Agriculture and Land Agriculture is important for poverty

Agriculture and Land • Agriculture is important for poverty alleviation and food security • Land water are important agric inputs • Provinces play key role in Govt transformation & development agenda for the sector – Redress inequities in the access to farmer support services (markets, technology, information) – Implement regulatory services for animal health – support land reform programme

Agriculture • Strong growth in Agriculture budgets – Combined budgets for national and provincial agriculture increase by 13, 3% from R 3, 5 b to R 4, 1 b in 2003/04, by 8, 9 percent over the MTEF – Provinces account for strong growth, rising by 17, 6 percent to R 3, 1 b in 2003/04 – Spending on agriculture accounts for 1, 9 percent of provincial budgets – Provinces that incorporated former homelands spent between 2, 4% and 3, 8% of budgets on agriculture

Agriculture • Key agricultural programmes – extension/farmer support – Veterinary services – Agricultural research • Provinces spent 41 percent on extension – It provides services that facilitates use of land – Spending rise by 12, 5% per annum over the MTEF from R 1 b in 2002/03 to R 1, 4 b in 2005/06 – Poorer provinces account for most of the spending – More than 70% is spent on personnel – Agric colleges support development of skills for agric personnel and farmers – Provinces spent <3% of budgets on training

Agriculture • Personnel take up 2/3 of provincial agric budgets – Provinces that incorporated former homelands spent more than 70% on personnel – These provinces carry supernumaries – Excess personnel is mostly in extension programme and administration – Administration accounts for 20% of provincial budgets

Land Reform • Strong growth in land reform grants on Land Affairs budget – Increases by an annual average of 26% from 0, 8 b in 2002/03 to R 1, 6 b in 2005/06 – Restitution accounts for the strong growth – Government will spent 2, 9 billion between 2003/04 and 2005/06 on restitution – This will support increasing pace of settlement of claims in the medium term

Delivery of Land • Total land transferred through restitution and redistribution approx 2 m hectares • Restituition Programme – 69, 00 claims are lodged with the Commission – 36, 279 claims have been settled (>50%) – 512, 912 ha transferred to 85000 households – R 1, 2 b paid in compensation • 1, 5 m hectares transferred to 129, 093 households under redistribution programme

Delivery of Support Services • Land reform increases demand for support services • Provinces need to increases the quantity and quality of farmer support services – increase in the number of skilled personnel – Access to start up capital for emerging farmers – Improved farm infrastructure – dipping tanks, fencing, rehabiltation of irrigation schemes – Increase the non-personnel recurrent spending provide for complimentary inputs – travelling by extension officers, vet services