Agri-parks plan works

SIR — While land reform in the country is full of challenges, I am happy to hear that good progress has been made in establishing agri-parks.

Two agri-parks are fully operational in Ncora in the Eastern Cape and Springbokpan in the North West, while six other agri-parks are at construction phase.

Agri-parks serve as important mechanisms to execute the National Development Plan’s proposed rural development strategy due to their potential for supporting small-scale agricultural production and stimulating agro-processing in rural areas.

One core element of this approach is conducting commodity and valuechain analyses and mapping exercises to establish agri-parks based on the growth potential of value-adding commodities. As such, each agri-park will focus on specific prioritised commodities that have the highest prospect of succeeding in their region. About 9,155 smallholder producers were supported through various initiatives and schemes and 1,134ha of underutilised land was brought into production and empowered previously disadvantaged farm workers by providing them with access to arable land. About 102 additional land reform farms are under the recapitalisation and development programme. Thirteen sites have been approved for implementing the strengthening of relative rights for people working the land (50/50) programme.

We need to see more of this intervention by the government.