WATCH: Agriculture during lockdown
South Africa’s lockdown has affected many sectors of the economy. The good news is that the agriculture sector has been exempted from current gazetted lockdown regulations.
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has made it clear that the agriculture and food sector value chain, which is responsible for food security, has been declared as essential.
In addition, the entire food value chain, from farm-related operations, agro-processing and food manufacturing, logistics and related services, wholesale and retail services, and all support functions that ensure efficient delivery of the agro-food system, have to be functional to ensure that people have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.
In the heart of Mpumalanga province in the town of Standerton, a commercial famer by the name of Marius Coetzee has had first-hand experience of the lockdown regulations.
Standerton is a large commercial and agricultural town lying on the banks of the Vaal River in Mpumalanga, South Africa, which specialises in cattle, dairy, maize and poultry farming.
Speaking in an interview, Marius highlighted some of his experiences during the lockdown.
” We farm with maize, soya and we keep cattle, we produce food, that’s how we keep ourselves busy. What we basically see about this Covid-19 is what we see on tv. As a farmer, you can’t put anything on hold, plants still grow and animals must be taken care of. We just try to do what government says, we equip our workers with face masks and other protective clothing and apply social distancing, we try to be as careful as we can. The only time we realise something is going on is when we get into town. As at now, we only struggle with spares when stores are closed but stores to sale what we produce are open, auctions are open on Friday, meat markets are open, so from a food point of view, we don’t expect problems” said Marius.
In an effort to keep this key sector productive and mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 and lockdown regulations. The department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has ring-fenced R1.2 billion for assistance to mainly target financially distressed small-scale farmers. Of the R1.2 billion, R400 million has been allocated for farmers within the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) programme and the remainder will be channelled towards all other farmers that are mainly within the following commodity sectors. These include:
- Poultry: Day old chicks, Point of lay chickens, feed, medication and sawdust;
- Other Livestock: Feed and medication.
- Vegetables: Seedlings, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and soil correction.
- Other commodity sectors will be evaluated on a case by case basis, as the Department continuously monitors the impact of COVID-19 on the sector at large.
Qualifying criteria for farmers
- South African citizens who have been actively farming for a minimum of 12 months and currently in the production season or cycle.
- Be registered on farmer register, commodity database or provincial database [Those who are not on the Farmer Register will be registered to benefit].
- Communal farmers.
- Smallholder farmers with annual turnover between R50 000 and R1 million.
- The adjudication will prioritise women, youth and people with disabilities.
Exclusions
- Mechanisation, infrastructure and overhead costs will NOT be supported. This is not comprehensive support but intervention package amid COVID-19.
- Farmers who are preparing for the 2020 summer production season will not be supported. The aim is to provide immediate to near-term support to smallholder farmers currently affected by COVID-19.
- Farmers who are currently receiving support through other programmes of government and its entities.
- No payment for debts.
It is hoped that these measures and the steps taken will assist this key sector to survive and thrive.
