Comprehensive Producer Development Support - Draft National Policy

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has published the Draft National Policy on Comprehensive Producer Development Support, and is asking you to comment: National Policy on Comprehensive Producer Development Support: Draft 5 ver. 3

                  Executive Summary for the National Policy on Comprehensive Producer Development Support
                  Third Consultative Report On Comprehensive Producer Development Support (Inception – March 2018)
                  Socio-Economic Impact Assessment System (SEIAS) Initial Impact Assessment Template (PHASE 1) 09 December 2016

Comments can be emailed to Mr Makala Jeffrey Ngaka at [email protected] and [email protected] by Friday, 28 September 2018.
Enquiries can be directed to Mr Ngaka on tel (012) 319 6350 or Ms Vivian Phadime on tel (012) 319 6965 [email protected]

Pam Saxby of Legalbrief Policy Watch provides a brief summary of the draft policy:

She writes that "once in force, [it] will move away from ‘wholesale grants’ to ‘a blended financial system’ also utilising loans – and linked to ‘innovative’ initiatives under the Operation Phakisa for agriculture, rural development and land reform"...... The proposed new policy... focuses on five distinct but interrelating producer categories: vulnerable, generally indigent ‘household producers’; ‘subsistence household producers’ generating a surplus for additional income of less than R50 000 annually; smallholder producers (‘usually … new entrants aspiring to produce for market at a profit’, with an annual turnover of between R50 000 and R5m); medium-scale commercial producers (with an annual turnover of between R5m and R20m); and large-scale commercial producers.

While it is envisaged that both categories of household producer would continue to receive ‘wholesale grants’ – with 40% of the budget for government support ringfenced for that purpose – smallholder and medium-scale commercial producers would be expected to respectively ‘contribute’ 35% and 50% of the cost of their support to augment the 10% of government’s budget ringfenced for them. Financial support would be capped to avoid ‘very substantial transfers to individuals/businesses’. Given the summary’s reference to farming community and private sector cooperation and participation in successfully implementing the policy once finalised, large-scale commercial producers may be expected to provide other forms of support, although this is not explicitly stated. It is nevertheless made clear that any business entity with an annual turnover exceeding R20m will not qualify for government grant funding.

Once operational, among other things the policy is expected to strengthen existing institutional mechanisms so that they ‘better co-ordinate’ the appropriately ‘tailored’ services envisaged – avoiding ‘competition and unnecessary duplication’. According to the executive summary, this is noting the importance of protecting, improving and optimally utilising ‘scarce natural resources’ by ‘advocating for and supporting environmentally-friendly production practices’. In this regard, reference is made to land, water, bio-diversity and genetic resources. Other issues addressed in the draft policy include: building the capacity of certain categories of producer and across the full spectrum of government officials regularly interacting with them; the ‘timely provision of inputs and basic infrastructure’; and ‘suitable disaster risk management measures’ that not only improve the capacity of producers to adapt to climate change and variability, but mitigate its adverse impacts and provide for ‘adequate and timely compensation’.