MEDIA RELEASE

EVALUATIONS IN THE PROVINCIAL FEMALE FARMER OF THE YEAR COMPETITION 2006 DRAWS TO A CLOSE

The Northern Cape’s Department of Agriculture and Land Reform and the sponsors of the Provincial Female Farmer of the Year Competition 2006 are to conduct the final adjudication of the province’s best female farmers on the 21 July 2006. The Call for Applications Campaign drew a heartening response from prospective participants whose enterprises are currently being assessed by the Competition’s Evaluation Team. The Evaluation Team will serve its short-list to the adjudicators who are to recommend the winners to MEC Tina Joemat-Pettersson. The MEC will then lift the veil of secrecy by announcing the winners amid the usual pomp and ceremony at a gala event on 3 August 2006 in Colesburg. The national event is to be held in Durban on the 27 August 2006.

Apart from the increase in quality entries, the growth of this event has also been marked by Standard Bank and Griekwaland Wes Koporatief retaining their status as provincial sponsors of the competition with Try Me – distributor of fresh produce – emerging as the new entrant. The national sponsorship scales remains unchanged with ABSA, Land Bank, Total SA, Onderstepoort Biological Products and Bayer Health Care benevolently assisting government in recognizing and rewarding female farmers for providing food security and economic growth.

A staggering prize-money of over R120 000 is at stake for this year’s provincial winners who would be faced with the daunting task of repeating the province’s feat of producing national winners in two of the four categories; top producer for national markets, top producer for informal markets, top producer for household food security and top producer for export markets.

Ms. Colene Grievelink of Hanover is South Africa’s reigning Female Farmer of the Year and also holds the crown of Top Producer for National Markets. Felicity Fillis of De Aar who sold her dining room suite to buy ostrich chicks scooped the National Informal Market award.

EDITORS NOTES

Competition Background

The Female Farmer Competition is an instrument through which women’s contribution to the fight against poverty is being recognized and encouraged. The Competition acknowledges women as the lifeline of society and the custodians of household food security whose role is critical in improving the quality and quantity of agricultural products through improved delivery, innovation and excellence.

This initiative further seeks to:

· Lift the social, cultural and economic barriers that have subjected women to play a peripheral role in the sector,

· Thwart the spectre of a decline in the Province’s agricultural sector’s growth by encouraging the entry of new farmers to ensure an improved food production,

· ·Combat inequities by soliciting support from various quarters of the industry that would include, financial institutions and agricultural specialists, and

· ·Enable women to have the same opportunities and access to resources.

In selecting the winners we focused on aspects such as entrepreneurial development, job creation and the management of agricultural resources for current and future generations.

Hence the winners would at all times display the following characteristics:

· Demonstrate a degree of innovation and creativity in improving existing farming systems with the responsible use of production inputs, and

· ·Demonstrate a sense of innovation in financial management, created and retained employment opportunities

Enquiries: Thabo Mothibi 083 255 8840 tmothibi@grand.ncape.gov.za