Agri-Business Sector Strategy
Consensus Document between agriculture, industry and social partners (2006)
Right-click and "Save target as" to save to your computer
A consensus on land reform, economic development, environment, food security, sustainable and the desired intervention strategies, prepared by the Provincial Development Council – JUNE 2005.
Introduction
“It is in the Agriculture sector where long-term economic development will be won or lost.If there is peace in the rural areas we will have a future”1.President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation Address during 2003 said,“our country has a continuing task to push back the frontiers ofpoverty and expand access to a better life for all.The challenge we all face as South Africans is to put our shoulder to the wheel to accelerate the pace ofchange”.
The launch of the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy and the signing of the Framework Agreement in November 2003, appealed for the development of sector strategies acceptable to all social partners. However, the real challenge lay in crafting an acceptable programme of action to execute the tasks. A programme that accommodates the often conflicting views of stakeholders, bearing in mind our historical legacy. Gathered in the Steering Committee and Task Teams were men and women who are diverse in their experience, but committed to deploy the finest attributes of the human mind towards illuminating our strategic path to a better life. As such, it becomes difficult to find appropriate words to convey the full measure of our appreciation for the unwavering support that we received from various stakeholders within and outside the sector as we navigated the thorny pathways in order to accomplish this difficult task.
It is in this context that we are presenting the sector strategy developed by the four social partners. This document therefore holds out the promise of deepening the theoretical thrust of our ongoing efforts at making the province a better place to live in. Recognizing the fact that we still have outstanding work, we would like to congratulate the leadership of the four social partners, for combining their efforts to bring about the excellent progress we have made further to entrench our democratic system and enhance the capacity of government to contribute to the realisation of the goal of a better life for all.
What we have put in place is a vision of unity and prosperity for the sector that is embraced by the stakeholders and that also creates a policy environment that seeks to boldly enhance participation and equity in the agricultural sector, enhance competitiveness and profitability along the total agricultural value chain and ensure the sustainable management and use of the scarce and precious natural agricultural resources in the country.
The successful implementation of the sector strategy not only resides with the Department of Agriculture, but it requires the support and input of our social partners to assist in the areas identified in this document. The Steering Committee would be responsible for monitoring the implementation process and intervene as needs arise to remove any obstacle to this strategy.
