DURBAN – Due to the financial impact the Covid-19 pandemic has left on businesses in South Africa, approximately 3 000 small-scale farmers in KwaZulu Natal (KZN) have received Covid-19 relief vouchers that are valued at approximately R98 million from the Smallholder Farmer Disaster Relief Fund.
Minister of Agriculture and Land Reform Thoko Didiza announced the relief fund stating that the material support would be provided across sectors that are essential to smallholder farmers to help strengthen food security programmes, which include poultry, livestock, fruit, winter crops and vegetables.
Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, MEC for KZN Agriculture and Rural Development said the vouchers are estimated at R50 000 each which will be able to help each farmer to buy the essentials needed to enable them to resume farming.
Sithole-Moloi said: “We are pleased that this intervention came timeously during June, a month of great significance in the liberation struggle by our youth. We are also delighted that 500 youth enterprises will benefit from this relief package this month. This augurs well for agriculture in the province as it clearly indicates that our youth has woken up and is partaking in the economy through agriculture. Everybody who has benefitted has benefitted according to the needs that they have put in their forms in their application.”
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