Mahikeng – In her Departmental budget vote yesterday, Thursday, 25 May 2023 at the North-West Provincial Legislature, MEC Desbo Mohono announced a number of various programmes aimed at empowering farmers in all four districts of the province.
She announced that her Department will roll out of a mentorship programme in collaboration with the Agricultural Commodities Groups and Breeders Association in the current financial year. The programme will include the six (6) agricultural commodities aligned to the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan (AAMP) as well as the apiculture for a period of 12 months.
“A partnership with the national Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), Agricultural Research Council and the North-West University will see a total of 2 500 farmers being empowered through farmer training and capacity building during the 2023/24 financial year,” MEC Desbo Mohono said.
Currently a total of forty five (45) young farmers participating in the National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC) programme, are undergoing training through Kgora Farmer Training Centre as part of our collaboration with DALRRD.
MEC Mohono further highlighted that the Department will resuscitate and strengthen designated groups formations such as Women in Agriculture and Rural Development (WARD) and Youth in Agriculture and Rural Development (YARD) during the 2023/24 financial year.
“Both the Local and Provincial structures of Youth in Agriculture and Rural Development (YARD) and Women in Agriculture and Rural Development (WARD) will be launched in June and August this year respectively. The two formations were part of the National Agricultural Marketing Expo (NAMPO) this month and the Department ensured its full support for them to become part of this prime agricultural expo,” MEC Mohono said.
With the high rate of joblessness recently reported by Statistics South Africa, Mohono has committed the Department to contracting a hundred and twenty (120) unemployed graduates through its Unemployed Agricultural Graduate Programme as part of alleviating unemployment in the province. The recruitment advert will be out by end of May month and once appointed, the beneficiaries will be placed on sixty-four (64) farms across the four districts of the province.
## ends ##
Issued by the Communication Services Directorate
Enquiries: Ms Emelda Setlhako
Tel: 018 389 5684
Cell: 060 745 4020
Email: ESetlhako@nwpg.gov.za
Website:www.nwpg.gov.za/dard
Facebook:www.facebook.com/dard
Twitter: @nwpg_dard