Call for Gigaba not to burden farmers further in mini budget

Cape Town - Agri SA hopes Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba will make adequate resources available in his mini budget to boost agriculture’s competitiveness and to support farmers - especially in drought affected areas.

The organisation said on Tuesday that this will help the sector to continue producing quality food for the country and contribute towards job creation and poverty alleviation. Agri SA also said it is fully committed to the development and sustainability of agriculture in SA.

Agri SA said it would also appreciate it if Gigaba could specifically thank the South African farming community for its contribution towards economic growth and for helping to lift the economy out of recession during the second quarter of this year, "despite the hostile environment farmers currently operate under".

• READ: SA exits recession with 2.5% GDP growth

The organisation would like Gigaba to take cognizance of the challenges the SA economy - and especially the farming community - is facing.

"While the agricultural sector has started showing signs of recovery from some challenges, it is still confronted with an ongoing drought, high input costs and limited government support," Agri SA said in a statement.

"The reality is that a full recovery of this sector will require between three to five years as well as a substantial amount of capital expenditure."

Agri SA called on Gigaba not to impose more burdens on farmers, but to commit to support the sector so that it can fully recover "and continue ensuring job creation, a positive contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) and to enable South Africans to be food secure".

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