17 August 2007
Programme Director: Ms. Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko
Executive Mayor of the host West Rand District Municipality: Councillor Faith Matshikiza
Executive Mayor of the host City: Councillor Maserame Khumalo
Members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature
Members of the Gauteng Standing Committee for Agriculture, Conservation and Environment
Head of Department: Dr Steven Cornelius
Government Officials from all spheres of government
Representatives of the sponsors of the Female Farmer of the Year project
Our guests of honour: Gauteng Female Farmers
Invited guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I wish to begin my brief address to this gathering by stating what is perhaps obvious to us all - that this function has consciously been timed to coincide with a period in our national calendar when we all should be celebrating the valour of the women of our country. I should emphasise that I am here talking about the bravery of South African women in the struggle to build a non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa.
Timed to coincide with this period of celebration and rededication, the occasion in itself and by itself confirms that the conditions that inspired these women to join the struggle in some degree still remain. Genuine non-racism, non-sexism and prosperity for all are yet to be achieved. The yoke of triple oppression endured by women has been alleviated only some what. We all are equals in terms of the country's constitution; however, the social and economic status of South African women belies this sacrosanct constitutional provision.
The Female Farmer of the Year project recognizes this reality and strives to build a truly united non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa. This national programme complements other government initiatives to fight poverty, create jobs and build an economy that benefits all our people.
Combined with other agricultural initiatives, the Female Farmer of the Year project has the potential to reverse the current status of women in the country's agricultural sector and in society at large and to dent poverty and to stimulate further economic development in our quest for equality and prosperity.
Statistics SA shows that Gauteng contributed 7% to the 2005 gross farming income of the country. The dominant farming practice, according to the same statistics, is animal farming at 45%, followed by animal products at 23% and horticulture at 20% with field crops standing at 20%. The largest contribution to livestock sales was made by beef cattle followed by pigs. It should also be noted that Gauteng absorbs livestock as well as other products from the other provinces of South Africa. The national agricultural sector accounts for 10% of the country's reported formal employment and it has a massive growth potential to contribute to the gross domestic product.
It is for these reasons, among others, that my department's strategic goals, for the current term of office, entail increasing agricultural productivity on the 300 000 hectares of arable land in Gauteng. This will be achieved through a programme of intensive group and individual extension support services, focusing primarily on land reform beneficiaries and on transfer of skills from established commercial farmers.
Our strategy on Food Security also ensures universal and sustainable access to the minimum daily, safe and nutritious food needs to develop a healthy, active and better life for all the people of our province. This effort will entail the further roll out and scaling up of the various Household Food Security Programmes of the department to reach some 8 000 beneficiaries in the current financial year, particularly women and children.
Currently, agriculture accounts for almost 9% of the total value of our country's export, mainly to European countries, which absorb almost 50% of our country's agricultural exports. Only 26% of agricultural exports are sent to African markets. As a constituent element of the African Union's (AU's) New Partnership for Development, South Africa has committed to facilitate growth of the agricultural sector by 6%.
At the beginning of this address, I consciously linked the Women's Month to our collective quest to build a non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South African nation. I did this aware of the critical need to de-link women's empowerment to the narrow feminist agenda that seeks to benefit only a few. This suggests that together we need to explore other tools at our disposal to ensure that the agricultural sector does benefit the women of South Africa while simultaneously enhancing the lives of all our people. We all have a role within the Gauteng Agricultural Development Strategy. As female farmers, we need to explore our place within the provincial agro-processing strategy and find beneficial entry points to the provincial biotechnology strategy. I am certain that the department's Transformation Branch will only be too happy to jointly explore these avenues with all our people, particularly the women of Gauteng. I am also confident that the leadership of this branch would not hesitate to engage female farmers present here on how to constitute fruitful Women in Agriculture and Rural Development (WARD) structures and how these will further facilitate access to macro finance for South Africa soft loans, among other developmental tools.
Programme director; allow me to conclude by congratulating all the winners in the 2007 provincial Female Farmer of the Year Awards. May the prize winners bear in mind that the women of our country will truly benefit from their victory if this occasion is used to broaden women empowerment and to further stimulate economic development that benefits all our people.
I thank you.