Agrarian Revolution Program of South Africa will give boost agricultural sector

Package support black commercial farmers from the Land Bank, Industrial Development Corporation and commercial banks.

Announcing the country’s stimulus package in September, President Cyril Ramaphosa outlined various agriculture interventions. 

These include a package of support measures for black commercial farmers, blended finance mobilized from the Land Bank, Industrial Development Corporation and commercial banks as well as government granting 30-year leases.

Nel said the interventions tied in with Cogta’s Karoo Small Town Regeneration Initiative as part of the Agrarian Revolution Programme, which seeks to ensure that support is provided to communities to make good use of land through agricultural interventions.

“The major focus is to create technical capacity at the district level to support the agrarian revolution, a one-stop-shop where departments and municipalities are represented,” Nel said.

The IUDF is being implemented through the Cities Support Programme, the Intermediate City Municipalities Programme and the Small Town Regeneration Programme administered by the South African Local Government Association (Salga).

All three programmes are led by National Treasury, Cogta and Salga, respectively. 

“Small towns are a necessary and important link to the development of rural regions and the role of small towns as service centres, within a hierarchy of settlements, is emphasized,” Nel said.

The Karoo Small Towns Regeneration Initiative, Nel said, is important because it provides a platform to test these policies in a more focused and coordinated manner.