Agro-processing master plan to strengthen ties between stakeholders, govt - Didiza
Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza says the signing of a new master plan for the country's agricultural sector ushers in hope for businesses on the road to recovery.
The Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan was signed ahead of Didiza's budget vote in Parliament on Thursday.
Among other things, the minister says they want to see the sector recover to pre-Covid levels, boost growth and create more sustainable jobs.
She explained the plan will strengthen ties between stakeholders and government and enhance food security.
"One of the barriers, for instance, in the poultry and sugar master plan that became clear was the issue of agricultural financing, particularly in those sectors, but secondly, it was the issues of infrastructure to defray the issue of course of transportation."
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"So even in this plan, we will be looking, for instance, sub-sector by sub-sector of agriculture to say how do you grow the livestock industry? Climate change - how do we respond to climate change as a sector?"
Didiza says the master plan seeks to raise R9.4 billion to fast-track infrastructure rollout and sustain 865 000 primary and 263 000 secondary agriculture jobs.
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