A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

ႅ

CHAPTER 8

JANE MCPHERSON

he stories about our work

as par¥ of the Grain SA

Developing Ag¢icult§re

Prog¢amme are endless. Ever®

single team member in this pro-

g¢amme has a hear¥-waring

stor® which tells of the impact

of their work and the resulting

changed lives and livelihoods.

Stories like the old farer in the

Zeer§st dist¢ict who tells how

he has seen many farers who

planted sweet sorghum baŴling

the birds eating their crops and

howhe only plants biŴer sorghum,

because

“Die biŴer is biŴer, maar

dit is glad nie so biŴer soos honger

wees nie!”

. Or when one sees the

sparkle of satisfaction in the eye

of a now f§lly commercialised

farer in the Senekal dist¢ict who

describes how he has just been

able to buy another new far as a

result of his good yields.

Or when another female subsist-

ence farer in a remote valley of

the Easter Cape tells you that

she has improved her yield Šom

0,5 t/ha to 6 t/ha by using beŴer

seed, fer¥ilising accurately and

using her knapsack to do chemi-

cal weed cont¢ol and no longer

has to wor¢® about what she will

feed her children ever® day.

MORE SWEET THAN BITTER

and to contribute to household and national food security (optimal use of the natu-

ral resources available to each farmer)

In pursuit of this mission fundamental determinants have been laid down as a

framework for sustainable development and transformation in the sector.

NOPO ASSISTS DEVELOPING FARMERS

The early initiative to include developing producers into the NOPO structures was

birthed at the February 1997 NOPO Congress. There the gathering of farmers

made the decision that they wished to make access to the structure of organised

agriculture accessible to all producers regardless of colour.

From the outset the aim was to ensure that emerging farmers were included in

both the Executive Committee and the general congress. Membership to NOPO

was now available to all developing producers and by 26 March 1997 the additional

region 10, which afforded developing farmers a voice and vote, was included in the

composition of the executive committee.

There were many interested parties and the organisation was introduced to the

emerging farmers by a number of key role-players. NOPO executive member,

Mr Naas Bellingan, went out of his way to connect with developing producers in

the North West and the team from the Agricultural Research Council, in particular

Dr Klaus Pakendorf, Messrs Phonnie du Toit and Johan Els were instrumental in

forming the founding committee of region 10.

Another key role-player was Mr Gert Pretorius, Chairperson of NOPO in the

Lichtenburg district, who supported the initiative from the outset and took the lead

in motivating for the necessary finances for the various NOPO development pro-

jects. This took place under the guidance of Mr Nico Vermaak, the then Manager

of NOPO. NOPO started with farmer development long before it became a trend

in agriculture, as it was the right thing to do. The action was driven by leader

farmers in the Executive, to whom it was a passion to serve as mentors.

The project funding was sourced from the OPDT with the support of the Oil Seeds

Advisory Committee. The first ever developing farmer representative to the ex-

ecutive committee of NOPO was the well-known farmer from the Rustenburg

region, Mr Basie Ntsimane. Ntsimane was supported by nine other farmers who

were elected to the region 10 committee namely, Messrs Stephen Mohappaanele,

Filie M Gaseetshubelwe, John Loeto (Taung), Joseph Appolus, David Legobate,

David Miga, Barney SJ Saudi, Harold Mathekga and BA Kgosiemang.

By October 1997, Mr Cois Harman, a linguist and farmer, had been appointed by

NOPO as a farmer development official based in Zeerust. He is credited with doing

valuable pioneering work in building linkages with developing grain producers and

establishing the first study groups. For the first time it became possible, through

these structures, to relate with farmers in the more remote regions of the North West

Province, an important sunflower and sorghum producing region of the country.

On 1 December 1997, NOPO officially opened a regional office in Zeerust which

was run by the administrative assistant Ms Julia Ramokhua. Recognition must be

given to the OPDT which funded the NOPO projects implemented from this office

and contributed to the founding of a dynamic process which picked up significant

momentum very quickly.

The farmer development activities quickly bore fruit. The reach of the projects

expanded and funding was provided for 1998/1999. Information Days were held in

co-operation with the ARC in the North West Province, Mpumalanga, the Northern

Province and the Free State. In August 1998 a ’Leader Farmer Course’ was organised

by the NOPO office in Zeerust. This was very popular and the large attendance

clearly indicated the farmers’ hunger for training.

Communication and networks with the developing producers were established in

the form of a Tswana newsletter, NOPO/

Pula

, which was issued every two months.

Since radio is always a popular medium of communication easily accessible to

many farmers, the decision was made to invest in a regular slot on the regionally

based Radio Motsweding called, ’Letsema’.