Eastern Cape premier, Oscar Mabuyane, and Rural Development and Agrarian Reform MEC, Nonkqubela Pieters, have handed over quality breed cattle and goats to smallholder and communal farmers, as part of commercialising and growing livestock production in the province.
The handover ceremony took place at Dohne Agricultural Development Institute in Stutterheim on February 16.
The provincial Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR) established the livestock production improvement scheme with the aim of improving poor genetic make-up of livestock owned by communal and small-scale famers, to enable them to participate in formal markets.
According to DRDAR, this is done to unlock the full potential of livestock resource-poor farmers who are capacitated in technical aspects and production support, for improved and sustainable agricultural production, animal product development, and for mitigating strategies that will enhance commercialisation of livestock.
“The livestock improvement scheme talks to the provincial government’s commitment to developing our small-scale farmers to commercial farmers, which will lead to economic growth and job creation for the province.
“The provincial government has been handing over quality breed livestock to small-scale farmers, and some have already graduated to commercial farming, and are even exporting their produce as a result of the support they received from the government,” said Mabuyane.
DRDAR said 9 233 genetically superior cattle, goats, and sheep were distributed to farmers across the Eastern Cape between 2009/2010 and 2022/2023 financial years.
“The livestock I received from government will improve the quality of my livestock as it was of poor quality, and the quality of the meat from my cattle will also be of higher quality than what I was producing before the intervention from government,” said Mongezi Sihlahla, one of the beneficiaries of the handover.
“I am one of few young and female farmers to have received support from government and other entities, which really helped me to move from small-scale farming to being a commercial farmer. The future is even brighter for me after being one of the fortunate farmers to benefit today,” added youth and female farmer, Dintle Maphala.
DRDAR said it has injected R137 million in livestock improvement schemes since 2017.
