Question NW39 to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
07 May 2021 - NW39
Mathulelwa, Ms B to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
What are the reasons that her department has failed to deliver seeds and fertilisers to the smallholder farmers in Matatiele, as per the initial promise of her department?
Reply:
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
WRITTEN REPLY
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, LAND REFORM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT:
The community referred to herein is Ncanywa Grain Crop Cooperative based in the Matatiele Local Municipality. The reasons for non-delivery of seeds and fertiliser to the smallholder farmers are that Ncanywa Grain Crop Cooperative did not apply for support in the 2020/21 cropping season. A different project by the name of Qhobosheaneng Maize Project applied and was approved for the 2020/21 cropping season for 15 ha of inputs under food security.
Qhobosheaneng Maize Project entered into an agreement to exchange the inputs with Ncanywa Grain Crop Cooperative without informing the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (EC DRDAR). It became a challenge to implement this exchange, because the EC DRDAR was already in the phase of distributing inputs to beneficiaries that were approved initially. Ncanywa Grain Crop Cooperative did not form part of the EC DRDAR approved plans for inputs support as they had not applied for the 2020/21 cropping season.
The Department had an agreement with Qobosheaneng and the inputs were given to Qhobosheaneng Maize Project that formed part of the initial departmental plan. Ncanywa Grain Crop Agricultural Cooperative has applied for support in August 2020 which is the application process for the 2021/22 cropping season. The application will undergo all the relevant processes for approval.