Agribusiness needs more women � CEDA boss
Lindiwe Mozola | Tuesday July 26, 2016 15:44
He made the call on Friday during the opening of the Serowe District Show under the theme: Agriculture, the driving force behind food security.
According to Thamane, researches show that the agribusiness sector is male-dominated even though women have equal opportunity in venturing into the business.
He said current existing agribusiness portfolio under CEDA as at June 2016 is 163 projects valued at P206 million, adding that among those, beef is the largest sub-sector at an investment of P100 million followed by poultry at P79 million and horticulture at P23 million.
He also noted that male-led businesses dominate the agribusiness sector at 105 projects valued at P158 million while female participation in the sector is significantly low at only 58 projects valued at P48 million.
“This gap goes to show that women drag their feet when it comes to this sector though the government has widely opened its hands to support the industry,” said Thamane. He said women should venture into agribusiness, which has proved to be a lucrative global business, adding that they should be encouraged to utilise the government’s initiative of poverty eradication as they continue to be the heads of their households.
The CEO also applauded the youth participation, saying it accounts for 79 projects valued at P37.6 million which he attributed to the CEDA Young Farmers Fund (CYFF), which saw a lot of youth starting up projects mostly in the horticulture and poultry sub sector.
He further stated that CEDA is committed to assisting in capacity building and commercialisation of the sector as such they will continue to support such initiatives as the Serowe District Show that strives to boost one of the sectors that drives the country’s economy.
Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi acknowledged that the government is doing all it can to support the agriculture sector which continues to have a large share in the government bill. He said through the government generated funds, farmers should also strive to produce quality products that will be able to fit the global village.
“As the government we try by all means to procure local products in a bid to support local businesses, that is why we have come up with a procurement law that whatever is being produced here should not be imported. But local producers should also produce quality goods that will be competitive at international level if they want to lure the buyers,” said the vice president.
He noted that through the Economic Stimulus Package (ESP), the government will bring many initiatives that will support agriculture, adding that farmers should prepare themselves so that they do not miss the ESP train.
Masisi also appealed to the Serowe District Show committee to invite foreign farmers to come and exhibit their products so that they could benchmark on their products and produce goods of high standard.
Currently, CEDA is the main sponsor of the show with a contribution of P500,000.