The Farmer Support and Development Programme encompasses the broad development agenda of the Department of Agriculture, meaning that the design and implementation are predominantly for supporting black farmers in the Western Cape Province but does not exclude the commercial sector. This support to beneficiaries ranges from land reform to institutional capacity building. Given that the predominant need for the development of an equitable and diverse agricultural sector has been identified, 80% of the budget will be utilised to build the capacity of the historically disadvantaged communities and individuals. The commercial sector employs more than 200 000 people and therefore 20% of budget will be allocated to support this sector.
The FSD programme provides extension, support and facilitation of training to farmers, with special emphasis on developing of emerging farmers, implementation of land reform programmes and agricultural rural development projects.
The sub programme: Farmer Settlement facilitates training and co-ordination of the implementation of the LRAD programme including the administration, management, disposable land and the agriculture infrastructure scheme and disposal of agricultural state land.
The sub programme: Farmer Support Services provides extension and advisory services, and facilitate training of commercial and emerging farmers, including the coordination of rural agricultural projects, as well as to facilitate organisational development and capacity building of farmer groups.
The sub programme Food Security co-ordinates and implements various food security projects as highlighted and adopted in the Integrated Food Security Strategy of South Africa.
The sub programme: Casidra reflects the undertaking by the provincial government through a Shareholders’ Compact agreement to maintain the core institutional capacity of the organisation to deliver services such as rural development projects and support to LRAD projects.
Casidra Newsletter - October 2007