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industry, many people with small to medium plots of land are
beginning to cultivate, breed livestock with the intention to export
one day or specialise a product into the market. Many budding
farmers also fail in this stage of farming as support may not reach
them in time.
3. Pheasant farming is the farming I am currently involved in. I farm
for myself and my family. There is no real intention to find a market
for produce in this type of farming.
At present, the government does not subsidise any of the above.
However, I feel support and growth initiatives should be provided
for all citizens in agriculture and those with real interest to get in-
volved in agricultural activity.
What challenges does the South African agricultural industry
face and how can it be addressed?
Access to land is currently the biggest challenge to citizens with an
interest to farm, as arable agricultural land takes precedence in its
preservation and in ensuring it is used to secure food for the nation.
Citizens have various intentions for land which might not necessar-
ily be at par with the government’s intentions in land redistribution.
We cannot give land for the sake of giving. We need to ensure the
stability of food production, transformation of the agricultural sec-
tor and that the skills and processes involved in the sector are pre-
served, transferred and taught to cater for a long-term sustainability
of food production. Input costs into producing certain crops hamper
high yielding of these crops. This factor can be overlooked some-
times and it is of a vital nature.
Access to markets for farmers in the industry is already a challenge
we take seriously as a department. When the weather has been
good for a particular produce, farmers need to be able to export
their produce to markets where favourable pricing and conditions
exist for trade. Current markets are being re-evaluated for expansion
or re-entry if we do not currently trade in those markets.
Global competition in certain produce that South Africa also pro-
duces has hampered South African products getting a fair market
share due to phenomena such as global dumping, e.g. chicken from
Brazil. Certain market blocks also subsidise their products to such
an extent that domestic agriculture suffers. As a department we
are looking into long-term solutions for all these occurrences.
Securing sufficient and affordable food for the people of South
Africa is becoming increasingly important in your portfolio as
minister. What are your views on food security and how the chal-
lenges surrounding it can be addressed?
Promotion of family food gardens is a key component of getting citi-
zens to contribute to food security and to become less price takers in
the market. If all households had a vegetable garden, there would be
less hunger and malnutrition in the country, unemployment would
go down as certain members of the family/community would then
take up the responsibility full time. All conditions conducive would
yield a greater number of commercial farmers which will contribute
to the GDP of the country.
This may sound too simple, but it addresses collective contribution
to a problem that belongs to everyone. Food security is not a com-
mercial farmer’s problem, it’s our problem as a whole and we all
need to collectively do our part in the solution implementation.
What is preventing new entrants to farming and/or developing
farmers from reaching their goals? What should the government
and the industry do to remove these hurdles?
Access to land is inherent to the progression of the agricultural aims
of the country. To those willing to buy land, the cost is not easily
reachable by the ordinary man on the street. Government has vari-
ous interventions to try and bridge the gap in accessing land and
raising capital, but more needs to be done.
Extension officers are a strategy not adequately exploited in agricul-
tural support initiatives. Extension officers can offer help: From the
budding farmer – whether they have commercial intentions or not
– to the most experienced farmer in time of need.
Regarding land reform in South Africa, what is on the cards for
the following 12 to 18 months and what message do you have for
all grain producers?
Agriculture and food security are national priorities, the country will
address land reform as it has done with all other issues; in an inclu-
sive manner. This, however, will not in any way put at risk current
food production in the country. Arable land not being utilised will
be looked into for land reform – that needs to be understood clearly.
When your term as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisher-
ies is completed, what would you have wanted to achieve and
how should people remember you?
I would like to be remembered as an agricultural activist who brought
agricultural issues home to the ordinary man on the street.
I would like agriculture to become the reason that the whole South
Africa will not be hungry, eradicating malnutrition, increasing the
sector’s GDP contribution, maintaining sustainable job creation in
the sector and inspiring young people to enter and be successful in
the sector.
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Minister Zokwana
attended the official
opening of Grain SA’s
third Eastern Cape
regional office in
Maclear during
August of last year.