Thanduxolo Adonis

The National Planning Commission (NPC) in partnership with the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) convened a roundtable discussion under the theme: “Accelerating the implementation of the Agriculture and Agro-Processing Master Plan”

The session was held on Thursday, 31 October 2024 at Hatfield, Protea Hotel and the purpose of the roundtable discussion was to bring together different key stakeholders, including government representatives, the private sector, labour unions, farmer organisations, commodity groups, civil society and communities to jointly address and accelerate the execution of Agriculture and Agro-Processing Master Plan (AAMP).

The aim was to identify obstacles in implementing the plan, find ways to align the efforts of role players and policies, explore priority growth opportunities and job creation actions for implementation, and weigh in on the monitoring, evaluation and learning framework to ensure progress and mutual accountability.

Dr. Wandile Sihlobo, Chief Economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), emphasised that the AAMP should be implemented as it offers the government and the private sector a framework to grow the sector, build competitiveness, attract more investment, improve inclusion, and create jobs.

According to Sihlobo, each party involved in the AAMP has a bigger mission of resolving these broad societal challenges through relentless work in their businesses. “Failure to operationalize the AAMP will be disastrous for the agricultural sector and initiate a pattern of premature abandonment of yet another well-conceived plan that was never fully implemented,” he echoed. He highlighted that growth in agriculture is more important in reducing poverty.

The roundtable discussions fostered a collaborative environment among key stakeholders, building mutual understanding and a shared vision towards advancing the work of the AAMP.

Dr. Solly Molepo, Project Manager for the AAMP, presented a progress report on the implementation of the project. In his key presentation, he highlighted the good strives made between government and labour in negotiating towards the signing of the AAMP, as the labour is the only social compact that has not yet signed the agreement. “Parties have reached alignment on all issues except one, which is labour, we have been working on weekly basis, sometimes sleepless nights. Negotiations with labour are at an advanced stage. We are almost there with labour,” he assured the stakeholders. .

Ms Kwena Komape, DDG for the Economic Development, Trade and Marketing (EDTM) in the Department of Agriculture and Land Reform and Rural Development, said AAMP was the game changer to increase imports. “We need to look at other markets to expand our market opportunities. We need to look at how we work together. I want to believe that together with African countries as partners we will make it a success,” she said.

Mr Simon Eppel, Labour representative, said as labour they need a driver as plans don’t implement themselves. “We think signing of AAMP will be important. We delayed signing AAMP because of equity and trust. We don’t trust each other. “We need effective machinery to drive cohesion, we need effective and smart communication, we need regular meetings. Capacity of partners need to be augmented,” he said

The AAMP will continue to be monitored and supported so that its aspirations are realised and furthermore expedited to ensure inclusivity, economic growth and transformation in the sector.