Mpumalanga Business 2017-18 edition

OVERVIEW
districts, as part of the R2-billion
plan of the National Department
of Rural Development and Land
Reform to roll out services that
will help farmers get better access
to market and storage facilities.
Support in terms of equipment
hire and information will be available.
Markets where farmers can
sell their produce and processing
plants such as abattoirs will form
part of the parks and farmers will
gain access to market information
and bigger markets through the
Rural Urban Marketing Centre.
Training will also be on offer
at the parks and the aim is to
get local farmers owning 70% of
the facility.
Two Farmer Production
Support Units have already been
developed by the Mpumalanga
Department of Rural
Development in Bushbuckridge
and Nkomazi municipalities. The
Feedlot in Mzinti is complete
while the R20-million packhouse
in Bushbuckridge is almost ready
for use by farmers.
A new concept for the
province is the creation of the
Mpumalanga Fresh Produce
Market, for which there are high
hopes. As Premier David Mabuza
says, “The Mpumalanga Fresh
Produce Market remains a critical
platform to stimulate agricultural
production, downstream beneficiation
and investment opportunities
across the agro-processing
value chain. At the heart of this
initiative is the empowerment
of emerging black farmers to access
domestic and international
markets for their produce.”
The Land and Agricultural
Development Bank of South
Africa (Land Bank) has set a target of R1-billion which it wants to loan
to black investors in agriculture in the 2017/18 financial year. It is targeting
big investments which can lead to commercialisation of farming
operations, as it aims to help transform the sector.
A land rehabilitation project is under way, with the provincial government
in partnership with mining company South32 (formerly BHP
Billiton). This will release more land for agricultural use.
Another public-private partnership will allow easier access to market
for the chickens produced at the eight poultry houses which the
provincial government is to construct for R11-million. An agreement
has been signed for distribution to Early Bird Chicken, AFGRI and Super
Grand Distribution. This scheme forms part of a larger effort to integrate
the poultry value chain, which is being led by the Agricultural Research
Council (ARC) in partnership with the Mpumalanga Department of
Rural Development and Land Reform.
Crops
Mpumalanga produces one-million tons of maize from 291 788ha.
About 53 000 tons of wheat and 33 000 tons of sorghum are produced
annually. Soya bean is another major crop: more than half of
South Africa’s soya bean crop is produced in Mpumalanga’s Highveld
31 MPUMALANGA BUSINESS 2017/18