Agriculture Minister: Lockdown will not affect food production
Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza has moved to assure South Africans that food production will not be affected during the 21-day the lockdown.
Didiza was speaking at a briefing at Pretoria on Tuesday, where ministers explained how various sectors will be affected.
“We have been working with the industry since last week to identify the core elements that needs to remain operational, and how we protect those workers in these entities,” Didiza said.
She continued, “From farm related operations, agro processing and food manufacturing, logistics and related serves in the wholesale and retail sector and all support functions that assure efficient delivery of the agro food system.”
She says farming operations will carry on under strict conditions.
“As a nation, we boast for being self-sufficient in food production and part of this year’s supply is yet to be harvested,” she explained.
“In particular, yellow and white maize which promises to be a bumper filled crop. These processes will continue as normal as the foundation of South Africa’s food system.”
Didiza says they'll also be keeping an eye on the prices of food items.
“Price monitoring will also be conducted on critical food and reports will be given to the nation on a regular basis. The department has also set aside a package of 1,2 billion to address the effects of the coronavirus and assure sustainable food production post the pandemic,” Didiza said.
