SA farmers urged to expand plantations abroad
The South African Government has urged growers to expand operations into other countries in the continent, with a 'a vision of economic renaissance' taking hold amongst smallholder farmers, website Businessday.co.za reported.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson, said such an expansion would enhance food security and a pan-African railway development plan was underway to help improve the transport of goods.
"We are not saying that our farmers should relocate or move their business operations from SA to other countries; they should use SA as a base and then expand their business operations into the rest of Africa," Joemat-Pettersson was quoted as saying.
"There is a growing belief that Africa can produce enough not only to feed its own citizens, but to export a growing surplus to the rest of the world.
"Our government has tried to bring in this balance between land reform and food security and it’s a very tight balance — it’s like walking on a tightrope."
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