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THE
GRAIN AND OILSEED INDUSTRY
OF SOUTH AFRICA – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
ႄႂ
on identifying and prioritising research needs and disseminating research results
and appropriate information to the producers. NAMPO played a very important
role in this process by publishing research results in the magazine,
Mielies/Maize
,
and sharing them with producers at NAMPO branch meetings.
Research planning was done annually and co-ordinated in order to eliminate dupli-
cation. The approach was to bring the producers and researchers closer together
and make sure that research results were brought to the attention of the producers.
Training programmes
During the early 1980s the Department of Labour made funds available for training.
This was done on the basis that an amount per labourer who had to be trained was
allocated to the training institution concerned, which meant that producers could
have their workers trained for free.
NAMPO already had many good training programmes and facilities that could be
used successfully to train even people from towns and equip them with skills, for
instance tractor drivers, builders, electricians, et cetera.
As a result of the success NAMPO achieved with the training programmes, the
Bloemfontein Training Centre agreed with NAMPO to take over the latter’s train-
ing programmes. Initially this was very successful and the training programmes
were well supported, but the training centre was closed down because of financial
problems.
NAMPO did not have the funding to continue with the training on its own. Several
attempts were made to obtain funding for the training needs from the government,
yet without success. With the introduction of training setas it became even more
difficult to obtain funding for NAMPO’s training programmes. NAMPO therefore
had no other choice but to stop the training.
Diversification
The severe drought that prevailed in the first part of the 1980s made everyone
aware that it was essential for producers to diversify and not put all their eggs in one
basket. NAMPO realised that the organisation could play a role in advising producers
on the benefits of diversification and assist them in identifying opportunities.
Producers were encouraged by NAMPO to optimise their businesses and profit
as businessmen, among other things by diversifying their farming operations
and investments – including to investments outside agriculture. The point of
departure and message were that the producer had to use his land according
to its optimum potential, and where necessary he had to change or expand into
other types of farming to achieve this.
Underlying this approach was the fact that producers should focus on cultivating
maize in good soil and employ the rest of the land for the purpose it was most
suited for. This included the addition and/or diversification to stock farming, dairies
and vegetables, among other things.
NAMPO decided to assist producers in this by also investigating possibilities and
identifying opportunities for producers and illustrating how to convert marginal
land used for grain production for other industries.