The Inkatha Freedom Party calls on the KZN MEC of Agriculture and Rural Development, Themba Mthembu to prioritise the empowerment of small farmers as October is Food Security Month.
“We need to concentrate our efforts on the small farmers by investing more and better resources to support them. To achieve further success, small farmers require a comprehensive agribusinesses support package, including favourable commodity pricing, access to finance, provision of technical expertise and mentorship and contracted markets,” said IFP KZN Provincial Spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development, Hon Nhlanhla Msimango MPL.
“The IFP further encourages the youth to study agriculture and not look down on the agricultural sector because this is where their wealth is and they will be able to contribute to the economy, create job opportunities, fight poverty and malnutrition and most importantly ensure there is food security. The youth needs to be more visible in agricultural participation from the primary up to the commercial level. The future of this country is in their hands and it’s only through such interventions we can curb the triple threat of poverty, inequality and unemployment in the country,” concluded Hon Msimango.
The IFP believes that the slow pace of poverty and hunger reduction points to an urgent need for strategies that better target the areas where poor people live and the activities on which their lives depend. A successful strategy for alleviating poverty and hunger must begin by recognising that agriculture is at the heart of the livelihoods of rural people. There must be political will to achieve this, and the objective must be addressed directly rather than obliquely.
Issued by:
Mr Nhlanhla Msimango MPL
IFP KZN Provincial Spokesperson on Agriculture
074 259 0820
