^Foreword

The dawn of our second decade of freedom has been greeted by an enthusiastic urge to reshape the province’s agricultural landscape through the ideals encapsulated in the Strategic Plan for South African Agriculture. Harmonious sectoral relations would serve to remedy government’s cause in addressing equitable access, rural development and poverty eradication. The well-embraced vision of a ‘united and prosperous agricultural sector’ provides ample opportunity for the creation of a globally competitive sector.

It is heartening to note that the Department has already set in place mechanisms for the achievement of accelerated economic participation through Black Economic Empowerment initiatives. The setting of benchmarks for BEE initiatives will be framed along tested Public Private Partnership models. Growing prosperity can only be attained by entrenchment of the emerging farmers’ contribution to the agricultural economy. Agriculture is one of the sector’s that best explains the inextricable link between freedom and economic empowerment within the province.

The implementation of the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme that serves as a primary catalyst for ploughing value into redistributed land will enjoy primary focus. Our efforts in identifying viable economic opportunities for Women in Agriculture will be redoubled as we keep appealing to banking institutions to refine their packages for the sector’s new entrants.

The Orange River Emerging Farmer Settlement Programme is expected to contribute significantly towards emerging farmers gaining access to irrigable agriculture. The province’s rivers cannot forever be a source of life for a privileged few without being a lifeline for communities that toil their banks and dearth of commercial farms.

I am confident that this presentation speaks into economic empowerment, global competitiveness, refined service delivery and the criticalness of rural development and sustainable agriculture.