The Standing Committee has convened to deliberate the Department of Agriculture’s performance for the 2020/21 Financial Year. In doing so, the Department was again able to showcase its ability to empower the sector by awarding 131 partial bursaries to qualifying applicants. It surpassed this target by more than five times over, highlighting that the Western Cape Government will take every possible opportunity to upskill communities through learning opportunities.
This achievement forms part of the Department’s programme of Structured Agricultural Education and Training, which is comprised of Higher Education and Training (HET, NQF Level 5) as well as Agricultural Skills Development (ASD, NQF Levels 1-4). Owing to the importance of agriculture in our economy, this programme is able contribute towards establishing a prosperous and competitive sector through its initiatives.
Over the 2020/21 Financial Year, by spending 99.2% of the programme’s budget, the Department was able to bring about much success for the participants:
- A total of 167 students graduated in the academic year, of which 60 were from the ASD programmes and 107 were from HET. Once again, this is an overachievement from the Department and represents a great contribution to the sector, as these figures exceed original targets of 45 ASD and 90 HET graduates.
- 2 529 participants were trained in the skills development programmes in the sector, which represents itself a 168.6% achievement, as the initial target was only 1 500. This increase in participants was realised through the Covid-19 recovery plan in the ASD sub-programme.
- 30 students from the ASD sub-programme were articulated into the Higher Education and Training band, which is 10 more than originally planned.
- The Department also fully achieved its student equity target of 45%, thus ensuring that there is greater diversity in knowledge and skills development, and that transformation takes place.
Whilst these actions will certainly further the skills and know-how in the development of this sector, this needs to be balanced by ensuring that there are economic opportunities in agriculture. This is why, through Cassidra, 45 emerging farms were supported with financial record-keeping. In addition, the entity also implements its Entrepreneur Support Fund, Market Access and UIF Labour Activation Programmes.
As we reflect on the gains made in the 2020/21 financial year, we look forward to observing how these successes can be used as a platform for the Department to do more good and help facilitate further economic growth in agriculture.