A SMALL COMMUNITY LEADS IN AGRICULTURE.
Their initiative gets commended at this year’s World Food Day Celebration.
Mamaneng: The Honourable Premier of Mpumalanga, Mr Thabang Makwetla has commended the Bareki Tribal Authority and its people in taking an initiative of being involved in agricultural activities. The rural smallholder farmers’ community played host to this year’s Provincial World Food Day Celebration. The Premier accompanied by Agriculture and Land Administration, MEC Madala Masuku, Head of Department, Ms Maureen Sithole and authorities from the Greater Marble Hall Municipality started by visiting projects at the village before addressing the community.
The initiative taken by the community to be engaged in agricultural activities for survival pleased Premier Makwetla to an extent that he highlighted that if most communities in the province can follow their example, poverty can be defeated. Most of the speakers of the day submitted that the correct utilization of land could go a big way in fighting poverty and generating wealth. The Premier was quick to put it before the locals that poverty is a global problem, hence a need to be vigorously engaged in what they have started.
The global theme for this year’s event was - Agriculture and
Intercultural Dialogue – which is aimed at recalling contributions made by
civilisation and different cultural heritage in the development of agriculture
and promotion of food security.
After visiting a vegetable and a livestock projects in the area, Premier
Makwetla asked MEC Masuku to look at ways to assist and support them with
various programmes the department has. He also urged the local municipality to
support the hard-trying community through infrastructure provisioning.
As for MEC Masuku, he highlighted to the community programmes like Masibuyel emasimini, the formal training, bursary schemes the department provides to communities. “The tomato project which we visited I am told generates two thousand rands in two months, and if that can be doubled, it can assist many families", said MEC Masuku. People can be involved in farming, agro-processing, marketing and training within the agricultural industry – to become successful farmers, continued MEC Masuku.
The event also highlighted the role of indigenous crops, livestock and agricultural practices in addressing food security and poverty. The Mamaneng Community is made up of smallholder farmers. More than 150 countries worldwide celebrated this day themed "Agriculture and Intercultural Dialogue". The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has adopted this theme because "throughout history, the intercultural movement of crops and livestock breeds has revolutionised diets and reduced poverty".
With agriculture, intercultural dialogue takes place at
meetings as well as trade negotiations and every time an expert from one culture
shows another something new in the laboratory or field, says the FAO. It adds
that forums such as the South-South cooperation in the form of sharing expertise
and technologies has resulted in the transfer of many solutions suited to local
conditions. The FAO celebrates World Food Day each year on 16 October, the day
on which the organization was founded in 1945. The World Food Day celebration at
Mamaneng also formed part of the International Day for the Eradication of
Poverty.
Issued by the Communications Directorate
Department of Agriculture and Land Administration
Contact: Freddy Ngobe – +27 13 766 6086 / 082 821 4148