Agriculture is one of the industries with the greatest potential for growth and job creation, said President Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address. 
“We completed the Poultry Master Plan to support chicken farmers and processors and save 54 000 jobs, while creating new jobs.”
He said the industry is now focused on growth, greater production and more investment.
“We will set a new poultry import tariff adjustment to support the local industry.”
Government has also developed a plan with farmers and industrial users to save jobs in the sugar industry and will finalise a Sugar Master Plan within the next six weeks. A a new steel Master Plan will also be finalised in the coming six months.
The President also announced that government will this year open up and regulate the commercial use of hemp products, providing opportunities for small-scale farmers.
He said government will formulate policy on the use of cannabis products for medicinal purposes, to build this industry in line with global trends.
“The regulatory steps will soon be announced by the relevant ministers.”
This year, government also implemented key recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture to accelerate land redistribution, expand agricultural production and transform the industry.
The Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform was established to review, research and suggest models that will ensure a fair land reform process.
Thousands of South Africans across the country expresed their views on land reform through public hearings and written submissions.
The report provides perspectives on land policy in the context of persisting land inequality, unsatisfactory land and agrarian reform and uneven urban land development. SAnews.gov.za
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