Background The Agricultural and Agro-processing Master Plan (AAMP) was signed at a ceremony in Cape Town on 12 May, after a two-year-long consultation process in which Agbiz fully participated.
This was an important week in South Africa's agricultural sector. We had a budget vote speech and the signing off of the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan.
Phase one of the three-year Sugarcane Value Chain Master Plan recently ended, marking a critical point for reflection in the industry.
It is roughly a year since the signing of the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan (AAMP).
As we are fast approaching the second anniversary of South Africa’s Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan, there is very little to show in terms of implementation on the ground.
For a few months, attributing bold ideological measures by the Department of Agriculture and its SOEs, which are out of step with the DA’s own policies and pre-election positions, to “muscle memory” worked for Minister Steenhuisen.
South Africa’s Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan is once again under the spotlight, with Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp saying government needs to move faster if the plan is to deliver real results for farmers and the agricultural sector.
South Africa’s farming sector still has the potential to expand and increase its output.
