Question NW3735 to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

Reply:

a) To protect small- and medium-sized agricultural enterprises, the Competition Act No. 89 of 1998 was promulgated for the establishment of a Competition Commission responsible for the investigation, control and evaluation of restrictive practices, abuse of dominant position and mergers. This law prohibits anti-competitive agreements between businesses and the abuse of a dominant position by a business. Businesses that infringe competition laws may face substantial financial penalties up to ten percent of their worldwide turnover. The Competition Commission is a statutory body responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act.

b) Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMMEs) were elevated to a degree of strategic relevance in South Africa for the first time thanks to the 1995 White Paper on the National Strategy for the development and promotion of small business. It lists several obstacles that small businesses must overcome, including those related to the legal and regulatory framework, market accessibility, financing availability, availability of non-financial support services, skill and managerial expertise acquisition, access to suitable technology, tax burden, information, and availability of high-quality business infrastructure in impoverished areas or poverty nodes. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) provides the SMMEs with both financial and non-financial support as follows:

Provide support with technical and soft skills development.

Business Plans development.

Through partnerships, agricultural enterprises participate in the study groups facilitated by Provincial Departments of Agriculture.

Financial support though procurement of production inputs, equipment and soft infrastructure to build up the equity of the business.

Assist farmers to identify markets in their locality to reduce transportation costs.

Through Provincial Departments of Agriculture, farmers participate in pop-up markets to stimulate the sale drive.

Monitoring and evaluation of the approved plans and provide recommendations for improvement.

DALRRD develops policies, procedures and guidelines to support agricultural and non-agricultural enterprises at provincial level.

DALRRD offers capacity-building workshops in marketing for smallholder farmers. These workshops equip farmers with knowledge about how markets operate. The programme also includes physical market exposure, where farmers are taken to the markets and provided with information by market operators on how the markets function. DALRRD provides access to daily fresh produce market prices via a web-based system called the Market Information System. These prices are collected from all national fresh produce markets and displayed on the system, making it easy for farmers to access information on prevailing market prices for various products they wish to sell.

DALRRD offers various support programmes. These include the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP), Ilima Letsema, and the Farmer Production Support Units (FPSUs), which provide support in the form of mechanisation, seeds, fertilizer, capacity building, and infrastructure.

CASP offers training and capacity-building programs to smallholder farmers through the Department. The programme aims to help smallholder farmers gain the necessary technical skills to become successful commercial farmers. All training interventions are based on the specific needs of each individual farmer.

DALRRD provides training to agricultural cooperatives to assist them in improving operational efficiencies and enhancing competitiveness using the Farm Together cooperative training programme. The programme addresses a wide range of skills that include among others governance in cooperatives, financial management, record keeping, markets and contract negotiations, agribusiness management, conflict resolution mechanisms, leadership skills, and compliance.

Training Programmes offered to beneficiaries are categorised as follows:

• Production: (goat production, poultry production, crop production, animal production, maize production, livestock production, beef production, artificial insemination, hydroponics etc.)
• Business and Entrepreneurship: (bookkeeping, business management, financial management, record keeping, marketing, new venture creation, farm management, veld management, SA GAP, access to funding, conflict management etc.)
• Occupation Health and Safety: (Safe use of chemicals, animal health, fire management, biosecurity etc.)
• Agro-Processing: (grain processing, value adding, packaging etc).

The land reform programmes are supported by various agrarian reform instruments to address both financial and technical support for different categories of producers to maintain and improve agricultural productivity and poverty alleviation. These programmes are:

• Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme and Ilima/Letsema which are aimed at resourcing and equipping producers towards increased food production and other value chain activities.
• Land Development Support which supports land reform acquired farms with infrastructure, farm machinery and equipment, production development/inputs, and provision of technical support including mentorship provided through Commodity Organizations.
• Blended Finance Scheme which supports the commercialisation process.
• SA-GAP Certification Programme assists farmers to meet minimum food safety and quality requirements and thus ease access to the market.
• Collaborations with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), wherein the Department implements the Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion (SHEP) Approach, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for the implementation of the Farmer Field Schools. Both interventions enhance the provision of extension services for small-scale farmers towards attaining sustainable food production and market access.
• The skills assessment and mitigation thereof are implemented to attain sustainable growth and equitable participation in the sector. As part of comprehensive farmer support, the Department provides capacity development interventions that are focused on capacitating producers with requisite skills and mentorship based on their needs at a farm level. This capacity building assists farmers to optimise both production and marketing operations.
• Presidential Employment Stimulus providing production inputs for the most vulnerable producers for household food security and self-employment.
• Farmer Production Support Units provide a centralised service centre for producers to get production inputs, mechanisation, and technical support.
• Land Care Programme to protect and preserve natural resources and create employment at the rural level.
• Animal and Veld Management Programme to provide animal husbandry-related infrastructure like fencing, handling and dipping facilities, and livestock water including boreholes.
• River Valley Catalytic Programme designed to revitalise irrigation schemes in our former homelands.
• Micro Agricultural Finance Institute of South Africa provides affordable loans for producers.
• National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC) Programme targeting unemployed rural youth for skills and capacity building for sustainable opportunities in the agricultural sector.
• Through the AgriBEE Fund entrepreneurship in agriculture is encouraged by making funds available to support enterprise development initiatives through the provision of value addition and agro-processing infrastructure.