AgriSA president Dan Kriek has called for greater focus on agriculture in the 2018 budget which is expected to be presented to the National Assembly tomorrow by finance minister Malusi Gigaba.
He pointed out that the sector had received very little attention in the medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) in October last year despite it being the best performer across the first three quarters of 2017, contributing the most to the 2% GDP growth in the third quarter.
The plight of farmers affected by the ongoing droughts in some of the largest agricultural provinces were also not mentioned by Gigaba last year and the situation has escalated in 2018.
“The drought situation in the Eastern, Northern, and particularly the Western Cape remains a major risk to food production. Its effect on the economy is beginning to show itself and something needs to be done urgently,” said Kriek. “Worryingly, the contingency reserve was pared down to a meagre R16 billion over the next three years in the MTBPS and it is unclear how this will have an impact on emergency assistance for crises such as the persistent drought.”
AgriSA has recommended that the budget make adequate resources available to ease the impact of the drought on farmers and provide the necessary infrastructure to help boost agriculture’s competitiveness.
Kriek noted that this would ultimately improve food production and job opportunities in the sector.
