Mbuyisi Mgibisa Agriculture in rural Transkei is hurtling towards a fresh start after the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs in the Eastern Cape introduced support programmes for small-scale farmers. This follows years of neglect of the sector, which has been reduced to sustenance farming and food security for rural homesteads. Mthuthuzeli Makinana, Eastern Cape agriculture and land affairs director, says: “A few people grew crops for market, but most people produced for home and sold only if they had surplus.” Makinana says the Eastern Cape government and various NGOs in the province are encouraging farmers, particularly small-scale and community farmers, through the concept of ilima (working together) to pool their resources and become commercial farmers. In 1997 the ilima groups invested more than R1-million of their own cash. “That’s how we survive. There’s no other way. Farming is what feeds our children,” says David Baholo, a local farmer who owns 10ha near Southerwood.
“We were the poorest people in the region and also in the country in per capita income. Now we are able to feed our children, have a place to live and pay for the education of our children,” says Zoliswa Jozi from Port St Johns.
The provincial government and the National Wool Growers’ Association have introduced irrigation schemes to assist the wool growers to increase production.
According to Makinana, the project has provided farming communities with proper shearing facilities and has encouraged farmers to work together and pool their wool into larger bales to be sold at the better-paying markets nationally and internationally. In addition, the department invested R5,57-million in land care projects, which include erosion control, tussock grass control, and integrated livestock and crop improvement programmes. “The provision of irrigation schemes has led to better water utilisation services, while the implementation of effective animal health surveillance to prevent the spread of diseases has proved a success,” says Makinana. Director of research and technology transfer Lumkile Ngada says the department will focus on food security and provide an economic base for integrated rural development. Existing programmes will be refocused to meet the new trend and to speed up the process of land reform and redistribution. Mcebisi Jonas of the Centre for Investment and Marketing in the Eastern Cape says the agricultural potential of the region needs to be exploited largely through well-operated irrigation schemes that can yield huge spin-offs for the farmers. He says: “Although arable land holdings under communal land tenure are a small size, the farmer’s inability to use this land as collateral clearly inhibits land use to full potential.” Despite the latest government support, many farmers in the area argue that the system used for farm aid disqualifies many small-scale farmers, as some, particularly those in the rural areas, still experience problems in accessing reliable information on markets. Ngada responds: “We are in the process of providing information on new methods of farming and marketing research to small-scale and commercial farmers through their farm associations and support groups.” Meanwhile, Baholo has called on his colleagues to “roll their sleeves up” and compete with white commercial farmers. “If we don’t compete with our counterparts, we won’t develop a niche for ourselves,” he says.