Farmers score 30-year leases

Nearly 900 benefit from state project

The government has finalised 30-year leases with nearly 900 farmers to enable them to mobilise funding for agricultural development, President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday. “These measures are part of the broader effort to unleash an agricultural revolution in SA. The epicentre of this revolution will be in the rural areas of our country,” Ramaphosa said in his address to officially open the National House of Traditional Leaders in parliament.

“Our first task is to accelerate inclusive economic growth and create jobs. The most direct way out of poverty for our people is through employment and other productive economic activity, such as small business ownership and farming.” The Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies has stated that more than 70% of commercial farms in SA are owned by white farmers. There are about 39, 000 white commercial farmers in the country, and 5, 300 black farmers, according to the African Farmers Association of SA. In many instances, black farmers struggle to get access to markets, finance and technical support to link them with integrated value chains. The land issue has dominated political discourse in recent months, amid a new push for land expropriation without compensation, a move that observers say has spooked investors. Ramaphosa said the government considered traditional leaders as key in the drive to redress the imbalances of the past. “As government, we appreciate the strong working relationship we have developed to address those issues that most affect our people. The institution of traditional leadership is an integral part of our nation’s past, its present and its future,” he said.