IIliimmaaa//Leetttsemaaaa caaampppaigggn 222200099 isss oonnContinuing the joint effort of stimulating food production through household and backyard activities, creating micro-enterprises through the use of communal land, ensuring productivity of all land lying fallow in the peri-urban areas and the rural areas and lastly, converting dormant agricultural assets into liquid income-generating assets. The Ilima/Letsema campaign will be rolled-out across the country centering around the Land and Agrarian Reform Programme (LARP) and seeking to increase production by 10 to 15 %. The campaign also aims at ensuring socio-economic development and the amelioration of the effects of high food prices and addressing the following:

(a) Stimulating food production—increase food production to ensure food security.

(b) Promoting social cohesion.

(c) Militating against a sense of dependency.

(d) Contributing towards socio-economic development.

(e) Raising general awareness about the wide variety of Government pro-grammes and the unique potential economic resources and opportunities available to the different communities.

(f) Stimulating the realisation of the benefits of collective synergies.

(g) Structuring the involvement of stakeholders (including SOEs, other Social Cluster departments, WARD and YARD).

(h) Conducting situation analysis per province per Ilima/Letsema location.

Objectives

The objectives of the campaign are to:

• Invest in the improvement of the quality of the livestock in communal areas such as the Nguni cattle, goats and chickens for Africa.

• Increase family and community production for household food and nutri-tional security.

• Develop agricultural development corridors.

• Increase the percentage of land that is put to productive use.

• Activate fallow land in the former homelands.

• Rehabilitate to productive use degraded agricultural land.

• Rehabilitate and expand the existing irrigation schemes.

• Establish new irrigation schemes.

• Establish contract farming for high-value and feedstock products for bio-fuels, wine, essential oils, hemp, medicines, leather, juices, canning, dairy, and others.

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Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape Ilima/Letsema campaign took place in the administrative area under the jurisdiction of OR Tambo District Municipality. This area has about eight villages, i.e. Sicambeni, Dumasi, Vukandlule, Hlamvana, Bolani, Chwebeni, Mtalala and Caguba, with activities at Khonjwayo and eight other villages in Port St Johns. In total, 230 household gardens together with fields were ploughed and planted.

Mpumalanga

At Nkangala District, 3 organisations received food starter packs for distribution among their most needy households. At Ekuphileni Drop-in Centre—Moloto in the Thembisile Municipality—18 households benefited. At the National Pastoral Council in Kwaggafontein 82 households benefited. In line with the departmental strategic objectives Thembisile Municipality received 350 starter packs for further household distribution.

Northern Cape

The Northern Cape campaign included planting of vegetables and fruit trees in household gardens of the most vulnerable community members in Valstan. Maize was planted on a 5 ha farm owned by a cooperative of 11 young people.

In addition, a drainage system was installed to increase agricultural production. Furthermore, there were visits and support to projects producing soap from goat’s milk and also olive production. These projects are owned by women and youth respectively.

Free State

The closing of mining activities in the small towns of Moteo District precipitated socio-economic crisis for many residents in these areas. The need for job creation by the local municipality through commonage was overwhelming. Commonage-based farming projects with livestock farming, dairy and crop production includ-ing a piggery project were initiated. Land Affairs further leased 974 ha for com-mercial farming activity.

The municipality together with the local communities has in the meantime realized that the commonage is the viable option to empower local farmers and therefore the Ilima/Letsema campaign was launched in these areas to start food production.

For the three earmarked towns, the campaign targeted 15 households, 1 com-monage with 11 WARD members planting a 3 ha vegetable garden, 6 men and women running a dairy, a piggery managed by 5 young men and women as well as a school garden. Altogether 150 seedlings were distributed to each house-hold. In addition, support in the form of seeds, fertilizers, vegitable tunnels, fenc-ing and irrigation were provided. Going forth, a feedlot and an abattoir will be established.

Limpopo

The campaign project unfolded around the greening of Sekhukhune—with the event taking place at Leeuwkraal in the Makhuduthamaga Municipality.

In all 33 identified farmers, who own more than 1,5 ha of land each recieved 15 kg of maize seeds for the summer planting season. Responding to a need for mechanisaqtion, the provincial department developed the Mechanisation Revolv-ing Credit Access Scheme (MERECAS) to assist commercial, developing farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs improve their agricultural enterprises.

The intended beneficiaries have to contribute 50 % of the tractor purchase and the department pays for the remaining 50 % (the maximum that Government will pay is R200 000). This flagship programme will address food security, job creation and protect the environment from land degradation. To date, an area of more than 1 000 ha in Sekhukhune has been provided with bulk infrastructure and in-field irrigation technology for effective watering of the crops.

Lastly, the Bapedi Sheep Breeders’ Association will be assisted with the necessary registrations to protect their indigenous sheep gene pool.

Western Cape

The Witzenberg Municipality serves areas that are among the poorest in the prov-ince. The municipal area has been declared as one of the 27 priority areas in the province because of poverty, crime and other social problems. In addition, one of the major challenges is that the community members in the area are unem-ployed for 6 months of the year (May to September) as a result of the closure of three major factories and because of seasonal work on farms. Op-die-Berg, Achter-Witzenberg and Koue Bokkeveld have to pay approximately R300 for transportation to access Government services in Worcester. The Ilima /Letsema campaign sought to increase agricultural economic activities.

KwaZulu-Natal

Villagers in the remote areas such as Nembe have been making a living from agri-culture and the Ilima/Letsema campaign was launched within walking distance from their ploughing area. As a start, the planted area comprises approximately 4 ha of maize. This area will be increased to also include beans and other suitable crops.

Instead of individual beneficiaries, the cooperatives already in the area are benefi-ciaries. This further strengthened the community’s local initiatives of forming coop-eratives.

The Ilima/Letsema effort assisted with the following support:

• Mechanisation

• Irrigation and

• Coordination for the establishment of a fresh produce market.

Gauteng

To kick start the Ilima/Letsema campaign, Gauteeng held an Agricultural Food Sum-mit in July 2008. The resolutions emphasised the need to adopt the concept of food production projects in order to address food insecurity at household level and to ensure that all available space for food production is used.

There are 55 000 households in Gauteng that are regarded as food insecure and vulnerable. Gauteng’s approach is through their strategy which aims to elevate production in communities by directly mobilising them to form groups interested in vegetable or poultry production that will assist in addressing household level food insecurity. Seventy food gardens will be developed initially throughout the province; however, the aim is to eventually increase this number to 400 commu-nity food gardens.

The Ilima/Letsema campaign will continue to elevate agricultural activities; realise the Land and Agrarian Reform Programme; be a mechanism of collaboration to-wards food security; and be a developmental platform for appreciation of local and indigenous resources that will assist to continue the fight against high food prices.

Contact your provincial Department of Agriculture for more details. Also contact our web site: www.nda.agric.za

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