating jobs, the department has been fairly successful.
“Commodity partners such as Hortgro now stand ready to assist the Department to tackle the issues highlighted in the recommendations.”
“Land reform is one of the building blocks of our Growth for Jobs Strategy,” said the minister. “We will now develop a management implementation plan to ensure that the recommendations in the report are implemented.”
A copy of the report can be accessed at www.elsenburg.com/publication/land-reform-evaluation-report-2019-2022/
