Founding of Agricultural Development Agency “A New Landmark in SA History”

The launch of the Agricultural Development Agency (AGDA) at the three-day Africa Agri Tech Conference and Expo in Pretoria this week has been heralded  as a landmark in the history of South Africa by bringing together the various role players in the agricultural environment to be part of a powerful initiative led by passionate people.

The new organisation will be a private business initiative that will work closely with government in all aspects of agriculture from skills transfer to the practical aspects of implementing land reform.

This is the opinion of Nick Serfontein, a prominent livestock farmer who wrote an open letter to President Ramaphosa in December 2017 asking him to involve commercial farmers in the land reform process. He was subsequently appointed to the President’s 10-person land reform advisory panel and is an enthusiastic founder member of AGDA after actively and successfully supporting new farmers for the past five years.

This positive attitude was a good example of the atmosphere that prevailed at this launch event which was led by Leona Archery, the newly-appointed CEO of AGDA who is also the head of the agriculture division at the Bigen Group and a former deputy Director-General of Rural Development and Land Reform

Thoko Didiza, the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform,  was unable to attend the function due to an urgent  meeting with President Ramaphosa on public-private sector partnerships in Cape Town, but sent a very supportive message for the establishment of AGDA and its objectives in a recorded video address.

The Minister said the formation of AGDA is an excellent example of a positive response for business to work with government in the drive to uplift the economy that went out as a request from President Ramaphosa in 2018.

“The addition of the variety of businesses involved with the agricultural industry which are now or will become members of AGDA will be an important instrument in meeting the need for the responsible use of land in the reform process,” said Minister Didiza.

“Access to finance and insurance are big challenges for new farmers and this is where an organisation such as AGDA can play an important role too as it will include major roleplays in the financial world.”

The Minister also stressed the challenges facing farmers in terms of biosecurity that is being impacted by global climate change.

On the positive side the Minister said the Africa Free Trade Agreement, which comes into effect in July, will open the doors for increased export opportunities into Africa to the benefit of local farmers and associated businesses.

Rudi Dicks, the head of project management in the Presidency, said the President was given regular updates on progress with agricultural initiatives such as AGDA. He added that this sector of the economy was an important participant in the Jobs Summit, which was driven personally by the President. Dicks said that although there was no financial involvement with AGDA from the government at this stage there could be a possibility of a capital investment in this type of initiative in the future.

Roelf Meyer, a former cabinet minister and now a community and economic development activist, said the launch of AGDA marked a very proud moment for him personally as agriculture was one of the most important aspects of local business. It was one of 20 sectors that were identified to be part of public-private initiatives to boost the ailing economy.

Meyer is a major motivator and facilitator, along with Dr Johan van Zyl, a South African who is currently CEO of Toyota Europe and a member of the board of Toyota Motor Corporation, in setting up the Public-Private Growth Initiative (PPGI) which has full government support.

 Kallie Schoeman, the managing director of a 100-year-old faming business, was another prominent member of the agricultural community who gave his full backing to the AGDA initiative. He said that he saw the efficient use of agriculture as an excellent vehicle for reconciliation in South Africa as it was a practical way of improving the lives of millions by providing wider access to affordable food.

Malcolm Ferguson, an associate in the In Transformation Initiative, said the way forward for AGDA will be to continue with pilot projects, source funding from the private sector, set up a board of directors, establish operational committees and build on the initial list of 36 founding members. The target is for AGDA to be operational by September 2020.


Relevant pages in AgribookDigital include "Finance for new farmers and SMMEs", "Marketing" and "Providers of financial services".

Minister Thoko Didiza to deliver keynote address at the AGDA launch

The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza will deliver the keynote address at the official launch of the much-anticipated Agriculture Development Agency. This take place on 18 February 2020 at the Africa Agri Tech Conference and Expo (AAT), to be held at the Maslow Hotel, Times Square, Menlyn Main in Pretoria.

The launch of the Agriculture Development Agency (AGDA) will also serve as the opening event of the AAT conference, which will run from 18 – 20 February and cover topics ranging from the local and international agricultural economy and access to capital, to mitigating drought conditions through sustainable climate sensitive agriculture as well as developing intra African trade in agricultural products.

AGDA is part of the Public Private Growth Initiative (PPGI), which was established in April 2018 under the leadership of Dr Johan van Zyl, CEO and President of Toyota in Europe. Van Zyl was inspired by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s famous Thuma Mina call in January 2018 and based the PPGI on the hugely successful Japanese economic model. The aim is to align strategic planning between government and the private sector, in the interest of improving economic growth and the manner in which government and business work together.

There are more than 20 sectors identified by the PPGI for specific focus. These include Agriculture; Tourism; Automotive; Chemicals; Manufacturing; Energy and Renewable Energy; Construction; Pharmaceutical; Mining; Retail; ICT; Health; and Insurance. These sectors are all developing comprehensive five-year growth plans, which aim at accelerating economic growth and job creation.

The specific aims of AGDA are intended to promote greater social justice by creating enablers that will help drive sustainable land reform programmes and contribute to changing land ownership patterns in our country.

AGDA, which is an entirely private sector initiative falling under the PPGI framework, will work together on an agreed project basis with government to achieve the common national goal of sustainable and accelerated land reform to the benefit of South Africa and all its people. 

In this regard, Mr Roelf Meyer of In Transformation Initiative, which is one of the main drivers of this project, drew attention to the main objectives of the Agency, which are to promote and support access to agricultural land by black/emerging farmers, and to support the use of agricultural land and infrastructure development so as to promote land reform and food security in the country. Meyer highlighted that AGDA has the specific purpose not only to pursue these noble objectives, but also to ensure the provision of appropriate training, as well as support and assistance to emerging farmers to improve capacity and access to agricultural markets in particular.

 

“It is only through the pursuit of such objectives in partnership with government, focusing on a more vigorous pursuit of the noble objectives the national land reform programme, that the market failures and imperfections in building an inclusive, dynamic and competitive agricultural sector, to enable all our people who have ambitions to work in agriculture can be achieved,” Meyer said.

Ms Gloria Serobe, CEO of WipCapital and also one of the leading inspirations and contributors to the creation of AGDA remarked that, “the Agricultural Development Agency must have a well-developed social conscience and it must be institutionalised in a manner that will ensure it is always dedicated to such imperatives.”

Relevant pages in AgribookDigital include "Finance for new farmers and SMMEs".

NEET and Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit

A young man came to us for help yesterday. His old, worn out ID book was missing the top corner (and the last digit of his identity number). We were impressed with his whole demeanour which spoke of cleanliness and enthusiasm. In the past it was not uncommon to find him bloodshot eyes and in low spirits. What had made the difference? The hope that a job might be his. He is one of the young, NEET (not in employment, education or training) South Africans.

The NEET category is of great concern to anyone who hears of it, especially if you are connected to and affected by someone unfortunate enough to finds herself/himself there. 

If something creative isn’t done about it, it has the potential to affect all of us!

NEET is covered in many quarters, not least a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Country Focus "Six Charts Explain South Africa's Inequality". The fifth of these identifies high unemployment as being a major factor sustaining the inequality levels. The country's unemployment is significantly higher than the average emerging markets, and spectacularly so when it comes to youth unemployment - 53% to their 16%!

The Country Focus urges: 

• the creation of more low-skilled jobs "to improve labour force participation, especially in the poorest provinces";
• improving the quality of education; and
• facilitating affordable transportation to job centers.

It is against this backdrop that we took great pleasure in reading about the prominence given to youth unemployment when South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted German Chancellor Angela Merkel on an official visit on Thursday, at the Union Buildings, in Tshwane. The two signed a joint initiative on the promotion of vocational training the aim of which is to tackle the high unemployment rate in South Africa. “We have to make sure that young people transition from learning to earning at a much faster rate,” President Ramaphosa said. He linked the joint initiative to government's Presidential Youth Employment Intervention.

The other area of co-operation is energy supply with particular focus on renewable energy. A grim smile for us as we face a weekend of load shedding.

Relevant pages on Agribook.Digital include "Careers and employment in agriculture" and "Renewable and alternative energy".