2nd Annual Thabo Makgoba Lecture
Head of Department of Agriculture in Limpopo, Honorable
Jaqueline Maisela said although Limpopo had a higher percentage
of households engaged in agriculture lack of farming skills
remained a challenge to sustainable rural livelihoods.
Maisela was addressing the overriding theme of
‘Skills Development and Rural Livelihood’ at
the 2nd Annual Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Lecture hosted by the
University of Limpopo and the Archbishop Thabo Makgoba
Development Trust.
Now in its second year, the South African Anglican Archbishop
of Cape Town and Chancellor of the University of the Western
Cape, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said the partnership between the
University and the Trust aimed to have a greater social impact by
addressing the issues of food security and to promote best
practices on agriculture in rural areas of Limpopo.
In her address, Maisela highlighted the need to expand
irrigated agriculture, supplemented by dry-land production
targeting to put one million hectares of land into production.
“This should also contribute towards the creation of one
million jobs by the agriculture and agro-processing sector, by
2030,” she explained
Maisela informed the agricultural students and lecturers that
research and skills development are the key factors towards
achieving sustainability. She said her department forged several
partnerships with the University to help link production,
processing, packaging, storage and marketing of products produced
by local farmers.
The emphasis of the partnership is on local beneficiation of
primary produce aimed at establishing small agro industries and
stimulate economic activities in areas where production is taking
place, therefore unlocking other non-agricultural economic
opportunities.
One partnership is SmartAgri led by Professor Kwabena Ayisi,
Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Centre Manager at UL. The
project has provided a road map for actionable and prioritised
initiatives that will take the agricultural sector road towards
greater resilience in the face of climate challenges.
As proceedings for Women Month Celebrations continued, Maisela
said the Department of Agriculture in Limpopo established
deliberated programmes that specifically targeted women farmers,
as 60% of the households in Limpopo are headed by women.
According to the South African Vulnerability Assessment Committee
survey conducted in 2015, women also constitute a higher
percentage of households that are involved in farming in Limpopo.
Date created:2016-08-24 14:22:21
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