“When we support our farmers with livestock, we also need to ensure we support those who will slaughter and sell these animals in the province. The province has to focus a lot on agro-processing. This is the only way we are going to grow our market and therefore grow the province’s economy and job creation.”
By Lebogang Mashala, editor at African Farming
This was the message from North West MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Somadoda Sambatha, at the recent Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Farmers Day held at Klipplaatdrift Farm outside Ventersdorp. Sambatha emphasised that the North West needs to significantly strengthen its agro-processing capacity if the province is to capitalise on its strong agricultural production base, grow its economy and create more jobs.
The event highlighted the role farmers play in strengthening food production, rural economies and sustainable agriculture.
Producing livestock, but losing the value
Sambatha said North West is among South Africa’s leading producers of several major agricultural commodities, including maize, soya beans, sunflower and livestock.
“We are amongst the top three provinces that are the main maize producers, together with the Free State and Mpumalanga,” he said.
According to Sambatha, the Free State currently ranks first, followed by Mpumalanga and North West. He said the province was aiming to move into second place, arguing that its soil fertility and rainfall patterns provided the potential to do so.
North West is also among the country’s top three soya bean producers, while the province is one of the two leading sunflower-producing provinces alongside the Free State. Sambatha said North West is currently the country’s leading sunflower producer.
“These commodities are used as animal feed at some point,” he said.
The province’s livestock production, however, presents a significant opportunity that is not being fully exploited locally.
Also read: North West farmers win fertiliser, seed and mentorship at Dr Kenneth Kaunda Farmers Day
Sambatha said North West ranks fourth nationally in terms of live cattle production, with about 1.5 million cattle according to the province’s vaccination figures. He contrasted this with Gauteng, which he said has about 600 000 cattle.
Yet Gauteng ranks first in beef production, while North West ranks sixth.
“If you go anywhere in this province and check the beef in major retailers, you’ll see clearly that we are selling beef from Gauteng,” he said.
According to Sambatha, this illustrates the province’s weakness in agro-processing.
“Our cattle leave the province on trailers to Gauteng and come back in the form of beef. They get slaughtered in Gauteng and get stamped with a Gauteng company’s name, and then we buy them as beef from Gauteng.”
He said this pattern meant North West was losing out on the economic activity and jobs associated with slaughtering, processing, packaging and marketing agricultural products.
Also read: North West builds seven packhouses to help emerging farmers reach formal markets
Keeping more value in the province
Sambatha said the provincial government therefore needs to support the entire agricultural value chain rather than focusing only on primary production.
“The province has to focus a lot on the component of agro-processing,” he said. “When we support our farmers with livestock, we also need to ensure we support those who will slaughter and sell these animals in the province. This is the only way we are going to grow our market and therefore grow the province’s economy and job creation.”
He said North West had increasingly become a major grazing province, partly because mineworkers from other provinces purchase livestock as an investment for retirement.
“These livestock are kept here in the province for a certain period before they are transported to the mineworkers’ places of origin,” he said.
Also read: Easy-care livestock: Your guide on choosing animals that thrive on your farm and cut input costs
Sambatha said vaccination figures showed that many cattle in the province eventually leave for destinations including the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Free State and Lesotho.
The same challenge, he argued, extends to poultry.
Although North West ranks among the leading provinces in poultry production, Sambatha pointed to a trade agreement with China involving chicken feet as an example of the province failing to capitalise on its production strengths.
He said the Western Cape was the first province to sign such an agreement, despite ranking sixth in poultry production.
“This means that as a province we are sleeping,” he said.
Also read: North West launches coffee project to diversify agriculture and open export markets
Aligning support with what the province produces
Sambatha said the province needs to reconsider its development strategy and align it more closely with areas in which North West already has a competitive production base.
“Many times, we are not aligned with what we are strong in,” he said.
He also raised concerns about how agricultural support programmes, including the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP), are allocated.
According to Sambatha, funding decisions can sometimes favour applicants with well-written business plans rather than farmers with established and deserving operations.
He said some applicants could afford to employ business development agents to prepare sophisticated business plans despite having little or no farming experience, while established farmers without access to such services could be overlooked.
“We are made to support start-ups while deserving farmers who may unfortunately not have access to these business development agents are running viable farming businesses,” he said.
Sambatha called on departmental officials to visit farming projects before approving funding applications.
“The department should not create farmers or fund ideas, but must support farmers who are on the ground working and need just a boost,” he said.
Also read: North West sets aside R424 million for farmer support and agro-processing
‘We have money that is not enough’
Sambatha illustrated his concern by comparing the funding of a new 5 000-layer poultry operation with support for an established 250-layer farmer.
He said the department could end up funding a new project from the construction of poultry houses and purchase of cages to buying birds and feed, while an existing farmer who had already operated a 250-layer business for some time could remain unsupported.
The MEC’s comments highlighted the need for the province to look beyond increasing primary production and focus on developing the infrastructure, businesses and skills needed to process and market what its farmers already produce.
Also read:
North West sets sights on 1 500 agricultural jobs and skills development
Cabinet should bail out the Blended Finance Scheme
When funding pauses but planting cannot: the Land Bank crisis farmers cannot afford
Farmers left stranded as Land Bank pauses Blended Finance Scheme – with planting season days away
