Agri-Parks to Help South African Farmers
Making a living in farming is not easy. For many small scale farmers, commercial farming is hard. For small farmers wanting to make a living in the sector, the challenges can almost seem insurmountable.
Many small farmers fail due to lack of support, education and the necessary skills that are needed to make commercial farming a success.
However, all this is about to change. Thanks to the launch of the Agri-parks programme by government, struggling small farmers will now be able to become successful farm owners.
Government launched the Agri-parks programme in 2015 as one of the cornerstones of rural economic transformation. Led by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, the programme provides communities with jobs, food security and opportunities to prosper.
The National Developmental Plan (NDP) sees agriculture as having the potential to create close to one million jobs by 2030. It states that commercial agriculture has the potential to create 250 000 direct jobs and a further 130 000 indirect jobs. And officials say the Agri-parks programme is just one way towards realising these jobs targets.
The programme offers a one stop shop for agro-production, processing, logistics, marketing and training within district municipalities.
Mountain Partnership at FAO