HON. MEC

1. On Agriculture being a catalyst for growth, I am concerned that we have not had a report on the status of women in agriculture in KZN which is highly agrarian.
2. HON. MEC, digital literacy is an important area to empower women about subsistence farming because of the weakness noted in our extension officer programme.
3. HON. Speaker all 17 SDGs are women centred, therefore the vast opportunities which the Department of Agriculture can offer, can only be done by identifying effective gender sensitive indicators to develop our rural areas by including women, who are creative thinkers and natural nurturers.
4. One woman, one hectare can only succeed if land reform with women mentorship programmes in farming is done.
5. HON. MEC, I have spoken about women in this sector because its women’s month but also if one looks at the indentured Indian labourers history, women endured more hardships on the fields and worked harder to green KZN.
6. Therefore, I argue that we need to partner with the private sector on CSR. We need to formalise the informal agricultural worker sector and make KZN green again. You have no control over climate change but if the private sector can contribute via CSR and the BBBEE scorecard to invest in women in agriculture, their housing, wages and work conditions, we can ensure food security in KZN, our country and Africa.
7. Thank you.

By: Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi

Minority Front Leader (KZN Legislature)