Rising Rising to the challenge

by Minister Ivan Meyer

TThe year 2020 was and is a challenging year. COVID-19 has been a challenge, but we have also decided that it would not defeat us.

When lockdown was announced, agriculture was declared an essential service and the sector continued to operate throughout the pandemic.

It was a challenging period, but through faith and support and resilience, the agricultural sector stood its ground.

We salute all our farmers, agri-workers, and producers both in primary and secondary agriculture.

We are now moving towards the next phase, and the Western Cape cabinet has adopted the following priorities:

• Safety

• Jobs

• Dignity and well-being

We will continue to support the sector in the Western Cape as part of the postCOVID-19 agriculture recovery plan.

The Western Cape Department of Agriculture has recommitted itself to the ministerial priorities, namely:

• Structured training, education and research

• Farmer support

• Rural safety

• Market access

• Climate change

During COVID-19, we have continued to serve the agri-sector and our clients through virtual meetings, information days and webinars, as a way of embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

We will overcome this pandemic because farmers in the Western Cape are resilient. We have already seen outstanding economic performance by the agricultural sector in the first and second quarters of 2020, growing by 28% and 15% respectively.

As we move forward, we need to support our wine industry, agritourism, drought-stricken areas and sub-sectors hit hard by COVID-19.

During the past two months we have been visiting our farmers and farm workers. I am inspired by their faith in agriculture despite the challenging times.

In agriculture, our focus is now on the following:

• Stabilisation of the sector

• Adaptation

• Economic recovery

Agriculture will drive economic recovery in the Western Cape, and the sector is ready.

#LetsGoWork #ForTheLoveOfAgriculture