Speaker's notes for Limpopo Premier Mr Sello Moloto at the launch of Limpopo Agri-Business Academy, Tompi Seleka Agricultural College, Sekhukhune District

Programme director,
MEC for Agriculture Mme Dikeledi Magadzi,
Executive Mayor of Sekhukhune District Municipality,
Practitioners in the agricultural field,
Distinguished farmers,
Guests, ladies and gentlemen

It is with a great sense of accomplishment that today we witness the coming into fruition of one of the long awaited projects of our provincial government. The birth of Limpopo Agri-Business Academy is in line with the overall vision of our government to see the sector being competitive and relevant in the fight against poverty and underdevelopment.

It is needless to remind you that agriculture is one of the important cornerstones of the economy of our province given the fact that almost 89% of the province's geographic area is classified rural. Agriculture is one of our major earners of foreign currency and a key factor in the provision of household food security. As many of you will know, our province is endowed with abundant agricultural resources and it is one of South Africa's prime agricultural lands. The province produces 45% of citrus, 57% of macadamia, 60% of tomatoes and 33% of oranges and 70% mangoes in the South African market. The larger part or 80% of over R2 billion annual turnover of the Johannesburg fresh produce market is from this province.

Therefore, there cannot be any doubt that agriculture plays an important role both in the welfare of our people and in the economic development of the province and the country as a whole. It is one of the major creators of jobs and a pillar of the provincial economy alongside mining and tourism. Notwithstanding the importance and relevance of the sector in the economy, the province continues to be confronted with the phenomenon of dry spells, veld fires and other natural disasters which occur from time to time.

It therefore, can be said that these natural disasters have contributed, to a larger extent to the state in which agriculture finds itself in. However, the continuous decline in the productivity and output of the agricultural sector is not only a provincial fact, but a nationwide and a global phenomenon. At a national level for example, agriculture's share in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined from above 10% in the 1960's to figures below three percent in recent years.

Some of the factors which limit the potential of this sector include scarcity of water resources and the shortage of arable land. In the province, particularly, this challenge is compounded by the issue of land claims which affect almost 80% of productive lands. The other trend which we have observed over-time, include vast tracts of land which lie fallow, following successful restitution of land to the new owners. Quite often, the productivity of these lands goes down, mostly as a result of lack of skills on the part of the new land owners.

This is obviously a legacy of the past, as we all know that the majority of our people never participated in commercial agriculture as either operators or proprietors. However, this must gradually change. As a starting point, we all have a responsibility to ensure that the ongoing land restitution process results in the effective use of land by claimants in particular. As we have always emphasised in the past, our commitment as government is to ensure that the process of restituting land is complemented with the process of transferring skills to the new land owners.

Historically, many of us have never been exposed to commercial farming and are accustomed only to either, pastural farming i.e. cattle or goat ranching or ground crop farming such as maize and nuts production, as the be-all and end-all of agricultural business. However, important as these products are, global trends now point to a new direction which calls for the production of diversified traditional and non-traditional commodities and produce, which benefit not only household consumers but also markets and industries. Thus, agriculture now serves a multi-function role. It is a source of food inasmuch as it can be a business enterprise. It offers numerous possibilities for tourism and manufacturing whilst at the same time nurturing and protecting the environment.

There are for example non-traditional benefits in agriculture such as horticulture, agri-tourism, bio-fuels, pesticides and animal feed production. You will recall for instance, that early this year, during the State of the Province Address, we made inference to one of these benefits, in the form of agri-tourism, of which there is a huge potential for its development in the province. Our challenge, therefore, is to tap on the existence of this potential and to link it with other industries in the agricultural or industrial value chain.

In doing this, we must build on the successes of our fledging agro-processing industry in the province which continues to produce and export value added products such as marula juice, nut-oils, dried fruit and dairy products. This should mean training more and more people, including young people and women to enter the agribusiness value chain.

Programme director

In consideration of the rich natural resource base available in Sekhukhune and Vhembe Districts and the ongoing activities of agro-processing in Mopani District, government considered initiating this academy with the sole aim of developing skills and mentoring small scale or emerging commercial farmers in the province. As we announced during the State of the Province Address early this year, steps are being taken to transform the two former Agricultural colleges in the province, i.e. Madzivhandila and Tompi Seleka to become centres of excellence for the delivery of skills development and mentorship programmes.

We are delighted that already there is a management team in place to oversee the establishment process. The Flemish government through, Flanders International Co-operation Agency (FICA) has already released R7,6 million, being the first tranche of its contribution of R11,6 million for 2007. On its part, government has:

* provided operational facilities to the academy (Offices and equipment at Head Offices in Polokwane and at the two Agricultural training centres, Madzivhandila and Tompi Seleka)
* purchased and delivered nine new tractors for mechanization training at each of the two training centres
* invested in irrigation infrastructure at Tompi Seleka to the value of R11,3 million
* invested in food processing equipment at Tompi Seleka (industrial cooler and dryer) to the value of R250 000.

The academy will combine both classroom learning together with practical hands-on training. This should afford farmers the opportunity to learn management skills and the commercial side of agriculture. It cannot always be assumed that people who are involved in farming are equally capable of marketing their produce and commodities. This is why we believe that this initiative will help to open the doors for export purposes and offer many of our farmers, untold benefits in the areas of industrial crop farming and agro-processing. It is also our sense that this initiative will further induce a greater appreciation of the usage technology in agriculture.

The launch of this academy today, is therefore, good news to farmers and the entire agricultural community in the country. We trust that the academy will transfer the necessary attitudes, skills and world-class practices to everyone involved in agriculture, including subsistence and small-holder farmers. It is our pleasure to declare the academy open for your benefit.

We thank you for listening!

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Limpopo Provincial Government
22 August 2007