The minister held a virtual dialogue on Monday with women in the sector who raised many issues centering around the lack of land.
FILE: Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza at a briefing on 6 April 2020. Picture: @GovernmentZA/Twitter.
JOHANNESBURG – Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza on Monday assured women farmers that they would be prioritised in procurement processes and when it came to land distribution for their businesses.
Didiza held a virtual dialogue with women in the sector who raised many issues centring around the lack of land.
The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform has emphasised its plans to put women in the sector first and develop their businesses.
“The department must look at making sure that procurement processes favour women, [and that ] 50% of what they procure must be from women-owned entities,” said Didiza’s spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo.
Didiza said that her department would always be open to speaking with small-scale farmers.
In 2019, the World Economic Forum released data showing that women farmers reinvested 90% of the money they earned back into their farms and communities.
