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Agriculture

Farmers want concrete answers on APAP

───   SABRINA DEAN 17:24 Tue, 22 Sep 2015

Farmers want concrete answers on APAP | News Article

Pretoria - The 18th AGM of the National Emergent Red Meat Producers Organisation (Nerpo) has resolved to engage directly with agriculture Minister Senzeni Zokwana about the development of smallholder farmers.

Nerpo Managing Director Aggrey Mahanjana says they intend to request Zokwana to respond to submissions made by the African Farmers Association of SA earlier this year around smallholder development.

He says farmers want concrete feedback on the implementation of the Agricultural Policy Action Plan, or APAP. “Farmers are saying that Apap must start to be seen not only on paper and in policies. It is something that needs to start being implemented on the ground so we would like the Minister to respond to that.”

*Aggrey Mahanjana – Minister

Another major resolution deals with the empowerment of smallholder farmers through syndication. Mahanjana says the idea is to organise Nerpo members into syndicates with the aim of unlocking market opportunities and collective bargaining powers:

“The aim of reorganising these members into syndicates is to give them an opportunity to access markets properly, improving their productivity on the ground, as well as to be able to bargain and mobilise inputs at better prices. The farmers have taken that resolution unanimously.”

*Aggrey Mahanjana - syndicate

Other key resolutions deal with the impact of climate change and the need to educate producers on how to adapt and the importance of livestock recording.

He also highlighted the need for a livestock census, saying the last accurate census was conducted pre 1994. He says it is impossible to plan appropriately working on estimates based on census data more than two decades old and is calling for a proper livestock census to be done every five years.

 

Sabrina Dean/OFM News

 


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*Aggrey Mahanjana – Minister:

*Aggrey Mahanjana – Minister:

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