Questions over agriculture’s R30bn spend

THE money allocated to agriculture will not go far towards ensuring food security in South Africa.

This is according to Agri Eastern Cape president Doug Stern.

He says there was not enough clarity on how the money will be divided among divisions within the sector, but believes the lion’s share will go towards land reform and rural development projects.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced that R30-billion would go towards agriculture, rural development and land reform by 2019-20, which Stern feels sheds little light on how the money will be allocated.

“Rumours about this amount of R30-billion have been circulating for some time, but until we know how the government plans on spending this money it is really difficult to make any assertions.

“But taking into consideration all the talk about radical land reform, and the amount of government projects that need funding, I don’t think R30-billion will go very far.”

Stern believes food security should be a priority, meaning commercial farmers should be at the top of the list for government support and drought relief interventions.

“During the state of the nation address the president said R2.5-billion went towards drought relief,” Stern said.

“However, very few commercial farmers saw any of that money. Add to that the R2-billion per year allocated for agri-parks that have shown little progress.

“There is not enough clarity on who else gets a share of this R30-billion.

“Do projects from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries also delve into this pot?

“If so, how much will be left for commercial farming?”

A more detailed Division of Revenue Bill showed R248-million will be spent in the Eastern Cape on infrastructure repair, land reform, restitution and black-owned farming enterprises.

A further R67-million will go toward the development of vulnerable black South African farming communities.

An amount of R11.8-million has been allocated for development projects aimed at the sustainable management of natural resources, job creation and better productivity.

Gordhan also mentioned that R266-million had been budgeted for the support of aquaculture as part of Operation Phakisa and the development of the oceans economy, that will include Eastern Cape based projects.

However, as Stern said, it is unclear which government department will be responsible for this amount, and whether it is part of the R30-billion set aside for agriculture.

“Until we know exactly how the funds will be divided up it is very difficult to make an informed statement on the budget,” he said.

“But at this stage it does not look like it will be enough.”