SPEECH BY HONORABLE MINISTER: SENZENI ZOKWANA GROBLERSDAL YOUTH OUTREACH PROGRAMME MANG LE MANG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

Transcription

1 SPEECH BY HONORABLE MINISTER: SENZENI ZOKWANA GROBLERSDAL YOUTH OUTREACH PROGRAMME MANG LE MANG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL 11 JUNE

2 Programme Director, Executive Mayor, Councilors present, Acting Director General Distinguished guests, Youth structures and Young people present Thobela, Good morning, We are gathered here today as part of the month long commemoration of the 1976 Soweto uprising generation who, against all odds, braved the savagery of the apartheid police as they firmly rejected the compulsory use of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in their schools.. As you are aware, I was here in Groblersdal last year as part of my youth month activities. This shows my consistent wish to see change in the lives of young people in this area in particular. We are here mainly to share with you a plethora of opportunities which agriculture, forestry and fisheries have for young people. This is in the spirit of empowerment and bringing knowledge to your door step. The African Youth Charter defines empowerment as building knowledge and education through awareness raising, capacity and skills building; as well as enhancing accessibility to various entrepreneurial interventions targeting youth. This is what we are about here today, taking the cue from the African Youth Charter. 2

3 The National Development Plan (NDP): Vision 2030 highlights the role youth will play in the country s advancement. It emphasises that a youthful population presents an opportunity to boost economic growth, increase employment and reduce poverty. I think I am at the right place to talk about this vision because I am surrounded by young people. If I was young myself, and had an opportunity like this, where I am not only told about opportunities but the opportunities are brought to me, my first question would be what can I do to grab them? Ladies and Gentlemen, an average age of a farmer in South Africa is 62 years, which is significantly higher than the EU average age of (55), Australia (53), and France (48). In addition to this, research depicts an enormous decline in the number of South Africa s commercial farmers since This decrease is mainly due to consolidation and the on - going land reform processes. The current few commercial farmers in the country still carry the responsibility of feeding a population of more than 50 million people. This threat requires a coherent radical approach, and one such approach is bringing youth on board. The involvement of youth will ensure continuity and sustainability of the agriculture, forestry and fisheries production. This will in the process, assist in improving household food security and the creation of employment opportunities in rural areas, and consequently reduce rural migration to urban areas. 3

4 In response to the alarming rate of decreasing numbers of commercial farmers I cited earlier, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries developed a Strategy on Developing Young Producers and Entrepreneurs in This Strategy targets young people who are involved or have potential to participate in entrepreneurial activities in the sector. The Strategy focuses on the following components: livestock rearing and poultry production, horticulture/crop production, fisheries production (aquaculture and small-scale commercial fisheries), agroforestry and agro- processing. In order to implement this Strategy, we have reprioritized CASP grant for 2017 to cater for placement of unemployed graduates in farms in line with Agriculture Policy Action Plan (APAP). For 2017, we are going to place 180 young unemployed agriculture, forestry and fisheries graduates in farms for a period of 2 years across the 9 provinces. This opportunity will be advertised through Provincial Departments of Agriculture as CASP funds are transferred to Provinces. I am, however, going to make it a point that proper monitoring is done to ensure that the eligible potential producers and entrepreneurs are recruited into this programme. Additional to this, my Department will be recruiting young agricultural unemployed graduates on contract basis through National Agricultural Marketing Council to assist in monitoring CASP projects in the 9 provinces. Please make enquiries and seize this opportunity in Limpopo when it gets to be advertised before August

5 We want to develop a cadre of well equipped youth that will provide us with solutions to the many challenges facing the sector. We have been hit hard by drought and drastic changing weather patterns in some parts of the country recently. These had a devastating effect on our farmers. We need young people who would enhance our preparedness and assist government in cases like these. For how long will we look outside South Africa for our local problems? Our youth must play an instrumental role in finding lasting solutions to our problems. I am saying this with confidence because; I recently launched an Institute for Development Assistant Management (IDAM) in March this year at Fort Hare University. This institute is one of a kind in the Continent and it addresses the very problem of over reliance on donor organisations and foreign countries. When we are hit by disasters in the country, we mostly rely on emergency and rehabilitation projects. These projects mainly deal with food supply crises as well as prevention of the spread of trans - boundary diseases, livestock, plant diseases and invasive alien species. There is always a gap in terms of short term interventions like these because they are not sustainable in the long term. In order to provide consistent and efficient disaster management, we should have the capacity not only to plan and target assistance but also to have sufficient knowledge 5

6 about international development cooperation to be able to properly guide it. Failure to do this would mean perpetual dependence on skills and capacities from outside the country for services that we will continue to need going forward. I am imploring the young people in Groblersdal and surrounding areas to seize this opportunity of IDAM and be the first cohort of students to register there. The institute offers professional and hands on operational and aid management activities within development sub- sectors and food security. The other training courses focus on disaster and risk management. The targeted group here is graduates from Colleges of Agriculture and unemployed graduates in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector. The first intake will be in July 2016, and there will be no cost for tuition for the first cohort of students that will enroll in It is my wish to leave a legacy of successful fully operational youth owned or managed agricultural, forestry and fisheries business enterprises in this area and South Africa at large. Our sector is not a home for the lazy but it belongs to persistent, hardworking and visionary leaders, entrepreneurs and professionals. I am convinced that today I am talking to those future leaders, entrepreneurs and professionals. Together empowering youth through knowledge to bring about a prosperous agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector. Ngiyabulela, I thank you. 6