R 1, 020, 000, 00, a start up fund for the Limpopo Livestock Development Trust
05 Aug 2004
Wednesday, the 04th of August 2004 marked an official launch of the Limpopo Livestock Development Trust at which a sum of R1, 020, 000, 00 was announced by honourable, the MEC for Agriculture in the Limpopo Province Dr. Aron Motswaledi together with the Group Executive Director of National Emergent Red Meat Producers Organisation (NERPO) Mr. Aggrey Mahanjana who both injected an initial fund to create an enabling financial muscle to drive a sustainable livestock development in the Province.
In 2002, NERPO pledged a sum of R20, 000, 00 as a donation to the MEC of the Limpopo Department of Agriculture Dr. Motswaledi in recognition of his visionary leadership and commitment not only to an emerging livestock but also to an integrated and sustainable development of the agricultural sector in the province. The conditions of the donation was for the MEC to establish the Limpopo Livestock Development Trust that was launched yesterday, as an instrumental tool to address bottlenecks surrounding livestock development within the emerging sector in the province.
Such bottlenecks include,
• Access to agricultural land with fully developed infrastructure,
• Improvement of the quality and quantity standards of the livestock from the emerging sector,
• Training and development needs for emerging farmers with emphasis on entrepreneurial skills,
• Market Access, and
• A collective action by emerging farmers to lobby support from government and the livestock industry.
Mr. Mahanjana emphasised that the beneficiaries of the Trust are all emerging livestock farmers of the Limpopo Province. He however mentioned that beneficiaries could access the fund through an organised livestock development commodity structures for purposes of addressing the above-mentioned bottlenecks of the emerging red meat producers.
On acceptance of the R20, 000, 00 donation from NERPO Dr. Motswaledi pledged a sum of R1 million as a start-up capital and further invited the foreign donors, local development agencies, all role players within the red meat industries and other structures with special interest in the red meat industry to support this initiative by injecting some funding into Trust. NERPO aspires to establish similar Trusts in all other provinces towards achieving an integrated sustainable livestock development programme nation wide. “These Livestock Development Trusts are meant to avert the government’s rep tape and bureaucracy that seems to be stifling and stagnating implementation of any government driven programme” so says Mr. Mahanjana.
The historic launch of the Limpopo Livestock Development Trust is an integral part to a three-days’ Summit organized by the Limpopo Department of Agriculture on Sustainable Livestock Development and 80% of the attendees are black emerging farmers from all the districts of the Limpopo province. The Summit is themed “Is it not time to get it right?” by Dr. Motswaledi.
Enquiries:
Mr. Aggrey Mahanjana:
Group Executive Director
National Emergent Red Meat Producers’ Organisation
Tel: +27 (0) 12 361 9127 or Cell: +27 (0) 82 556 72 97
Or
Dr. Lucas Mampane
Senior Manager: Animal Production and Veterinary Services
Limpopo Provincial Department of Agriculture
Tel: +27 (0) 15 295 7090 Cell: +27 (0) 82 803 5508
|
|
|
