LIFE LINE FOR FARMERS
MORE than 10 000 farmers across the Eastern Cape have responded to the clarion call made by government, to apply for financial relief during the COVID-19 the announcement came just days after President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the Coronavirus outbreak as a disaster and put in place a 21-day lockdown.
Minister of Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza announced that government has allocated R1.2-billion to provide financial assistance to small-scale farmers across the country so as to protect the country’s food supply chain during the lockdown and beyond.
Amongst the commodities included in the financial relief are:
- Poultry: Day old chicks, Point of lay chickens, feed, medication and sawdust;
- Other Livestock: Feed and medication.
- Vegetables: Seedlings, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and soil correction
- Other commodity sectors were evaluated on a case by case basis, as the Department continuously monitors the impact of COVID-19 on the sector at large.
It was also announced that farmers on Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) farms would benefit from the financial relief, in that R 400m of the R1.2 billion is allocated in line with the former Department of Rural Development and Land Reform’s Stimulus Package. Part of the R 1,2-bn allocation is allocated to support communities in the OR Tambo District where the District Development Model is being piloted with hygiene products as part of an effort to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
Meth has also handed over personal protective equipment like gloves, sanitisers and masks to smallholder farmers across the province Applications are submitted in local offices and will be evaluated in in districts, Provincial and National structure