Poverty alleviation programme comes under fire from villagers
THE department of agriculture's poverty alleviation programme, Fetsa Tlala, recently came under fire from frustrated farmers who branded the project a waste of taxpayers' money.
LIMPOPO – THE department of agriculture’s poverty alleviation programme, Fetsa Tlala, recently came under fire from frustrated farmers who branded the project a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Enraged villagers from Maselesele village in the Sekhukhune area accused the department of bureaucratic bungling when it came to the provision of tractors to plough their fields as part of the programme’s key objective.
Residents conceded that the department had supplied them with seeds and fertiliser ahead of the rainy season. However, when the tractors were not dispatched, the seeds and fertiliser were worthless to them, they said.
Traditional leader in the village, chief Ramphelane Kgaphola also confirmed that officials supplied them with 100 bags of seeds and fertiliser, but had not allocated tractors.
“We were very excited when we were presented with bags full of seeds and fertiliser.
“As the programme is meant to alleviate poverty, the prospect of a hunger-free community was foremost in our minds. By December, we were already prepared to plough our fields. When we started experiencing torrential rains, we expected the department to send tractors, but they never came. Now we are frustrated because the rainy season has passed. The seeds are here, but there is nothing we can do with them.
Agriculture spokesperson, Sipho Dikgale, said the department was aware of these grievances and they were investigating the matter.
Despite the failure to cultivate the targeted hectares in the previous financial year, agriculture MEC Joy Matshoge recently reiterated that the department would continue to support the programme in order to fight food insecurity.
She, however, expressed concern that efforts by the department to provide irrigation infrastructure to farmers in rural areas were being paralysed in some places by vandalism and social conflicts.
She appealed to residents, traditional leaders and municipalities to intervene to save the irrigation scheme programme known as the revitalisation of smallholder irrigation scheme from collapse.
This programme is the cornerstone of the department’s food-security policy.
