The new Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan, which aims to build a prosperous and inclusive sector, will include a focus on SMMEs and small-scale farmers. It is based on six pillars and one of them focuses
on providing comprehensive development finance, research and development, and extension services.
These include providing blended finance for small-scale farmers and SMMEs and providing a supplier
development programme for SMMEs. Another pillar seeks to enable the expansion of markets, improve
market access and facilitate trade specifically for small-scale producers and SMMEs. The plan will achieve this by increasing local supermarkets and institutional procurement. According to the
document, 6500 new SMMEs will be created in the sector, there will be an additional 71,487 jobs, and animal production is set to expand by 611,000 tons.
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza, who signed off on the plan last week, said that some of the negotiated and agreed outcomes included enhancing state capacity and efficiency,
and strengthening partnerships with the private sector to boost comprehensive farmer support programmes. These include unlocking R7 billion in agricultural financing for farmers and SMMEs through a blended finance
scheme, an agro–processing fund, statutory levies, state grants, industry trust and a supplier development
programme.
“These measures and many others contained in the master plan will enable the sector to… increase the share of black farmers in overall production to 20% by 2030 to stimulate meaningful transformation,” Didiza said. The plan has been warmly welcomed by the agriculture sector. AgriSA executive director
Christo Van der Rheede said it was a culmination of years of negotiation and consensus building throughout the sector and was also a testament to a shared commitment to the success and growth of this crucial
sector.
“We are pleased by the master plan’s commitment to raising an estimated R9.4 billion to address
infrastructure constraints, and we are encouraged by Minister…. Didiza’s commitment to work with the
sector and other government stakeholders to address this pressing issue.
