Agriculture well placed for job creation – economist

The South African agriculture sector was well placed to create a significant number of job opportunities, said agricultural economist, Dr Johan Willemse.

According to the National Development Plan (NDP), the sector had the potential to create the most jobs of all sectors in South Africa for every R1 million invested, he said. “It is clear from the NDP that investment in the production of agricultural export products such as fruit and nuts were ideally placed for the creation of jobs due to global demand for these commodities.”

Although Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni’s allocation of about R4,4 billion to the Land Bank in the recent Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement could go a long way to support new commercial farmers, the bulk of investments in the agriculture sector would ultimately come from the private sector, Willemse said.

Meanwhile, Agri SA said that addressing unemployment and inititiating job creation projects in rural areas needed to be a national priority. The national unemployment rate had increased 30 basis points to 27,5% in the third quarter of the year, and according to the expanded definition of unemployment, which includes discouraged job seekers, the current unemployment rate was at 37,3%. In rural areas, this rate was on average 41%. Rural unemployment, and by extension the national rate, could be relieved if policy uncertainty around agriculture, such as expropriation without compensation, was addressed as a matter of urgency, according to Neil Hamman, chairperson of Agri SA’s Labour and Development Centre of Excellence. He said 1 000 jobs were lost in the agriculture sector in the third quarter.

“Exports into Africa, for example, [offered] a multitude of opportunities. Coupled with the competitive edge of our commercial farmers, this creates enormous potential to place agriculture at the centre of job creation in the country. The critical requirement, though, is consistent government support,” he said. Hamman added that Agri SA was also concerned about the high youth unemployment rate. An estimated 31,1% of people between the ages of 15 and 34 were not engaged in education, employment or training. – Annelie Coleman