Fetsa tlala: integrated food production initiative 2013 Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries table of contents list of acronyms
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 FETSA TLALA: INTEGRATED FOOD PRODUCTION INITIATIVE 2013 Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries TABLE OF CONTENTS
AgriSETA - Agricultural Sector Education and Training Authority CARA - Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act; Act 43 of 1983 DAFF - Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries DoBE - Department of Basic Education DoCS - Department of Correctional Services DoH - Department of Health DRDLR -Department of Rural Development and Land Reform DSD -Department of Social Development ERP - Extension Recovery Programme IFPI - Integrated Food Production Intervention FIFPC - Fetsa Tlala Integrated Food Production Committee GHS - General Household Survey ha - hectare IFSS - Integrated Food Security Strategy MAFISA - Micro Agricultural Financing Institutions of South Africa MTSF - Medium Term Strategic Framework MDG’s - Millennium Development Goals NAMC - National Agricultural Marketing Council NDP - National Development Plan NSNP - National School Nutrition Programme RSA - Republic of South Africa STATS SA - Statistics South Africa SMME - Small Medium Micro Enterprises SIP - Strategic Integrated Projects
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Section 27:1(b) states that every citizen “the right to have access to . . . sufficient food and water” and that “. . . the State must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of each of these rights.” (Constitution, 1996: 2) Notwithstanding the development of Integrated Food Security Strategy (IFSS, 2002) to streamline, harmonize and integrate the diverse food security programmes, food insecurity still remains a challenge for the country especially at local household level. The National Development Plan (NDP) sets out various methods and targets to eradicate poverty, reduce unemployment and eliminate inequality by 2030. It identifies Food and Nutrition Security as a key element of both poverty and inequality. As a result the NDP makes reference to a number of steps that will improve food security, including the expanded use of irrigation, security of land tenure, especially for women and youth, and the promotion of nutrition education. Fetsa Tlala is an integrated government framework that seeks to promote food security and address structural causes of food insecurity, which continue to perpetuate inequality and social exclusion. Fetsa Tlala is aimed at more than just creating a food secure country for all South Africans, but to also to eradicate hunger. It is therefore an overarching framework to maximise synergy between the different strategies and programmes of government and civil society. In line with the framework, a set of targeted policy responses (policy instruments) will be implemented. These include but not limited to the following: Table 1: Targeted policy responses
Government through these policy responses amongst others intends to guarantee the right of access to adequate food thus contributing towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s). The initiative will bring together all organs of states and non-state actors in implementing a plethora of policies related to food and nutrition security.
It is expected that the world’s population of approximately 7 billion will increase to 9 billion by 2050, resulting in the need to annually produce another 1 billion tonnes of cereals and moreover, it is estimated that by 2030, an additional 120 million ha of land will be required in order to support the growth in global food requirements. Currently, almost 1 billion people are undernourished (of which 239 million are in Sub-Saharan Africa), and even if agricultural production doubles by 2050, one person in twenty (5%) still risks being undernourished in developing countries. It is therefore clear that “future agricultural production will have to rise faster than population growth”, most notably on existing and dwindling agricultural land (RSA has 30% decline in land under production during the period between 1994/95 and 2008/09). The effective use and preservation of agricultural land is therefore of utmost importance. . Studies have shown Since government introduced intervention programmes, household access to food have improved even though 12 million people are still vulnerable to food insecurity (GHS, 2012). Using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale which is aimed at determining households’ access to food, the percentage of South African households with inadequate or severely inadequate access to food decreased from 23, 9% in 2010 to 21, 5% in 2012. Between 2002 and 2012, the percentage of households that experienced hunger decreased from 29,3% to 12,6% while the percentage of individuals who experienced hunger decreased from 23,8% to 10,8% (GHS, 2012) Investing in agriculture is one of the most effective strategies for reducing poverty and hunger whilst promoting sustainability. The recent Labour Force Survey conducted by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) shows that the unemployment rate rose to 25.6% in the second quarter of 2013. The report also shows that agriculture was the lead industry that contributed positively to the net gain of 44 000 jobs observed in the first quarter on a quarter to quarter basis (Statistics South Africa, Labour Force Survey, Quarter 1, 2013). This is a clear indication that investment in agriculture continues to play a significant role in the livelihoods of many households. Government has however, realised that eradicating hunger sustainably will require a significant increase in agricultural investment and more equitable distribution of resources.
Urbanisation and declining agrarian activities in significant parts of the country, including the subsistence sector, have transformed the South African economy into a wage economy. Most households are net consumers of purchased food, rather than producers thereof. Access to food has thus become a function of household cash income and thus cash deficit households are more likely to experience inadequate access to food. Government through Fetsa Tlala Framework intends to support subsistence and smallholder farmers to put one million hectares under production by 2018/19. Table 2: One million hectares trajectory
It is expected that beneficiation of One Million Hectares programme will in the main accrue to the indigent and vulnerable sections of our society. In the implementation of the One Million Hectare Intergrated Food Production Initiative, government seeks to reclaim fallow and unproductive arable land in communal areas including Land Reform farms, as part of policy and programme crafted to realize the Millennium Development Goals. In contemplation of appropriate government interventions, especially in a country with resource limitations like South Africa, it is considered prudent to select the most cost effective policy responses. In this regard the primary focus, although not exclusive, will be to cultivate maize, beans and potatoes as the staple commodities which inform the basic dietary needs of the indigent. In the first four years of implementation the focus will be on the stabilisation of production and productivity of maize and beans. This will be attained through provision of mechanisation, production inputs and advisory services. Commercialization will incrementally be included in the programme, parallel with the implementation of Strategic Integrated Project (SIP 11) to complete the agricultural value chain. The response is further necessitated by the fact that agricultural land is under threat from other competing sectors and these could ultimately threaten food security of the country in the long term. Furthermore, climatic fluctuations and variability are increasingly more pronounced, thus requiring appropriate agricultural interventions to mitigate against these risks. Therefore, for 1 000 000ha programme to succeed, it needs to find greater expression within the Governments Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) and budgetary processes. Accordingly, this will enable the State to prioritize and mobilise resources required for the successful implementation. 3.1 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 3.1.1 The goal of the initiative The overarching goal of the initiative is to ensure food availability thus contribute towards the NDP goal of ending hunger by 2030. 3.1.2 Specific objectives The one million hectare Integrated Food Production Initiative espouses the following objectives:
3.2 PROGRAMME PRINCIPLES The following principles will guide the programme:
3.3 RISKS AND CONSTRAINTS The following constraints/risks have been identified and the mitigation thereof presented in the table below: Table 3: Risks and possible mitigation measures
3.4 PROGRAMME PILLARS The programme pillars mentioned hereunder are fundamental prerequisites for the Food Production Initiative to achieve its intended objectives. These pillars are based on current socio-economic and environmental considerations to ensure sustainable food and nutrition security. Each of the pillars is explored in detail below: 3.4.1 Pillar 1 - Land capability Land capability includes the climatic and physiological considerations for the identified crops and determines the location of what can be produced. South Africa consists of 122 million ha of land, of which approximately 13% is potentially arable (land capability classes I, II & III). Approximately 100 million ha (82.3% of land in South Africa) is classified as “farm land” (arable and grazing land), with around 12.75 million ha currently being used for arable agricultural purposes. The following table gives an overview of the distribution of agricultural land capability classes I – VIII in South Africa; class I is the best available land for purposes of agricultural production while class VIII is not suitable for commercial farming. Classes I-III are regarded as high value agricultural land with a very high to moderate suitability for rain-fed crop production: Table 4: Land capability
In an attempt to explore the feasibility of the One Million Hectare Food Production Initiative, an assessment to determine areas suitable for dry land maize and beans production was conducted by the department. The initial land targets per province, to be included in this initiative are indicated in the table below: Table 5: Targeted Food Production Initiative hectorage per province [with GP and WC prioritising urban agriculture].
3.4.2 Pillar 2 – Mechanisation support services Generally, subsistence and small-holder farmers’ ownership of mechanisation is not cost – effective due to the scale of their operations. The aim of government is to provide the traction required to ensure underutilised land is productive. The mechanization value chain must be functional at local level to ensure sustainability of the initiative. Government will create an enabling environment for the provision of mechanisation service to be exploited by SMMEs.
Through Food Production Initiative, the State will support subsistence and smallholder producers with production inputs which include seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and seedlings for crop production. The initiative endeavours to secure such inputs in advance given that most of these consumables are imported and are also in demand at the same period. Production inputs will be provided up to a 100% for the subsistence farmers. These categories of farmers are not able to access production loans due to the scale of their production. Support for the smallholder farmers will be provided on a sliding scale over five years, with beneficiaries receiving 100% production input in the first year. In the second, third, fourth and fifth year of production, producers (smallholder) will receive about 70%, 50%, 30% and 10% of the production input support and the remaining 30%, 50%, 70 and 90% will be respectively financed through a production loan offered by MAFISA, Land Bank’s Retail Emerging Market unit or any other Development Financial Institution including own contribution. In line with the NDP on the expansion and rehabilitation of irrigation schemes, the State will make reasonable means to provide wherever possible related infrastructure to enhance production efficiency. Provision of irrigation, storage and fencing infrastructure especially the latter will be critical in ensuring successful delivery of the initiative. 
NDP: Targets on Rural Development and Agriculture The irrigation infrastructure investment plans for the agricultural sector will contribute to the stimulation and growth of the rural economy. Optimum utilisation of the infrastructure implemented through SIP 11 would require that rural communities have sufficient productive capacities to effectively produce the required quantities. This will therefore enable the development of the local agricultural value chain. 3.4.4 Pillar 4 – Market access South Africa contributes significantly to food procurement. Government procures food products and food related services worth over R7 billion each year. The food industry which is dependent mainly on the agricultural sector stimulates major income and employment linkages throughout the economy. Through this programme Government will re-prioritise its procurement on food to create market for the subsistence and small holder farmers in rural, urban and peri-urban areas. Fair prices from what the market provides will be an integral component of this programme to consciously empower the emerging agricultural sector. The National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) will determine fair prices per commodity supply in each of the food programmes of Government. The Preferential Procurement Policy of 2005 will allow the enforcement of preferential procurement position which will be supported by Government Departments such as DBE (National School Nutrition Programmes), DoH (health centres), DoCS (correctional facilities), DSD (food distribution) and the Department of Defence and Military Veterans.
In order to realise full potential the appropriate training and capacity building will be provided. The State will provide the required resources for training and capacity building. All farmers participating will be subjected to some capacity building; either training or mentorship which will be based on needs assessment per farmer category. The Colleges of Agriculture will be used to offer training on production, post-harvest technologies, product quality requirements, packaging and marketing aspects. This will also include joint initiatives with the private sector, universities and SOE’s. On-farm and demonstrations will form part of farmer training and will ensure that training is provided to farmer groups rather than individual farmers for the efficient delivery and cost effectiveness. The success of the initiative will also depend on the advisory services rendered by Extension Officers. The initiative is therefore inextricably linked to the current Extension Recovery Programme (ERP) championed by Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Nationally, the Integrated Food Production Initiative will be coordinated and led by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) supported by relevant national and provincial departments. These supporting departments will accordingly form part of a Steering Committee to be referred to as Fetsa Tlala Integrated Food Production Committee. Although run by Government, the committee will encourage the participation of the Private sector. 3.5.1 Role of the Integrated Food Production Committee:
3.6 BUDGET The initiative is premised from the position that South Africa has limited financial resources, hence the choice of strategic responses is based on staple food production for immediate impact. The proposal below does not discount the important role played by other agricultural commodities, however it is merely focused on maize and bean production. This strategy will be reviewed at the end of the Medium Term Strategic Framework ending 2018/19 financial year. The tables below therefore provide an indication of the financial resources required for production inputs, inclusive of mechanisation, focussing on maize and beans as staple commodities. Table 6: Estimated production costs per hectare.
Table 7: Cropping plan for 1,000,000 hectares.
Table 8: Implementation plan/Action Plan
3.7 MONITORING AND EVALUATION Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is a critical component of the initiative. An integrated M&E system will generate timely reports on progress made towards achieving the objectives, Financial and performance indicators will be used to monitor the effective and efficient use of resources.
In accordance with NDP vision 2030 statement “we have food on the table”, the Fetsa Tlala Integrated Food Production Initiative endeavours to contribute towards food and nutrition security for all. Download 120.16 Kb. Share with your friends:
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