Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat- Pettersson is spearheading a new drive to establish white farmers from SA throughout the African continent - partly because SA's redistribution programme will create land shortages at home.

Joemat-Pettersson said at the annual congress of farmers' union AgriSA on Friday that the government remained committed to transferring 30% of white-owned farmland to blacks in five years, but this would leave little room for white farmers to expand in SA.

 
"If we can't find opportunities for white South African farmers in this country, we must do it elsewhere in the continent."

 
She announced the government was negotiating agreements with five countries, and was offered large swathes of high-quality agricultural land in two. Secure tenure would be a central pillar of the relationships. "We cannot have a repeat of what happened to our farmers in Zimbabwe."

Countries targeted initially are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Angola, Zambia and Uganda. Angola has offered two farms totalling 140000ha in a prime production area, and Uganda 170000ha near Kampala. Reviving southern Sudan's farm production forms part of SA's peace and reconstruction plan for the war-torn region.

This is in addition to agreements in place with Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, and plans to establish agricultural ties with Burundi. Other countries have approached AgriSA directly with invitations to establish commercial farm enterprises . They include the Republic of Congo, which has 10-million hectares of arable land lying fallow yet needs food aid and imports, and, most recently Libya, which wants private-sector support to revive production along a state-owned canal.

source: Businessday

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