[ Home ] [ Speeches & statements ]

17 October 2008

Programme director
His Majesty, King Ndamase
Member of Executive Council (MEC) for Agriculture Honourable Gugile Nkwinti
Executive Mayor for OR Tambo district, Honourable Capa
The Mayor of PSJ municipality, Honourable Mthakathi
The Director-General of the Department of Agriculture, Ms Njabulo Nduli
The Director-General of the Department of Land Affairs, Mr Tozi Gwanya
Councillors from the various parts of the province
Traditional leaders
Ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you for welcoming me to your part of the world. It is always a pleasure to find oneself in such hospitable company. In fact I must say that I have spent the past two days in the province and it has been a pleasure. During the past two days the people of the world including the people of the Eastern Cape province celebrated the World Rural Women's day and the World Food day respectively.

The former is devoted to honour the multiple roles of rural women who are mostly farmers and small entrepreneurs. Rural women contribute to the wellbeing of their families and the development of rural economies. They play a key role in food production and food security. The latter is aimed at reflecting and heightening public awareness of the world food problem and strengthening solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

Programme director, today I also stand before you during the times when the issue of high food prices is a concern to our government and many other governments of the world. Research indicates that between January 2006 and May 2008, maize and wheat grain prices rose by 1 441 and 1 071 % respectively, while in the case of soya beans and rice the increases were 1 147 and 2 184%. Our proteins also increased as follows beef by 3%, chicken by 28 and pork by 6%.

There are various factors that contribute towards the high food prices. For instance, increased demand for meat in high density population countries such as China and India requires that grains are used as inputs for the production of more meat. Unfavourable weather conditions, together with an increased demand for commodities such as wheat placed pressure on prices. One more important factor is the price of inputs such as fuel, which not only affect the production process but the transportation of commodities, impacted negatively and increased the price of commodities such as grains.

Within the country, these factors have affected approximately 2.2 million food insecure households which spend more than 60% of their income on food alone. These vulnerable groups include women, children, child headed households, the elderly and people living in informal settlements and, especially, in rural areas where food has to be transported over long distances.

With these challenges of food accessibility, I want to remind you that we are descendents of humble yet powerful and wise ancestry. I am saying this because when our ancestors were facing difficult and life threatening circumstances, they did not succumb to failure in their individual capacities, but realised the power they posses through their collective effort.

It is in this spirit of togetherness that we are all assembled here today, to deal with the difficult situation of food prices, hunger, malnutrition and poverty. It is in the spirit of Ilima/Letsema Campaign launched this morning in Caguba and site visits to a number of households where our MEC, the mayors, councillors, traditional leaders, community members, and other role players rolled up their sleeves, tilled the land and planted every single available arable piece of land to produce food.

This morning we have revived an age old culture yamaMpondo, the culture of Vuk'uzenzele, the culture of seizing the available opportunity and working with our own hands to change our fate. Today the people of Port St Johns municipality have declared war against high food prices, hunger, malnutrition and poverty. For indeed it is by rolling up our sleeves and getting to work together to plough the fields like our great grandparents did, that we will be able to win the war against the high food prices, hunger, malnutrition and poverty and eat from the good of our land.

Today we are saying "masibuyele emasimini siyo lima" like in the olden days. Ilima/Letsema aims to revive the spirit of Ubuntu and Vuk'uzenzele and encourage us to assist each other to combat hunger and poverty, ensuring food security, creating job opportunities and promoting economic development.

Ilima/Letsema has its roots in the African culture of working together. It was not only limited to "ukulima" but to the entire way of African life of "ubuntu", "ukuncedana". Ilima underlines the importance of land as the main source of livelihood and the growing of crops and livestock farming as major cultural, social and economic activities. During Ilima members of different families move from one family to the next, helping one another, sharing skills and offering technical advice. This is what we witnessed this morning in Caguba.

Again in Setswana they say," Letsema le thata ka mong wa lona." This means that in order for this campaign to succeed in this area we need dedicated champions. We need these champions at the provincial level. We need our premiers, mayors, the MECs and extension officers.

This morning we have demonstrated that we have the power to change our own situation and move away from poverty and dependency as we work together through Ilima to feed ourselves and our children.

What happened this morning is precisely the ethos of Ilima/Letsema, working together to produce food, to build a house and in this way, provide shelter for the family. Working together to get firewood for energy, working together to discipline and guide children as they grow, working together to defend our freedom and working together to build this nation.

Through this campaign we will realise and transform our dead assets. I am referring here to the land and livestock in our hands so that we become a most food secure nation.

During this campaign, which will also be launched in other parts of the country, we should work together assisting one another, share skills and resources and technical advice. In this regard the Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs call on Women in Agriculture and Rural Development (WARD) and Youth in Agriculture and Rural Development (YARD) as well as those outside these structures to take this opportunity for the improvement of themselves, their families, communities and the entire country.

In this regard, MEC, I have already seen and witnessed a wonderful contribution by WARD members in your province. Your WARD structure led by Ms Nosibongile Jobela has established a communal vegetable garden in Ngqamakwe area. They have positively responded to the call "Let no land lie fallow".

I therefore appeal to the men and women in our rural areas, those in communal areas, in our peri-urban areas, those with land next to the cities, let no land lie fallow! Go back to the land and unleash this productive asset to feed our families and communities, create employment and contribute towards the economic growth and development of local and rural economies.

In dealing with the current global food crisis it is imperative to revive the Ilima/Letsema Campaign in order to realise the potential of our rural areas to provide food and other agricultural commodities.

Programme director, our rural areas have a high potential to grow and produce food to feed the country and start exporting to other countries. I have repeatedly said at various meetings that the utilisation of the land that is lying fallow in our rural areas and the former homelands could be leveraged to contribute towards socio-economic development, food security, employment and increased livelihoods.

We can no longer sit back and watch our people perish when there is the free gift of land lying fallow around us. I have also driven though the Eastern Cape and it is painful to see so much productive land going to waste. I grew up here and have seen our parents use the land to produce food.

We will though this campaign, build on and leverage programmes already existing in the provinces, programmes that offer support to small scale farming in the form of fencing, seeds, fertilisers, extension support and irrigation.

Let me assure you that the Directors-General of the Departments of Agriculture and Land Affairs will ensure that Ilima/Letsema is not a one-off activity, but that the campaign is sustained by providing the necessary support and resources.

The importance of attaining food security in South Africa is evident from consistently high priority given to it in several government programmes such as the Land Redistribution and Agricultural Development (LRAD), Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP), Integrated Food Security and Nutrition Programme (IFSNP), AgriBEE, Ilima/Letsema Campaign, etc., which ensure access to safe and nutritious food.

It is in this regard that I conclude my address by calling on all South Africans that from our backyards let us produce vegetables for our families. Let us plough the fields to produce our own maize, sorghum, spinach, cabbage, wheat and others. We should also plant trees and in the medium to long term harvest fruit to consume and to sell to local markets and neighbouring states.

"Masibuyele emasimini siyo lima"
Vuk'uzenzele

Issued by: Department of Agriculture
17 October 2008