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The Executive Dean, Prof. Raats,
Programme Director,
Agricultural Academic Staff,
Agricultural Students Society,
Student Representative Council,
Farmers,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

Under the clarion call: "Placing the Smallholder Farmers at the Centre through Community Outreach Programs", I wish to greet you all.

Agriculture is, and for the foreseeable future, will remain the backbone of Africa's economy. The majority of Africans are rural and for these people, their incomes and livelihoods are directly and indirectly linked to agriculture. Population growth has been growing faster than food production by at least one percentage point and as a result, the per capita food output in Africa has been falling steadily over the past decades.

Between 1978 and 1987, for instance, it fell by 0.7% annually and from 1987 to 1994 by 0.6%. Although there are some signs of recovery, Africa as a continent shows, at best, only one-tenth the per capita agricultural growth rate of its counterpart Asian developing countries. Just as with Asia, however, the majority of African farmers are smallholders. But Africa has had minimal success with smallholder agriculture, yet such success arguably, is an important pre-requisite for reducing poverty, hunger, unemployment, industrial economic revolution and propelling overall economic growth and development.

Ladies and gentlemen, all countries in Africa in general and in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are inflicted by the two economic ills of poverty and unemployment. We all share common history of colonialism and racial discrimination. We share a painful history of economic and social exclusion. Our people have been excluded from participating in the mainstream economic, social and cultural activities of our respective countries. This has led to the present situation, whereby the most important obstacle or bottleneck to economic emancipation of our people is structural and institutional in nature.

Given this background, the department of agriculture in the Eastern Cape Province developed the agricultural policy aimed at unlocking the agricultural potential. This policy strives to place the Agricultural sector in a strategic position in the province to deal with the socio-economic issues, provide a measure of preparedness for the new century (the African Century as announced by Millennium Africa Recovery Plan) and to meet the pertinent challenges brought about through globalisation.

The basis for this policy is derived from the two fundamental government policies namely: The national policy on agriculture which emphasises the importance of agricultural support services in respect of research, training and extension as well as resource conservation (Land Care).

The Growth and Development Strategy of the Province of the Eastern Cape with specific reference to four of its eight pillars namely:

1. Job creation;
2. Investment in people;
3. Meeting basic needs; and
4. Sustainable use of the natural resource base.

As we prepare and move into the new millennium, the department has set clear strategic objectives aimed at unlocking the agricultural potential of the Eastern Cape Province. These strategic objectives are as follows:

* To promote sustainable use of natural resources;
* To encourage increased food and fibre production, thus contributing towards food security;
* To stimulate increased economic activity from agriculture; and
* To provide enabling legislative environment.

For the province to achieve the above objectives, it became imperative for the department to conduct detailed scientific investigations and studies to determine what can be produced and where in the province can specific enterprises be produced on the basis of natural environmental factors like climate, land and soil types, vegetation and water availability. This study was a joint venture between the department, Pretoria University, Orange Free State University and the Agricultural Research Council. From this study, the province has now been zoned into six Agro-ecological zones. These agro-ecological zones will create the parameters within which each zone can be planned and will determine the nature of the farming systems and practices.

To achieve increased food and fibre production, thereby contributing towards food security, agro-processing industries become key. There have to be conscious efforts to move away from concentrating in producing primary raw materials from agriculture. Processing industries at both small and large scale are now becoming more important than ever before. Such economic activities have a huge potential to revolutionise our economy from agriculturally based to industrially based economy with massive economic benefits.

Ladies and gentlemen, having highlighted some of the critical areas of focus of our agricultural policy, I believe you would all agree that as the government, we cannot achieve all these ambitious goals without collaborative arrangements with other stakeholders. Universities in Africa today are facing mounting pressure to participate and contribute in all spheres of development. As universities continue to exist and provide vocational training to the countries populace, it must be ascertained that you are keeping up with the rate of change that is taking place in the environment within which you operate. There always have to be very clear, real life relevance of the academic programmes. The theme of today's occasion is beginning to give me hope that the Faculty of Agriculture is becoming relevant to the Eastern Cape Community. However, I still need to see more than just talking, like today. I need the Faculty to contribute towards policy development processes of the department through active applied research. Your research should inform our policies and our policies should also inform your research activities. In that way, Fort Hare would become a true South African University.

There are new initiatives that are being introduced by the department in search of new and alternative income streams and opportunities in Agriculture. There is the hemp; goat cheese; and olive tree production initiative etc. Is this Faculty involved in these initiatives and if not why not? In the SADC region, moves are in place to establish High Value Commodity Network with a view to cooperate in research and development and subsequently to compete as a region in the international trade markets rather than as single countries. Agricultural Economist is expected to advise us about this issue based on comparative advantages and other unforeseen consequences of such a move. In the last production season, only South Africa and Malawi produced surplus maize in the SADC region. South Africa and Malawi still have maize in their respective Strategic Grain Reserves (SGRs). The other countries in the region are still facing food deficit. Can Fort Hare then advise the government about this state of affairs in the region, what it means in terms of migration, economic and political stability, possible economic colonisation by strong countries and what would the early warning signs of food deficit in the region be?

Smallholder agriculture in the SADC region in general, and in the provinces in particular are presently facing tremendous challenges. Our collective efforts to develop small farmers can possibly be nullified by the scourge of HIV/AIDS. The potential impacts of this disease on all our economic activities as a country are too petrifying to imagine. The statistics of HIV/AIDS infected, coupled with the reported statistics of HIV/AIDS deaths are alarming. Life expectancy in South Africa has declined over the years. The most affected sector of our society is the youth. They are the most economically active and energetic young men and women who would sustain this country's economy. HIV/AIDS is threatening that sustainable economic growth and development.

Institutions of higher learning are therefore expected to work together with communities through community outreach programmes, with a view to create awareness on a massive scale about the destructive effects of this deadly disease on our country, economy and how to prevent the spread thereof.

I thank you.

Issued by: Office of the MEC for Agriculture, Eastern Cape, 20 September 2001