New farmers need to acquire skills

The notion of poverty reduction first came to light in the period leading up to the first democratic elections of 1994 and it was the ANC that brought focus to the idea that the best way to correct the imbalances of the past, it was necessary to find ways of reducing poverty. It’s interesting to note that in 1994 just over 48% of South African populous was living below the poverty level. Once in government, the ANC government came up with a number of strategies to address poverty, the most famous of which is the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). Key to the ruling party’s strategy to reduce poverty, was the concept of land reform, especially land that was being used for farming purposes. The ANC government, under the auspices of the Department of Rural Development and Land Affairs (previously Department of Land Affairs) set up the Land Redistribution and Agricultural Development (LRAD) programme whose main aim according to official department literature, is to “help previously disadvantaged citizens from African, Coloured and Indian communities to buy land or agricultural implements specifically for agricultural purposes.” The LRAD programme offers non-refundable supplementary financing to prospective farmers from the previously disadvantaged groups to help these farmers secure land for farming and production purposes. While the LRAD is very specific about the need for those who acquire the land to undergo training to gain farming skills there are many stories to be told of failed LRAD projects precisely because the farm owners lacked the necessary skills to sustain the farming processes to keep the land productive. Government, under the leadership of the ANC must be commended for its land reform initiatives however, if the LRAD programme is to gain the necessary momentum, government must review the programme’s skills transfer methods. One suggestion is for the established farmers from whom land is being bought to retain a material stake in the farm and put in place a skills transfer programme which is based on certain targets. The idea is that the established farmer would gradually relinquish his/her stake in the farm and eventually withdraw from the running of the farm, leaving it in the hands of the now capable new land owners. These targets would be based on such measures as farm profitability and land productivity. Linked to this skills transfer programme government ought to set up short courses with the aim of giving new land-owners a quick understanding of the basics of farming. The attendance of the course must be a pre-requisite for the new owners taking ownership of their new property. Whatever happens the LRAD is too important an initiative for our country for government to allow it to fail into oblivion.