FETSA TLALA: INTEGRATED FOOD PRODUCTION INITIATIVE
2013
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents...... ii
Acronyms...... iii
1 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT OF FETSA TLALA...... 1
2 PROBLEM STATEMENT ...... 3
3 FESTA TLALA INTERGRATED FOOD PRODUCTION INITIATIVE...... 3
3.1 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES...... 5
3.1.1 The goal of the initiative...... 5
3.1.2 Specific objectives...... 5
3.2 PROGRAMME PRINCIPLES...... 5
3.3 RISK AND CONSTAINTS...... 6
3.4 PROGRAMME PILLARS...... 7
3.4.1 Pillar 1- Land capability...... 7
3.4.2 Pillar 2 - Mechanisation Support Services...... 8
3.4.3 Pillar 3 - Production Inputs and Infrastructure...... 8
3.4.4 Pillar 4 - Market Access...... 10
3.4.5 Pillar 5 - Capacity Building...... 10
3.5 GOVERNANCE / INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS...... 11
3.5.1 Role of the IFPC...... 11
3.6 BUDGET ...... 11
3.7 MONITORING AND EVALUTION...... 12
4 CONCLUSION...... 12
LIST OF ACRONYMS
AgriSETA - Agricultural Sector Education and Training Authority
CARA - Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act; Act 43 of 1983
DAFF - Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
DoBE - Department of Basic Education
DoCS - Department of Correctional Services
DoH - Department of Health
DRDLR -Department of Rural Development and Land Reform
DSD -Department of Social Development
ERP - Extension Recovery Programme
IFPI - Integrated Food Production Intervention
FIFPC - Fetsa Tlala Integrated Food Production Committee
GHS - General Household Survey
ha - hectare
IFSS - Integrated Food Security Strategy
MAFISA - Micro Agricultural Financing Institutions of South Africa
MTSF - Medium Term Strategic Framework
MDG’s - Millennium Development Goals
NAMC - National Agricultural Marketing Council
NDP - National Development Plan
NSNP - National School Nutrition Programme
RSA - Republic of South Africa
STATS SA - Statistics South Africa
SMME - Small Medium Micro Enterprises
SIP - Strategic Integrated Projects
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SECRET
1. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT OF FETSA TLALA
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Section 27:1(b) states that every citizen “the right to have access to . . . sufficient food and water” and that “. . . the State must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of each of these rights.” (Constitution, 1996: 2)
Notwithstanding the development of Integrated Food Security Strategy (IFSS, 2002) to streamline, harmonize and integrate the diverse food security programmes, food insecurity still remains a challenge for the country especially at local household level.
The National Development Plan (NDP) sets out various methods and targets to eradicate poverty, reduce unemployment and eliminate inequality by 2030. It identifies Food and Nutrition Security as a key element of both poverty and inequality. As a result the NDP makes reference to a number of steps that will improve food security, including the expanded use of irrigation, security of land tenure, especially for women and youth, and the promotion of nutrition education.
Fetsa Tlala is an integrated government framework that seeks to promote food security and address structural causes of food insecurity, which continue to perpetuate inequality and social exclusion. Fetsa Tlala is aimed at more than just creating a food secure country for all South Africans, but to also to eradicate hunger. It is therefore an overarching framework to maximise synergy between the different strategies and programmes of government and civil society. In line with the framework, a set of targeted policy responses (policy instruments) will be implemented. These include but not limited to the following:
Table 1: Targeted policy responses
PROGRAMME RESPONSES / SPECIFIC INTERVENTION / LEAD DEPARTMENTSocial Relief of Distress / Restructuring to reach households that suffer from chronic under-nourishment. / Department of Social Development
National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) / Expansion of NSNP to cover non-school days and holidays / Department of Basic Education
Food fortification and Nutrition education / Introduction of “micro-nutrient sprinkles” which can be added to food that is already prepared. / Department of Health
Early Childhood Development / To offer nutritious meals to children between the ages of 0-4 years. / Department of Social Development
Food distribution / The state should ensure that a larger and more robust network of ‘food distribution centers are established (i.e. Community Nutrition and Development Centers). / Department of Social Development
One Million Hectare Food Production Programme / Putting 1 000 000 hectares into crop production constituted by
550 000 ha from land reform beneficiaries and 450 000 ha from communal lands / Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) supported by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR)
Government through these policy responses amongst others intends to guarantee the right of access to adequate food thus contributing towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s). The initiative will bring together all organs of states and non-state actors in implementing a plethora of policies related to food and nutrition security.
2. PROBLEM STATEMENT
It is expected that the world’s population of approximately 7 billion will increase to 9 billion by 2050, resulting in the need to annually produce another 1 billion tonnes of cereals and moreover, it is estimated that by 2030, an additional 120 million ha of land will be required in order to support the growth in global food requirements. Currently, almost 1 billion people are undernourished (of which 239 million are in Sub-Saharan Africa), and even if agricultural production doubles by 2050, one person in twenty (5%) still risks being undernourished in developing countries. It is therefore clear that “future agricultural production will have to rise faster than population growth”, most notably on existing and dwindling agricultural land (RSA has 30% decline in land under production during the period between 1994/95 and 2008/09). The effective use and preservation of agricultural land is therefore of utmost importance. . Studies have shown
Since government introduced intervention programmes, household access to food have improved even though 12 million people are still vulnerable to food insecurity (GHS, 2012). Using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale which is aimed at determining households’ access to food, the percentage of South African households with inadequate or severely inadequate access to food decreased from 23, 9% in 2010 to 21, 5% in 2012. Between 2002 and 2012, the percentage of households that experienced hunger decreased from 29,3% to 12,6% while the percentage of individuals who experienced hunger decreased from 23,8% to 10,8% (GHS, 2012)
Investing in agriculture is one of the most effective strategies for reducing poverty and hunger whilst promoting sustainability. The recent Labour Force Survey conducted by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) shows that the unemployment rate rose to 25.6% in the second quarter of 2013. The report also shows that agriculture was the lead industry that contributed positively to the net gain of 44 000 jobs observed in the first quarter on a quarter to quarter basis (Statistics South Africa, Labour Force Survey, Quarter 1, 2013). This is a clear indication that investment in agriculture continues to play a significant role in the livelihoods of many households. Government has however, realised that eradicating hunger sustainably will require a significant increase in agricultural investment and more equitable distribution of resources.
3. FETSA TLALA INTEGRATED FOOD PRODUCTION INITIATIVE
Urbanisation and declining agrarian activities in significant parts of the country, including the subsistence sector, have transformed the South African economy into a wage economy. Most households are net consumers of purchased food, rather than producers thereof. Access to food has thus become a function of household cash income and thus cash deficit households are more likely to experience inadequate access to food. Government through Fetsa Tlala Framework intends to support subsistence and smallholder farmers to put one million hectares under production by 2018/19.
Table 2: One million hectares trajectory
Financial Year / Year 02013/14 / Year 1
2014/15 / Year 2
2015/16 / Year 3
2016/17 / Year 4
2017/18 / Year 5
2018/19
Cumulative targets (ha) / 350000 / 470000 / 590000 / 710000 / 850000 / 1000 000
It is expected that beneficiation of One Million Hectares programme will in the main accrue to the indigent and vulnerable sections of our society. In the implementation of the One Million Hectare Intergrated Food Production Initiative, government seeks to reclaim fallow and unproductive arable land in communal areas including Land Reform farms, as part of policy and programme crafted to realize the Millennium Development Goals.
In contemplation of appropriate government interventions, especially in a country with resource limitations like South Africa, it is considered prudent to select the most cost effective policy responses. In this regard the primary focus, although not exclusive, will be to cultivate maize, beans and potatoes as the staple commodities which inform the basic dietary needs of the indigent. In the first four years of implementation the focus will be on the stabilisation of production and productivity of maize and beans. This will be attained through provision of mechanisation, production inputs and advisory services. Commercialization will incrementally be included in the programme, parallel with the implementation of Strategic Integrated Project (SIP 11) to complete the agricultural value chain.
The response is further necessitated by the fact that agricultural land is under threat from other competing sectors and these could ultimately threaten food security of the country in the long term. Furthermore, climatic fluctuations and variability are increasingly more pronounced, thus requiring appropriate agricultural interventions to mitigate against these risks.
Therefore, for 1 000000ha programme to succeed, it needs to find greater expression within the Governments Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) and budgetary processes. Accordingly, this will enable the State to prioritize and mobilise resources required for the successful implementation.
3.1 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
3.1.1 The goal of the initiative
The overarching goal of the initiative is to ensure food availability thus contribute towards the NDP goal of ending hunger by 2030.
3.1.2 Specific objectives
The one million hectare Integrated Food Production Initiative espouses the following objectives:
· Increase food production capacity of subsistence and smallholder producers.
· Increase availability and access to locally produced fresh food products.
· Create opportunities for agricultural value chain development at local level
· Create opportunities for SMME development at local level.
· Create job opportunities within the agricultural sector.
3.2 PROGRAMME PRINCIPLES
The following principles will guide the programme:
· One Million Hectare initiative is targeted for production.
· The primary focus of the intervention is the production of staple commodities (maize and beans including potatoes)
· Beneficiaries will primarily be subsistence and small holder farmers
· Mechanisation will be sourced from SMMEs to ensure attainment of local economic development. In this case SMME’s will be contracted to undertake ploughing, planting, etc.
· The Provincial Departments in partnership with local authorities will ensure that participants are fully informed of the intention and implementation
· The Government will provide the necessary production inputs, as well as facilitate off-take agreements.
· The provincial departments will provide first-line support to farmers and collect information on the fields prepared, the extent and to verify that work has been undertaken.
· This programme will be complimented by provincial poverty packages such as the One-Home-One-Garden, Masibuyele emasimini, Mohoma mobung, Urban agriculture, Suitcase Programme, etc.
· Skills development and transfer of knowledge will be undertaken in conjunction with the Agri-SETA.
· The initiative will embrace Public-Private Partnership.
3.3 RISKS AND CONSTRAINTS
The following constraints/risks have been identified and the mitigation thereof presented in the table below:
Table 3: Risks and possible mitigation measures
Risk / MitigationFunding / Undertake budget repriorisation and prepare business case for additional allocation of resources. Apart from additional funding that will be required for mechanisation and production inputs, provincial departments should commit reasonable budgets to ensure support for the implementation of the Integrated Food Production Initiative.
Adverse climatic conditions / Advocate for the adoption of climate smart agricultural methodologies, including conservation tillage
Commodity price volatility / Policy review on agricultural commodities and promotion of local food production,
Storage and processing facilities / Technologies should be procured for storage and arrangements for processing should be entered into before the harvesting season commences.
Skills / technology / Training and capacity building for smallholder farmers and local co-operatives will be provided on a continuous basis.
3.4 PROGRAMME PILLARS
The programme pillars mentioned hereunder are fundamental prerequisites for the Food Production Initiative to achieve its intended objectives. These pillars are based on current socio-economic and environmental considerations to ensure sustainable food and nutrition security. Each of the pillars is explored in detail below:
3.4.1 Pillar 1 - Land capability
Land capability includes the climatic and physiological considerations for the identified crops and determines the location of what can be produced. South Africa consists of 122 million ha of land, of which approximately 13% is potentially arable (land capability classes I, II & III). Approximately 100 million ha (82.3% of land in South Africa) is classified as “farm land” (arable and grazing land), with around 12.75 million ha currently being used for arable agricultural purposes.
The following table gives an overview of the distribution of agricultural land capability classes I – VIII in South Africa; class I is the best available land for purposes of agricultural production while class VIII is not suitable for commercial farming. Classes I-III are regarded as high value agricultural land with a very high to moderate suitability for rain-fed crop production:
Table 4: Land capability
Land Capability Class / Total (ha) / Unavailable (ha) / Remainder (ha)I / 2 733 / 99 / 2 634
II / 1 878 597 / 158 091 / 1 720 506
III / 14 003 339 / 1 031 922 / 12 971 417
IV / 16 447 446 / 788 505 / 15 658 941
V / 13 609 335 / 254 809 / 13 354 526
VI / 18 114 793 / 538 692 / 17 576 101
VII / 45 343 216 / 281 774 / 45 061 442
VIII / 12 279 370 / 85 398 / 12 193 972
Water / 246 052 / - / -
TOTAL / 121 924 881 / 3 385 343 / 118 539 538
In an attempt to explore the feasibility of the One Million Hectare Food Production Initiative, an assessment to determine areas suitable for dry land maize and beans production was conducted by the department. The initial land targets per province, to be included in this initiative are indicated in the table below: