[South Africa] Poverty Relief Fund for Land Care Increases

from All Africa

Oupa Segalwe

Improved institutional arrangements have resulted in continued increase in financial support for poverty relief in the country in terms of the land care progamme, a conference heard on Tuesday.

Speaking at the five-day Land Care conference in Nelspruit, North West Agriculture, Conservation and Environment MEC Mandlenkosi Mayisela said this financial support had increased per year from R25 million in 1998 to R68 million for this year.

The increase in funding saw a rapid increase in the number of beneficiaries with the number of projects for the 1998 to 2006 period currently standing at 469 after starting at 14 seven years ago.

This presents small farmers and resource constrained farmers with opportunities to improve the quality of these natural resources and improve productivity per unit of land.

The conference has brought about 700 delegates together from all nine provinces and serves as a build-up towards the International Land Care conference, to be held in Australia next month.

The Land Care programme aims to have communities and individuals adopting an ecologically sustainable approach to the management of the country's environment and natural resources, while improving their livelihoods.

This involves proper management of land and pastures, amongst other things, in such a manner that degradation including soil erosion, nutrient loss and increased run off of water is curbed.

Mr Mayisela said government had set itself a strategic goal to generate equitable access and participation in a globally competitive, profitable and sustainable agricultural sector contributing to a better life for all.

In pursuing this goal, he said, a number of outcomes consistent with the outcomes of the land Care programme, the Expanded Public Works Programme and the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for SA should be achieved.

Such outcomes include increased creation of wealth in agriculture and rural areas, increased sustainable employment, increased incomes, reduced poverty and inequalities in land and enterprise ownership, improved farming efficiency and increased national and household security.

The MEC added that sustainable resource management remained one of the core strategies of the Strategic Plan for the country's agriculture.

"We need to enhance the capacity of our farmers to use the natural agricultural resources in a sustainable manner and to ensure that these resources are used wisely and managed correctly," he said.

He emphasized that farmer participation was the key to the success of the strategy, saying that innovative approaches that link natural resource management to support programmes could provide a win-win situation resulting in short-term economic benefits for farmers.

Mr Mayisela also said the degradation of soil and water resources posed a threat to the productive base of the country.

He said to address the challenge, there had to be strategies in place that were designed to overcome the causes of degradation.

"We also need to invest in infrastructure and services that support sustainable land use."