MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mayoral Committee Member for Infrastructure & Services, Councillor Anton Dellemijn recently attended the official opening of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture's inaugural Municipal Agricultural Summit held in Rawsonville.
A key priority emerging out of the Summit has been national safety and stakeholder partnerships, specifically relationships that will guarantee better service delivery, communication and infrastructure,” Councillor Dellemijn explained.
Dellemijn was attending on behalf of Mayor Dirk Kotze.
“Mossel Bay is doing very well, and we have an office that is empowered with agriculture. Logan Duthie Community Development Coordinator: Rural Development & Setchmor Rhoodes Community Development Coordinator: Rural Development are well known by agricultural officials,” Councillor Dellemijn said.
Critical issues
The two-day summit focussed on crucial matters that impact the agricultural sector in the local government arena. These included critical issues such as land reform and rural safety. In addition, the two-day summit provided opportunities for sharing linkages and identifying areas for closer cooperation between the Agricultural sector and local authorities of the Western Cape.
"Effective local governments in the Western Cape is essential for sustainable economic growth in the province. Agriculture is the most competitive sector of the economy in our five rural districts. Furthermore, the sector contributes to 14.4% of all jobs in the Western Cape. Agriculture is therefore important to local government." Minister Meyer said.
Commenting on the two-day summit Jannie Strydom, CEO of Agri-Western Cape, which represents approximately 3500 commercial farmers in the Western Cape, said:
“Agri Western Cape greatly appreciates being part of the summit, where municipalities and agriculture come together to confirm the critical role of Agriculture in the Western Cape Province. The Provincial Department of Agriculture's significant role as liaison and facilitator between Agriculture and Municipalities at all levels is confirmed again and is encouraging."
Importance of water
Deputy Mayor of the Drakenstein Municipality, Juben von Willingh, highlighted that the two-day summit was of immense value to municipalities."
"The summit was extremely valuable for us who find ourselves at the local government level. The discussion highlighted the critical importance of water and water security. Municipalities must adopt strategies to promote water security within their areas."
Minister Meyer continues: "Agriculture is the core of the rural economies in the Western Cape, and municipalities are dependent on the performance of Agriculture."
Meyer highlights that agriculture is also reliant on functional well-run municipalities.
"Towns in our rural areas are dependent on agriculture. So, we must create a closer working relationship between municipalities and the agricultural sector for the future growth of towns in the Western Cape",
"This summit has achieved our objectives of creating an enabling environment for agriculture at the municipal level. I am thankful that we have functional and well-run municipalities in the Western Cape because this helps our farmers and producers", concludes Meyer.
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