President Cyril Ramaphosa says African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (Afasa) has played a role in highlighting challenges faced by black farmers. He was speaking at the Afasa Agribusiness Transformation Conference gala dinner and presidential awards in Ekhurhuleni on Monday.
Also in attendance was Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Senzeni Zokwana and President of Afasa Dr Vuyokazi Mahlati.
Ramaphosa acknowledged Afasa’s role in re-shaping agriculture. “Through its lobbying and advocacy work, Afasa is helping to re-shape agriculture, bridging the divide between policy and reality, between legislation and the live experience of emerging black farmers.”
He says through its work, Afasa is sending a clear message to young South Africans that there is a future in farming.
“They give us confidence that our villages and small towns can become sustainable economic centres. At a time of rapid urbanisation, Afasa works to maintain our people’s connection with the land.”
According to Ramaphosa, Afasa’s work also shows that black farmers are able to manage land.
“It is demonstrating that black South Africans are able to make a success of owning and managing land and that they are able to farm successfully, ensure food security and sustain livelihoods.”
The President has reiterated that government is working hard to ensure that more land is redistributed.
“We have embarked on a programme of accelerated land reform that aims to redistribute more land, at a faster pace, to black South Africans. That will ensure tenure security for the insecure, and that will change the distorted patterns of development; both in our cities and our countryside.”
He urged black and white farmers to work together.
“And working with government, build a better future not just in the agrarian economy but in society at large.”
He congratulated farmers nominated for the Afasa awards.
“These awards serve a broader purpose than recognising outstanding individual contributions. They send a powerful and compelling message about the future of farming in this country, about the confidence and capabilities of a new generation of emerging black farmers, of the long road we have travelled, and the distance we still need to go.”
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