UKZN Special CoUections Gandhi..t.uthuli Oocum KZN MINISTRY OF AGRICUL URE AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAI S - ■ rar1an revolution KWAZULU-Natal MEC for Agriculture and Environmental Affairs, Prof Gabriel Ndababandaba, has launched an "agrarian revolution" - an ambitious programme seeking to turn.the provi nce's comparative agvantage in agriculture into a thriving a export industry. Delivering his 2006/2001 budget in Pietermaritzburg, Ndabandaba said this . programme aimed to realise the province's comparative advantage by utilising all of the KwaZulu-Natal's 590 Bio-resource regions to produce export quality vegetables, fruit and meat products. These, he said, would be for export to the West, Middle East and Asia. "Agrarian revolution is meant to introduce new mechanisms for making this a reality. Agrarian Revolution is also aimed at changing the reliance on the importation of basic food stuffs and to bring down food prices through a comprehensive support programme for emerging farmers," he said. A total of R280 million has been set aside for the Agrarian Revolution in the 2006/2007 fi nancial year. Ndabandaba said this comprehensive support programme for emerging farmers would seek to dramatically reduce farming input costs, provide mechanisation and give these farmers an access to research on better production processes. He said the department's methodology for agricultural development was outlined in a five-year 2005 to 20 IO strategic plan. "In a nutshell, we want to use this strategy to move subsistence farmers upwards towards the first economy," he said, adding that during his State of the Province Address, premier Sbu Ndebele, had emphatically announced that this year government would be rolling out a comprehensive set of programmes designed to accelerate growth and to create wealth. "We have listened to the call of our premier and have swiftly gone back to the country side and started the agrarian revolution to deal with the scourge of food-insecurity that is facing us," he said. Ndabandaba said his department was "awakening and rekindling the giant of the country side with the Siyavuna p~ogram". He outlined challenges and areas that he had prioritised as being key to the success of this revolution as, firstly, aiming to provide stronger support to farmers in the areas of co-operatives development, research training and capacity building for both internal and external stakeholders. "As we continue the journey of restitution and land reform, we must also intensify the support we give to our people as historic custodians of this land. It is my departme ·nts continued desire to ensure that we provide adequate support to our farm~rs and other land users," he said. Communities that had land handed back to them through the land reform policy were now benefiting by getting support from his department. "A total of R21 m is being spent within this MTEF period. A total of 11 million people are experiencihg direct benefits, where up to 38 thousand hectares are involved. "Key among these has been the Mzabane Makhoba project, where the community is receiving more than R7m for a variety of infrastructure activities, which are: poultry housing establishment of a 50ha orchard of apricots and peaches building of two reservoirs distilling of dams installation of a pivot irrigation system. Central to this development is water availabil ity," he said. His department's support to the farmers and interventions in various farming support services including infrastructure could be categorised into five key areas. These were the provision of animal handling faci lities, irrigation interventions, fencing activities, shed storage and water provisioning. Ndabandaba said Ndebele had also identified the agrarian revolution strategy as an important pillar of the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) to fight poverty and unemployment in KwaZulu-Natal. Ndabandaba said a significant amount of resources to contribute to the alleviation of poverty had been committed by his department. "Maps from the Department of Health have provided valuable insight into where the department should be focusing its mass food security projects." As a result of this intergovernmental co-operation and a sharing of technical expertise, the department had been able to direct its planning and was in a better position to scientifically respond to the food security demand. "The fpod security · programme in partnership with the department of health will focus on provision of fresh produce from back yard gardens, including diversified products such as mushroom and dry land rice. We hope such interventions will reduce diseases and thus result in lower numbers of people requiring medical attention," he said ... , KWAZULU-Natal MEC for Agriculture and Environmental Affairs, Prof Gabriel Ndababandaba. KZN Agriculture and Environmental Affairs r . 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C ONTACTS made by the Natal, had a mostly rural-based owned up to 600 hectares, they still KwaZulu-Natal Department population of which the largest part had not managed to attain the levof Agriculture and , was involved in the agricultural els of efficiency that had been Environmental Affarirs through sector. attained by the Punjab people as visits to foreign countries were "By utilizing its land potential they vastly under-utilised their begining to bear fruit for the people efficiently and using appropriate agricultural resources with large of the province with a number of and relatively simple technology tracts of land lying fallow. agricultural projects i~ the pipeline. and equipment on an average of "Our department plans to • This was revealed by KwZulu- one hectare per farmer, Punjab is change this situation. We plan to Natal Agriculture and Enviromental able to produce food not only for leave no land untouched. The Affairs MEC, Prof Gabriel itself, but supplies as much as 80% department has already placed an Ndabandaba, during his budget of India's food requirements," said order of some small appropriate speech in the legislature this week. Ndabandaba. equipment to address the problems associated with emergent farming," Ndabandaba said his depart- He described Punjab as quite , he said. ment gained valuable information unique in the sense that although from a his recent visit to the its people did not own large tracts A group of hand-picked experts from Punjab would be arrive in province of Punjab in India where of land they still managed to feed KwaZulu-Natal to work with their he found the similarities between themselves and prosper economilocal counterparts around key chal- Punjab and KwaZulu-Natal strik- cally. lenges facing local emerging fanning. The MEC said, while farmers ers, particularly around water pro- He said Punjab, like KwaZulu- in KwaZulu-Natal sometimes vision, low cost irrigation tech- · KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Agriculture and Environmental Affairs Gabriel Ndabandaba (left) checking out . vegetable produce in eMpangisweni, near Vryheid, with lnkosi Vusi Zondo. •.• niques. These tenchniques, he said, partnership with the Fujian were suitable for massive produc- province of China. tion but using appropriate technolo- "Since the start of the gies. Mushroom and Dryland Rice "Aquaculture, which has a huge I Project in July 2005, no less than potential in the frost-free areas of 30 mushroom sites in the province north-east KwaZulu-Natal and have been established and already some of the river catchments areas, 70 000 substrates of mushrooms such as the Tugela River basin, are have been distributed from which presently bein~ investigated with Denmark and Sweden," he said. no less 52.5 tons of edible mushrooms have been harvested." Ndabandaba added that Belarus, located in Eastern Europe, He said this had, so far, benefitwas yet another foreign country ed, over 2 000 people and up till which had indicated a desire to now a lot of research had also been engage with KwaZulu-Natal with done and with the knowledge regard to markets for agricultural gained, an estimated one million products as well as mechanisation. substrates would be distributed dur- "'Iwo major projects that are ing the 2006/2007 financial year. directly impacting on food security It is estimated that around 750 were the mushroom and rice pro- tons of mushrooms will be harvestjects which were carried out in ed, benefiting up to 30 000 people. Youth and women development APROGRAMME to involve youth and women in farming has been launched by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs, MEC Prof Ndababandaba announced during his budget speech in Pietermaritzburg this week. Ndabandaba said this programme was part of youth skills training and business empowerment. "It is in that light that the department continues to strengthen programmes for youth and women in its Programme of Action," he said, adding that two of the department's flagship or high level priority programmes were now being run by the 'r'outh and Women Directorate. These flagship programmes, he said, were the mushroom and dryland rice and nguni Projects. The MEC said the Nguni Livestock Project ,which was successfully launched in February 2006, sought to bring back the lost dignity and pride of the Zulu people. "This programme is run by the Youth and Women Directorate. In total over R27million is allocated to this activity including the mushroom and dryland rice projects which are high impact projects exclusively for the benefit of youth and women development in agriculture," he said. There were other initiatives such as the Nguni Goat and the Indigenous Zulu Fowl projects that empower youth and women in addition to various large scale crop, environmental · and animal husbandry interventions. "We could be holding the candle for youth and women development in the province and we are grateful to this house for continued support as these interventions are important in engaging our youth who are fast entering into undesirable activities," he said. ", The department has also initiated a robust programme to assist unemployed graduates and learners requiring experiential training to be able to finalise their qualifications. During the last cycle the department assisted 215 learners and was currently assisting 95 interns and 55 experiential learners and aims to expand this number to 21~,arners in 2006/2007.financial year," said Ndabandaba. I ~ >~--=-· =-=-=--==~-"----'-=--="'-----'=---=-----....::-------------------------~ 6/7 KZN v11NISTRY 0 GRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS ·" CO-operative -deve·1opment . ~ ~ KrAZULU-NATAL MEC co-operatives. or Agriculture and In future, he said, his departnvironmental Affairs, ment would extend support to Prof Gabriel Ndabandaba, has other developmental initiatives allocated Rll0 million into a pro- such as the Midmar and ject to develop the co-operative Makhathini Developments. movement in the province. This investment, he said, would "The Department is starting "breathe life" into this important with existing co-operatives that sector of economic development. will have to comply with certain Addressing the legislature durstructural adjustments in order to ing his budget speech this week, ensure that they are sustainable Ndabandaba said the amount was and impact on economic growth. over and above the R280 million "These adjustments relate to set aside for the Agrarian ownership, training, shared use of. Revolution. resources, value chain logistics He told the legislature the and market access," he told the department had created a unit house. called Agrarian Development Ndabandaba explained that his Support Programme to support department had overhauled the Black rhino project Amulti-million programme to increase the number of black rhinos in the province's game reverse and to . save the world-renowned species from extinction has been announced by the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Agriculture and Environmental Affairs, Prof Gabriel Ndabandaba. Delivering his budget speech in the legislature this week, Ndabandaba said this black rhino expansion programme was being undertaken in partnership with international conservation organisations. This partnership involved Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, international conservation organisation WWF and was supported by the Mazda Wildlife Fund. · "It has been hailed as one of the most significant current black rhino conservation initiatives in Africa and follows on the successful history of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife in bringing the Southern white rhiilo back from the brink of extinction,'1 Said.Ndabandaba. He ttll& the legislature that the first founder population of 15 black rhino from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife with an estimated value of . R7.5m was released in 2004 on to Munyawana Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal and were doing well. "The second founder population of 21 black rhino with an estimated value ofR10,5m-was released in 2005 on to the 24 000 hectare Zululand Rhino Reserve, which is made up of 20 neighbouring properties whose owners removed their internal fences in order to create a significant, barrier- free haven for endangered species, including black rhino," said Ndabandaba. The third site of the project was expected to be the Emakhosini · Ophathe Heritage Park, a com- ' bined venture between Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and Amafa KwaZulu Natal which aimed to celebrate the cultural and natural history of the Zulu nation and promote sustainable job creation and economic growth in the Ulundi region. "Through the project, 46 kilometres of fencing around the Park have been erected. These are cur- . rently being electrified to make' the greater park ready to receive 11 · black rhino worth RS.Sm later this . processes that locked productive inputs against the small dispersed initiatives that required greater costs to pull together in order to impact the economic and social development goals. "It is increasingly becoming unproductive to support direct granu; and transfers as a policy to fast track service delivery as we have done in the past two financial years. "This created an unplanned allocation of resources and thereby impacting less positively on the economy," said the MEC. He said in their planning for the 2006/2007 budget , they took into account lessons learned from direct grants and built a frameyear," explained Ndabandaba. He added that if sufficient conservation, monitoring and security arrangements were in place in tim;, the founder population would be"~leased towards the end of 2006, making the park home to a sign\ficant black rhino population. The MEC further elaborated that the UKhahlamba Drakensberg Park Initiative was a five-year World Bank funded project (2003 · to 2007) in collaboration with .,. • work that supports the farmer or a beneficiary to a degree that it would be unlikely to fail an initiative, project or programme that would be funded from this year's budget allocation. "This policy shift and the new framework is called Build, Operate, Train and Transfer (BOTT). "In this framework the department undertakes to build the entire infrastructure, operate it, train the communities or beneficiaries and after three years transfer that asset as a viable/sustainable operating entity to the beneficiaries," he said, adding that this would give far reaching revolutionary impetus to the depart- Lesotho, the Free State and Eastern Cape provinces with a $US 7.8 million grant and Rl6.9 million cofinancing from South Africa. Ndabandaba assured the legislature that a process had been initiated to derive an exit strategy for this phase of the project at the international level that would include the appointment of an international co-ordinator funded · by both countries. There was also a possibility • • • 1 . • • ment's programmes. "The depart.'" ment has reached these great frontiers because of the restructuring to free up resources internally and externally so that we can begin to do things we have not done before." In addition to co-operatives, he said, the department aimed to fast track the implementation o_f AgriBEE which to date has not had the desired impact because of the market conditions, access to land and financial support to black farmers and the agribusi-.... ness sector. "I am delighted that this financial year such interventions will be possible," he added. that the bioregion be declared through the National Environmental Management: " Biodiversity Act and this avenue would be explored as an outcome ..,. of the bioregional planning process. "The latter will also be intro- .. duced to the local municipalities who fall within the bioregion in order to have the outcomes integrated into their planning mechanisms," he said. '...!. • • • • /7 KZN MINISTRY AGRICULTURE A D ENVI ONMENTAL AFFAIRS Env-ir6nment ·management .. KlAZULU-Natal Agriculture and nvironmental Affairs Department faced a challenge of achieving a sustainable development at the same time ensuring that the most needed economic empowerment was not being compromised, MEC Prof Ndabandaba told the legislature this week. Delivering his 2006/2007 financial year budget, Ndabandaba said the province had managed to achieve this difficult balance under trying circumstances. •• "Fundamentally we have to balance the critical need for social development including as weU as ensurin6 an environment that is free from pollution," he said. . The MEC said some of these challenges were brought about by the promulgation of the National . Environmental Management, the Air Quality Act in 2004 which was implemented in September 2005. To meet these challenges the departm~nt has established six ambient air monitoring stations at Mandeni, Empangeni, Port ·Shepstone, Estcourt, Newcastle and Pietermaritzburg. "I had the privilege of launching the first station at Mandeni in July of last year. The need for clean air is not by choice but an obligation," he said. The department was also conducting capacity building training for officials on air quality management. "Our participation in the South Durban Basin Inter-governmental Co-ordinating meeting where we · • have contributed RI .5 million towards the Multi-Point Plan, Health Study is starting to bear fruit," he said. The MEC said as part of ongoing collaboration with partners, the department had been central in facilitating the appointment of Air Pollution Control Officers at the municipalities in the province. He said projects envisaged in the 2006/2007 financial year included to Devise a Climate Change Mitigation Plan for the province, Development of Air Quality Management Plan fo(this Province, establish a database of Greenhouse Gas Emissions for the Province and training for Municipalities on Air Quality Management. "Although we cannot completely eliminate pollution, we can reduce and mitigate its conse- · quences by realigning our strategies. For this we need more resources," he said. 'l> IN action: KwaZulu-Natal MEC fpr Agriculture and Enviromental Affairs Gabriel Ndabandaba and the Deputy Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasa take time out to chat to former Thor casual workers, Petros Mkhize. -------------------------------------------------------------l ,,_ ... R 1.3 billion Agriculture and Enviromental Affairs Budget for 2006/2007 Financial Year Programme 4: Conservation - R288.5 million Programme 1: Administration - R119.7 million ' ' I