MBOMBELA – The contribution of agriculture to Mpumalanga’s economy has decreased sharply, to stand at only three per cent. This was revealed by the premier Mr David Mabuza to the president Mr Jacob Zuma during his visit to the province three weeks ago.
The figure shows a sharp decline from agriculture’s 27 per cent contribution in the past.
Mabuza recently welcomed an investment-seeking delegation from China. He said agriculture was one of the priority areas the provincial government hoped to pursue with Chinese business.
He waxed lyrical about the Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences’ groundbreaking research, but whether the decline in Mpumalanga can be attributed to science and what role land reform plays are unclear.
“I am worried,” Mabuza told Lowvelder about the decline.
“I see land lying fallow. This land belongs to us. We are not doing enough to make use of the land and produce. That is my first worry.
“My second worry is that mining is trying to overtake agriculture. They are taking good land where people were planting maize. Mining companies have taken vast pieces of land that was originally used for maize production.”
He said government had to make more effort to see that mining land was restored for agricultural use.
“We must hold mining companies to account to ensure that when they leave that space they restore the land. We must uphold that principle and penalise them. Because if you view the area from the air heaps and heaps of mined soil are visible. These heaps have been standing for years.
“And this is land that has been producing food before and now it is not producing food. So our status are going down, down, down. But again provincial government is not doing enough in trying to support small farmers.
“Their support is haphazard because you must target certain areas. If you target vegetable farming, ensure that you are supporting it in a big way. We must target certain crops and focus on them.”
Mabuza added that focus had to be placed on increasing Mpumalanga’s decreased maize production. It is not clear how the government plans to do this.
For the past three weeks the departments of economic development and agriculture have not commented on which factors they consider have attributed to the decline, nor how much money the provincial government has spent on agricultural programmes since the 27 per cent contribution was recorded and how many of these projects are still operational.
What the province plans to sell at the planned international fresh produce market, as well as what products are to be processed remains an open question. Agro-processing and construction forms part of Mabuza’s plan for economic growth in Mpumalanga.
- Read more about the pressures Mpumalanga’s farmers are facing.
