N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 5MAY 2019

A NOTE FROM NAJWAH

According to the World Bank, women comprise almost half the world’s

farmers. In sub-Saharan Africa women constitute 60-80% of smallholder

farmers yet only 10% own their land.

Despite some progress towards a more inclusive agriculture sector, women

continue to face legal and cultural constraints in terms of land inheritance,

ownership and use. It was late last year when the Ingonyama Trust Board and

traditional leaders made headlines over the decision that female residents on

the land it controls should sign leases through male proxies, effectively removing

their right to own land.

Agriculture is a potential growth sector with high labour absorptive capacity. Key

government policy documents such as the National Development Plan and the

New Growth Path already position the sector as central to government’s plans

for the promotion of rural development, food security and the combatting of

rural poverty. This commitment was further emphasised in both the President

and Finance Minister’s 2019 State of the Nation Address and Budget Speech

respectively.

Effective support to the sector requires not only assistance with infrastructure

and access to technical support, access to markets and innovative funding

instruments are also key components of the support ecosystem.

2018 was a difficult year for the agriculture sector, experiencing a 4.8% (year

on year) contraction. Statistics South Africa attributed this to a slowdown in the

production of field crops and horticultural products. However, despite this the

sector still managed to create 7 000 jobs in the last quarter of the year.

Annual Audited Financial and Performance Statements 30 June 2019

Quarterly Reporting 8 July 2019

Jobs Fund Learning Forum 4 October 2019

GEARED FOR GROWTHThe Jobs Fund has a portfolio of 125 contracted

projects with a total allocation of R6.6 billion

in grant funds. These projects have committed

to leveraging an additional R9.4 billion from our

partners to create 226 345 permanent jobs.

@JobsFund_NT

siyasebenza

Agriculture is a potential growth sector

with high labour absorptive capacity

The Jobs Fund has a portfolio of 27 agriculture

projects. To date these projects have created 72

123 permanent and short-term jobs, 54.4% of

which are occupied by women.

In this issue we take a glimpse at the impact

these projects have on South Africa’s female

smallholder farmers.

JOBS FUND SUPPORTING WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE

According to the United Nation’s Food

and Agriculture Organization’s 2012

projections, by 2020 the world’s

population will exceed nine billion and to meet

the increased demand, agricultural production

will have to grow by 60%.

This demand has turned the spotlight on the

agriculture sector.

The landscape of farming has slowly changed

in the past decade or two with women

broadening their involvement in the sector.

Technology is playing a central role in the

feminisation of farming in developed countries,

a trend that will also alter the landscape locally.

Smallholder farmers, especially women, have

a history of being under serviced and face stiff

market competition from their commercial

counterparts. They are isolated from input

and produce markets as well as production

information and credit facilities.

Challenges faced by farmers can only be

overcome when governments put in place

supportive policies, infrastructure and finance.

One of the farmers contributing to the sector

is Khensani Mboweni, who is benefitting

Her successful poultry venture has not gone

unnoticed by Sekororo’s tribal authority. It

has given her permission to occupy (PTO) a

bigger piece of land to enable her to grow her

business further. About 10 hectares of land

has been allocated for Mboweni, less than a

kilometre away from where her current farm

is located.

“I am currently clearing the bush and fencing

the 10 hectares of land. However, I will need

financial assistance to build new houses for my

chickens. With this new farm, I will triple my

capacity. Lima has been helpful and I hope it

will assist me with my new phase of growth,”

she says.

She has taken up a role to mentor other

upcoming female poultry farmers.

“I noticed their products were not of selling

quality and I try to show them how to do things

better.”

One of Mboweni’s mentees, Christabel

Mathebula, has managed to increase her

production from 500 to 1500 chicks per batch.

Mathebula works with her children and hires

casual labour to help with cleaning the chicken

houses once a month.

from the Lima Smallholder Farmer Support

Programme. Mboweni is a poultry farmer

and retired school principal who joined the

programme’s Ga-Sekororo, Limpopo, site in

August 2017.

“I started poultry farming as a backyard

project in 2009, producing between 200

and 250 chickens. As the time went on, the

community needed more chickens, so I built

two extra houses for broilers and egg layers. I

am currently producing about 3100 chickens.

When I retired in 2017 after 40 years as a

teacher, I joined the Lima programme. I have

received two production loans from Lima,

which I have paid off. I am now busy repaying

my third loan of R64,000”, explains Mboweni,

whose husband is an agricultural technician

and cattle farmer.

She employs seven people, of which three are

permanent, and supplies chickens to a reliable

market that includes local residents and tshisa

nyamas. The demand is so high she often

needs to convince her customers to not take

the chickens before they reach maturity.

Business is picking up for this former educator,

who has since managed to buy a bakkie with

the proceeds of the farm.

With this new farm, I will triple my

capacity. Lima has been helpful and I

hope it will assist me with my new phase of

growthKhensani Mboweni

JOBS FUND SUPPORTING WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE

A participant of the Jobs Fund supported

Sernick Emerging Farmers Programme,

Maria Mthimkhulu, is amongst a handful

of female beef farmers in the Free State

province who are making a bold move to

climb into the upper echelons of commercial

farming.

The programme is a comprehensive

intervention in which emerging black

farmers are recruited, trained, capacitated

and provided with supply opportunities

through integration into Sernick’s value

chain.

Mthimkhulu ventured into farming in 2002

when she and her father, a butchery owner,

acquired a 210-hectare farm in Heilbron, in

Northern Free State. The farm was bought

from a white commercial farmer, now her

neighbour, through a R250 000 loan from

the Land Bank. Mthimkhulu’s father had to

put his house as surety for her R250 000

Land Bank loan because although she had

a stable income, she had no assets of her

own.

“We bought the farm in 2002 and my

dad was running it until he passed away

in 2012. After he passed away, I took over

this will help her produce quality beef.

The impact of the gradual change in her

economic circumstances and her discipline

has resulted in building a three-bedroom

farmhouse which, once completed, will

allow Mthimkhulu to move onto the farm

and be more hands-on.

One of the challenges she has to overcome

is acquiring more land on which she plans to

grow her herd of Bonsmaras. Most emerging

farmers do not have enough land to expand

their herds and end up overgrazing and

reducing the quality of their beef.

“I want to acquire additional land to grow

my farm to about 500 hectares, which will

enable me to keep at least 100 cattle and be

very profitable,” comments Mthimkhulu.

The Emerging Farmers Programme is

currently in discussions with the Department

of Rural Development and Land Reform

as well as the Department of Agriculture,

Forestry and Fisheries in order to ensure

that high-potential project beneficiaries are

allocated land through the government’s

land programmes. This will be done through

permission to occupy (PTO) letters that are

valid for 30 years.

the farm. I am a torch-bearer of his vision

to produce beef to supply butcheries and

abattoirs,” explains Mthimkhulu.

Her farm currently has 80 Bonsmara cattle

and two high-quality bulls. Mthimkhulu’s

relationship with Sernick began when

she participated in its Cattle Exchange

Programme, through which she exchanged

her old poor quality cattle for good quality

Bonsmara. Following which, she received her

two bulls to help grow the heard.

To run her farm while she retains her day job

as a librarian, she is helped by two full-time

employees but hopes to employ more people

as she expands her venture.

“For years, I was supplying funerals and

weddings with beef, but my participation in

the Sernick programme will provide me with

an opportunity to supply to abattoirs and

butcheries. This programme is the beginning

of a new growth phase for me, which will

hopefully help me make money from beef

farming,” says Mthimkhulu.

She has undergone an eight-month

learnership with Sernick’s training school

to develop expertise in animal production

I want to acquire additional land to grow my farm to

about 500 hectares, which will enable me to keep at least 100 cattle and be very

profitableMaria Mthimkhulu

JOBS FUND BENEFICIARY TRACER STUDYIn 2018 The Jobs Fund commissioned a service

provider to undertake a 3-year longitudinal

tracer study on beneficiaries from selected

Support for Work-Seekers and Enterprise

Development projects. The aim of the

study is to systematically analyse significant

changes in the lives of beneficiaries as a

result of the sampled projects. The study

will also determine the extent to which the

interventions contributed to those changes

and what lessons can be learned about the

value of each programme. Over and above

this, participation by Jobs Fund Partners

helps the Fund build a comprehensive body

of knowledge and gain insight into which

models are relevant, effective and replicable

to provide solutions to unemployment

in South Africa.

All participating projects are encouraged to

help the service provider in identifying and

tracking beneficiaries, facilitating interviews

with their partners and providing any related

project documents.

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Where are you from?

I grew up in Harare before moving to Cape Town for my studies.

What did you study?

I completed a PhD Economics at the University of Cape Town after which I worked as a labour researcher at the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) while teaching undergraduate economics at UCT. Following that I worked as a development consultant for global firm Oxford Policy Manage (OPM).

What is your role in the Jobs Fund?

I am a Team Leader in the Project Management Unit.

Which part of your job do you like most?

My job allows me the opportunity to help find competitive, innovative job creation models that can be scaled up, and at the same time it affords me the chance to be more coal-facing by providing implementation support to our private, public, and non-profit sector partners.

STAFF PROFILE

Dr Fidelis Hove

What challenges do you face in the implementation of the projects you manage?

What I have come to realise is that it takes hard work to create decent, sustainable jobs in an environment where the growth of new and existing small enterprises is constrained by a sluggish economy, the relatively high cost of doing business and the uncompetitive structure of many industries.

Is enough being done to tackle the unemployment challenge in South Africa?

A lot is already being done both by government and private sector players. For example, South Africa spends around R50 billion a year on an expansive mix of business incentives and programmes that cut across multiple departments and sectors. Even though the Jobs Fund is a small component of this budget, it has proven to be relatively cost effective at employment creation. What the Fund now needs to do is communicate what we have learnt so that other government departments and programmes as well as private sector players can improve current efforts to tackle the unemployment creation.